Science Fiction Inspiration
I've been publishing my jewelry tutorials in magazines since 2007, but I think this necklace in the April/May 2019 issue of Beadwork might be the very first design that's been inspired by science fiction.
I do read a lot (see my list of the best books I read in 2018), but my reading tends to be overstuffed with favorite genres, memoirs and mysteries. Ever since I did the genre challenge sponsored by my local library, I've been trying to expand my reading selection.
When I designed this piece several months ago, I'd just finished reading Artemis by Andy Weir and was watching the TV show The Orville. I was thinking about how the sky would look different from different vantage points. I haven't been on a space ship (obviously) but I knew that many ships at sea use a lot of wood in their interior design. With that in mind, I created a necklace that I called Sky Portals. The editors kept my original project name, which if you've read this blog for any length of time, you know does not always happen. (Not that that's a bad thing; often the editors come up with a much better name!)
I rounded out the necklace design with some beads in cream and dark blue, plus some copper-plated cog chain that I've always liked.
Geometric Jewelry
The theme for the Fast & Fabulous projects in this issue was geometric designs. This was an interesting challenge for me since I tend not to think about shapes when designing, but more about the story I want to tell. You can see a few of the other simple geometric jewelry pieces on the table of contents page. (You can zoom in on the page on the publisher's website.)
Handmade Components
I believe this tutorial also marks the first time I created my own component for a magazine piece, one that I could reproduce and sell. (I have made my own components for mixed media pieces, but those were more to give other artists ideas to create their own versions, rather than having people buy the one I made.)
With the wooden squares, I knew I wanted to make something with rounded corners, as I think jewelry should never poke or prod when worn. I used a dark wood (walnut) to give the pieces that feeling of a ship's interior. I also wanted tons of holes, as in my experience as a jewelry designer, there are never enough holes or ones in the right places. I did an early version with 4 holes, but then decided I needed a few more. A set of these pieces (including the little squares used in the matching earrings) were available in my Etsy shop.
Crafty Hope Necklace Tutorial
Hope Smitherman (CraftyHope) of Fairhope, Alabama describes herself as a "jewelry-artist, treasure hunter, and nature lover that finds joy in the smallest things." If you follow her on Instagram or Twitter, you'll find she shares a lot of mixed media designs and tutorials. (She also shares occasional photos of her outdoor surroundings in the South, which always make me a little jealous. She's seeing beautiful pink azaleas in March and I'm seeing ... sigh ... more snow!)
I sent Hope a few of my wooden square components because I wanted to see what a mixed media artist might make with them. I was delighted how she used one with some recycled tin to make a two-sided (reversible) necklace. This is such a clever idea and the tin images she chose work perfectly.
I complimented her that she used proper gloves when cutting the tin, which I guess in retrospect was an odd comment. But I'm one of those people who is super squeamish when watching people chop vegetables on cooking shows, always anxious that they are going to cut themselves. Tin can be dangerously sharp and jagged when cut with shears and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to view her video if she had been cutting that tin without gloves. So, thank you, Hope for showing people the right way to cut tin for jewelry!
Please enjoy Hope's From Winter to Spring Flip Necklace video tutorial. The official first day of spring this year is March 20!