Art Bead Scene February Challenge...

The prompt for this month's Art Bead Scene Challenge is the painting, "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" by John Singer Sargent. Although I've been busily scrambling around to meet deadlines, answer emails and catch back up after the Gem Shows and teaching, I wanted to take some time to create something for this challenge. I love the painting and its luminosity. I can almost smell the heady fragrance of the flowers in the garden and feel the cool of the early summer's evening.

I don't use a lot of pink in my work, so I'm always looking for a creative challenge to force myself to utilize it in a design. This was the perfect opportunity to encourage me to expand my creative horizons.

Above is the bracelet that I created. It is composed of a mix of art beads; the ceramic floral focal is from Golem Studio, the enameled flowers are from C-Koop Beads, and the fine pewter floral toggle is from my family at Green Girl Studios. I used these components with a mix of German silver, Swarovski crystal pearls, Vietnamese ceramic rounds, violet opal and light rose satin Swarovski crystal bicones from Fusion Beads, and some candy-colored pink opals I picked up from Scottsdale Bead Supply.

I like the design. It's simple and sweet, and I think it captures the essence of the garden. The pink opals also have the same luminous effect as the lanterns and play off of the opaqueness of the ceramic rounds and the lustrousness of the navy pearls.