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 Every once in a while,
a design inspiration comes to me like a lightening bolt making
contact with a solid object! It is a rare occurrence, but welcome
all the same. Since I travel a lot, I have a tremendous amount
of time that is spent on airplanes. I actually like that time
as I usually bead or play with designing in my sketchbook. Recently,
I was on a flight, heading for home, skimming through an airline
magazine and came across an article about a cake shop in Maryland.
Now, I don't usually get inspired to design looking at cakes,
but this shop owner was making magic in each and every confection!
He was creating cakes that moved, talked, and most importantly
to me, were incredibly beautiful. One series of cakes were decorated
in a paisley theme with intricate, lacey and inviting lines.
These images made me want to design a new piece, not later, but
now, so the rest of the flight was taken over by the creative
process.
Naming a new
design mostly happens during the process of creating. Since almost
all of my designs are based on historical perspective, I tend
to know what path I wish to take, as in a time period or style.
Designing around cake images is definitely a new path for me!
Amazingly, the word, "Intermezzo" kept coming to mind
long before the design actually started taking shape. Generally,
this term means a composition that fits between another musical,
or other dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements
of a larger musical work. For me, I guess it means that Intermezzo
Necklace can stand on its own, as a design, that was created
between the regular progression of my body of artwork. Sort of
like a lovely interlude or intermission that has its own voice.
Intermezzo Necklace
uses beautiful, natural and lab-grown, faceted gemstones and
high quality CZ's, along with fine metal mountings as part of
the design. This process is new to me and very elegant. The bail
of the pendant is created in dimensional Lattice Weave then embellished
at the top and along the edges. Hanging from the bail is a pendant
made with Peyote Stitch, Netting and embellishing techniques.
All of these techniques are used to capture a series of faceted
gemstones and CZ's for an elegantly shaped pendant.
The pendant is
strung onto a strand of pearls, interspersed with beaded rings
of dimensional Lattice Weave that are embellished. Some of the
rings are set with pearls and gemstones or CZ's. The necklace
ends with two beaded gemstone or CZ buttons and a shaped loop
closure. The closure connector mimics the design of the beaded
rings plus two Peyote stitch loops made using a technique I call
"split circle", that divides one tube of Peyote into
two and allows each to hook around a button.
Skill level: This workshop is for
the advanced level beader. The student must be familiar with
Peyote Stitch and Netting. Lattice Weave will be taught in class
but understanding Right Angle Weave would be helpful.
Photos this kit:
Mark Rutledge
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