Our monthly challenges at Earrings Everyday have all been inspired by an image. As jewelry designers, we interpret some aspect of the image - color, texture, theme - create earrings, photograph them, and blog about the process. This month Erin changed it up by inspiring us with an sweet animated video. Though a collage of images from the film appears below, I highly recommend watching this short video. (I can't figure out how to imbed a video directly into blogger. Grrrrr... so, please click on the link below to watch it.)
In this wonderous exotic land
With its amber orange landscape
A brown-haired girl in a rust-colored tunic
Draws a bucket of water from a pristine well.
Hazy grey tendrils of fog and mist herald a new arrival
An ethereal and magical creature,
Given the gift of flight and freedom
From pure water and a kind heart,
Unfolds soft but powerful wings
And soars into milky white clouds
I was entranced by this lovely film and knew instantly the effect I wanted to achieve. Those graceful yet powerful white wings! I had to capture those somehow.
Plan A: The bag of Tierracast copper wings have been languishing in my stash for years. I wanted to wash them with white or periwinkle alcohol ink or patina. Failing to find ink or patina at local craft supply stores, I ordered on-line and anxiously awaited their arrival. Then the bad news arrived: my order would be delayed; the item was on back order. WINGS! What to do?
Plan B: Skip the literal interpretation? No, I wanted wings! Wandering around my studio, I discovered this jewelry tin. Wings . . . the soft white and blue color palette . . . the rusty copper of the girl's tunic and landscape . . . perfect. I have been saving this tin forever.
Carefully, I used my metal shears to cut out two wing sections and filed them smooth.
Wanting to bring in the copper color of the tunic and landscape, I decided to cut some copper sheet to back the tin wings and glued them together. They looked a little rustic around the edges, but I kept telling myself that handmade doesn't have to be perfect.
That night while I waited for the glue to dry, I was mesmerized by the glow of the full moon streaming into my studio window. That made think of the multicolored moonstone beads I bought years ago and never used. (Oh, the brain birdtracks were in full bloom.) Opalite seemed appropriate, too.
I rarely allow bare copper to escape a bath in LOS and some sort of bashing with my hammer. This time, however, the freshness of untreated, smooth metal seemed to fit the mood of the video. After a scrub with steel wool and a massage with polish pads, the copper sparkled. There they were: WINGS!
Sitting on my work table was a bag of seaglass a friend brought to me from her recent trip to Glass Beach in California, a destination that has long tempted me. I wrapped two almost identical frosty white pieces of seaglass with 26 gauge copper and cut and domed some copper sheet that I dimpled with my chasing hammer and polished. (The poor hammer was sitting there so forlornly; I just had to use it.) Again, the frosty white looked so cool with the copper.
My drawers of white beads stared at me. Use us, too, said the pearls, shells, and bone beads. Okay. So I thought I could escape the LOS. Nope.
http://earrings-everyday.blogspot.com/2014/11/were-all-ears-november-reveal.html
Life is all about Plan B! I love it! That tin was waiting to be the star and shine. I like the bead choices you used. And it is sad when tools are neglected. Lovely hammering on those domed pieces! Thank you so much for bringing this inspiration to life, Miss Cindy! I hope you will join me on December 5th for the next We're All Ears inspiration! Enjoy the day. Erin
ReplyDeleteThank you, Erin. I did get your helpful message about embedding the video. I wrote the post on the blogger app, but when I went to the web version of my dashboard they weren't talking well to one another. Didn't want to risk losing my whole post.
DeleteI agree about plan B! I loved you comment about the tin waiting to star and shine. I happy I finally used it. Thanks for being our inspiration, Erin! See you in December!
Well your ingenuity won the day, those wings are fantastic! Love the sea glass ones too and the white glass is perfect for this inspiration. 4 fabulous pairs!! xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Fiona. This was a particularly inspiring challenge this month. It was my favorite so far, and the ideas just flowed so quickly.
DeleteAbsolutely gorgeous! You're so very creative -- love how you made your own components from the tin and copper!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Oksana. It is such fun looking at everyone else's creations. I find myself realizing so many other options I never considered. For example, using actual feathers, as you did. How cool!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteEvery pair is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan. This was such a fun project!
DeleteWow you made some gorgeous earrings! I love that you used cut tin for the first pair.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Alice. I enjoy any opportunity to repurpose tin or any other funky materials. :)
DeleteOh my. I can't decide which is my favorite, I'd love to wear them all. Copper is my favorite metal for jewelry and you used it so will in a variety of ways. Beautiful work.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tammy, for your kind words. I am addicted to copper and use it often. This was such a fun challenge inspired by a video filled with beautiful imagery.
DeleteFabulous solution to get the wings!So clever. All your earrings are a great interpretation for this months challenge!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Terri. One of these days I am going to make plan A happen, but I am very pleased with the process of creating the plan B earrings. What a fun challenge!
ReplyDeletePlan B was a fab one! Love how the tin could not have been more perfect for this animation, what lovely designs you came up with, I love the sea glass!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Niky. I have been waiting years to cut into that tin, and this was the perfect project to push me to do it. Sea glass is one of my favorite things to wire wrap, and these two pieces were almost a perfect match - meant to be!
DeleteA fabulous collection of inspiration earrings...love the ivory/pearly tones with metals. My fav is the first. Those delicate wings combined with a rustic setting. Fantastic plan B.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lynda. I did get a bit carried away with that color palette -a new one for me. This was such a magical project. Your opalite earrings, by the way, are still in my mind's eye. Very striking!
DeleteI love the all! The wings in the first pair are so cool! I have never seen that done before! I love the little beads you dangled off of them too! And the wired beach glass! I LOVE beach glass! I've been to glass beach. :-D All your inspirations have really come to life! I adore them all!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cindy. You are so kind. I, too, love beach glass. I wish I could find more of it here on the Oregon coast. It is a rare find, but I guess that makes each piece more special. I think I just might have to visit Glass Beach myself, though, just for the experience of being surrounded by glass. :)
DeleteYou were a busy bee! What a great collection of earrings... you must have a great stash of white/cream beads (an area I am lacking in!) The first pair with the wings is just perfect! I love what you came up with and appreciate you sharing your process. The domed pair with the sea glass is probably my second favorite, but they are all really great!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sarajo, for your kind words. I'm glad I finally used some of these white/cream beads. I don't know why I haven't used them more often! This was definitely a special project, and the process was joyful experience.
Delete