Art Bead Scene: Mermaid's Grotto...

This is my submission for July's Art Bead Scene competition. The theme for this month is The Mermaid's Grotto. Since I've been under the weather, I haven't been going out and about too much and worked on this instead. (I haven't really been able to rest and I can't abide just sitting idle.)

It's a quick design that utilizes shimmering silver, glittering Swarovski crystals, aquatic borosilicate, delicate shell, lustrous pearls, and luminous Czech glass. The inspiration for this piece was a Shibuichi mermaid that my family made at Green Girl Studios. You can see the original wax that Cynthia carved by CLICKING HERE and scrolling down to the specific entry in the archives of her blog. Green Girl Studios also made the sterling silver clasp. The floral print shell pendant is from Lillypilly Designs and the Czech glass is from Raven's Journey. I got all of my silver chain and silver beads from Saki Silver. The pearls all came from Talisman Associates Inc. The sterling silver bead-holder is from the very talented Candice Wakumoto. All of the Swarovski crystals were purchased from Fusion Beads and the seed-beads are from Jane's Fibers & Beads.

Above Right: Photo is a close-up detail of the shibuichi seahorse-mermaid piece. The image doesn't really do the shibuichi or shell justice as both have variegations of blue and green that simply aren't being captured by the camera.