Thursday, January 20, 2011

Snowflowers...

The theme for the Artbeads.com challenge this season is: Winter Enchantment. We were asked to create a piece that embodies what we find beautiful or inspirational about the season. In my my mind, I envisioned something that would be worn by a wintery nymph, frost-encrusted, and glittering with icicle adornments. For the project, I chose Swarovski crystals, freshwater pearls, silver jump rings, and used a sterling silver small flower clasp from my family.

I call this piece, "Snowflowers". The Swarovski crystal encrusted Silver-plated filigree components were perfect! They were delicate, seemed to bloom with icy coolness and when clustered together, provided a most excellent focal.

I wanted to keep the necklace as airy and crystalline as possible, but also wanted to capture the feel of snow. Snow is not just "plain white". With the changing of light and the cast of shadows, snow picks up subtle hints of pale pinks, light blues, and misty grays. Pearls, with their layers of nacre, also have this ability to absorb light and shift lustrously. I wire-wrapped the Keshi pearls, creating a chain of irregular points of light.

Above is a close-up shot of the focal elements. The new Swarovski crystal Xilion Mini Pear Pendants look like frozen teardrops. They capture and reflect the light magically and add a touch of whimsy and glittering movement suspended by jump rings.

11 comments:

Alice said...

Lovely! I would imagine this sweet necklace could be worn in any season!

SueBeads said...

Love it Andrew! Very fitting for today!

Michelle Mach said...

Gorgeous! I especially love the filigree & crystal drop focal. A good reminder to designers that a focal piece doesn't have to be one bead!

Anna Lear said...

Just beautiful; I love how the luminous pearls both complement and contrast with the crystals. Lovely design!

Kim said...

That is absolutely gorgeous!

jamberry_song said...

So lovely and elegant. :) Those pear-shaped drops remind me so much of hunting through antique stores for vintage lamp prisms when I was a little girl. Beautiful, beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Elegant!

Regina said...

Pearls and crystal, so elegant and eye-catching.

Jean Katherine Baldridge said...

Oh this is really pretty. A winter bride would LOVE it!

Brenda Salzano said...

has a very icy elegant look! Really beautiful. I lived in Alaska for many years, I think this reminds me of some of the glaciers up there.
Love it Andrew!

Shai Williams said...

Love it! Especially the filigree drop.