Art Bead Scene Challenge – June

Tags

glass nugget, macrame necklace, MAY ABS, pendant, polymer clay

I’m pleased that this month I have completed a necklace for the Art Bead Scene monthly challenge. Here’s the inspiration painting:

“Literary Poster for the Century Magazine”, 1896 by John Louis Rhead
Original Lithographic Poster Printed in Colour with Letterpress

I made the pendant from polymer clay and a glass nugget. The sculpted spiral at the bottom reminded me of the roses in the image.

I picked up the olive-green colour in the cords I used. I decided to form slightly meandering macramé as a reference to the organic stems in the image. I added a scattering of gold pearls and bronze beads to echo the colours of the pendant.

It’s quite a short – nearly choker length so I have added an extender chain to ensure it will fit.

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Art Bead Scene April Challenge

Tags

APR ABS, art bead, earrings, handmade, polymer clay

I have made two pairs of earrings for the Art Bead Scene monthly challenge. I made the polymer clay art beads for them too. Here’s the inspiration painting:

Jacob’s Ladder by Helen Frankenthaler
Oil on canvas, 1957

Here are the earrings:

Earrings by Cate van Alphen

The first pair of earrings is smaller and the beads are more regular. I paired them with green crystal cubes and seed beads on niobium pins.

The second pair of beads I made were more organic and irregular. They reminded me of seed pods. I made them into longer earrings with a leaf charm at the bottom.

ABS February Challenge

Tags

ArtVessel, FEB ABS, inro, necklace, polymer clay

I have finally finished sanding the polymer clay inro that I made for the Art Bead Scene monthly challenge. I combined this challenge with my personal challenge of making a vessel each week.

Simultaneous Dress next to the Simultaneous Car by Sonia Delaunay
Illustrated by George Lepape from January 1925

I had originally intended the inro to be a necklace pendant, but I also wanted it to be big enough to be functional i.e. a key and some cash will fit inside. As a necklace it’s a bit bigger than I’d be comfortable wearing, but I have strung it in a way that allows it to be adaptable… or maybe it just doesn’t know what it wants to become when it grows up.

Inro necklace by Cate van Alphen

If you pull the two beads below the box the cord can be tied in a knot, shortening the necklace into a strap so it can be used like a purse with tassels below. Similarly it could be tied to a belt using a larks head knot and worn in a more traditional way.

The little red ribbon is actually of vital structural importance and replaces the netsuke in stopping the sliding bead (ojime) from falling off the top of the necklace. It took me nearly a week to come up with that! I wanted something that wouldn’t be uncomfortable at the back of the neck if worn as a necklace. I like the cheeky bit of asymmetry it adds.

 

Art Bead Scene January Challenge

Tags

art bead, bracelet, Cate van Alphen, earring, handmade bead, JAN ABS, polymer clay, star, starfish

As my girls would sing “For the first time in forever…” I have made an entry for the Art Bead Scene monthly challenge. I do follow along every month and usually plan something, but I don’t often get to sit down and make it.

Landscape with Stars by Henri-Edmond Cross
Watercolor over graphite on paper, ca. 1905–1908

I had been thinking about making polymer clay star beads over Christmas, so I thought it would be easy peasy to make a couple for a pair of earrings. But, then I had enough clay for three stars so I thought the third would make a nice charm for a bracelet. So I made a few more beads in different shapes to make a bracelet. And a few more stars in different sizes…

Polymer clay jewellery by Cate van Alphen

In the end I didn’t use the third star charm and I now have a bowl of beads waiting to become something when they grow up. The bracelet ended up daintier than I planned. The chunkier beads in the bracelet irritated me – I think because I use my hands a lot.

Star bracelet by Cate van Alphen

Initially the earrings were just supposed to be the large star charm on the bottom hung from an ear-wire, but they grew.

Star earrings by Cate van Alphen

The back shows a little cross-pollination with Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night”.

Back of earrings by Cate van Alphen

Some of the stars twist around the wrong way but they look quite cute – like little starfish. Sometimes I feel like my sparkle is hiding on the inside too so that’s ok. 🙂

Art Bead Scene September monthly challenge

Tags

art bead, Autumn, earring, handmade bead, nature, necklace, polymer clay, SEP ABS

It’s a lucky coincidence that I have something for this month’s Art Bead Scene challenge. I’d just made a pair of earrings to co-ordinate with the Bronze Oddment necklace I made a while ago and, as I was uploading them to my etsy store, I realised the colours were perfect for this month’s painting.

View of the Pond at Charleston, East Sussex by Vanessa Bell
Oil on canvas, 79.8 x 84 cm

Here are the earrings. I used polymer clay beads which I made myself together with glass seed beads. They are attached to tiny brass washers I found in an old bracelet and bronze coloured niobium ear-wires. I like how the shards of polymer clay suggest the falling leaf motif of the curtain.

Oddment earrings by Cate van Alphen

And here’s a new image of the necklace they were made to co-ordinate with.

Bronze Oddment Necklace by Cate van Alphen

Art Bead Scene April Challenge

Tags

APR ABS, brown, Cate van Alphen, green, handmade beads, polymer clay

Although I’d like to claim full responsibility, the necklace I made for this month’s ABS challenge seemed to make itself.

Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940 by Frida Kahlo
Oil on Canvas, 61.25 cm × 47 cm

It all started when I was taking photographs the polymer clay beads I made for my Etsy shop, and I was inspired to put the green and brown beads together.

I loved the combination, but unfortunately I only had four of the brown beads. The strand wasn’t even long enough for a bracelet, and they didn’t work so well together when “watered down” with other beads. Then I remembered when I was back at school (in my original zigzag phase) I did a drawing of the Midgard Serpent with small sections of different patterns all down the length. This gave me the idea to make a necklace using several short motifs of different beads.

Oddment necklace by Cate van Alphen

I call it an Oddment necklace, and it was a great way to use up some orphan beads. There’s no clasp – it just goes over the head. I like the way it looks different depending on the way it’s hung. I hope it conjures up some of the richness of Frida’s paintings.

Oddment necklace by Cate van Alphen

The short section of beads on waxed cotton cord is a nod to the intertwined thorns of the inspiration painting.

Art Bead Scene – December 2014

Tags

art bead, bead earrings, Cate van Alphen, DEC ABS, earring, handmade beads, monthly challenge, polymer clay

The earrings I made for this month’s Art Bead Scene Challenge may seem a little abstract because I can’t share all the steps I took to get there (yet!). The beads I used are handmade by me from polymer clay (other than the gold seed beads in the last pair of earrings).

Choir of Sint-Bavokerk, Haarlem 1635 by Pieter Jansz Saenedam
Oil on Oak Panel, 37.1 x 48.2 cm

Rustic sequin stack earrings by Cate van Alphen

Monochrome earrings – inspired by the geometric structure of the painting.

White stack and glitter bead earrings by Cate van Alphen

Earrings with gold glitter beads (because it’s Christmas). I thought I could get away with these because of the gold chandelier in the painting.

Offset stack bead earrings by Cate van Alphen

The last pair is a bit of a tangent away from the painting. I was worried the stacks of flat disk beads looked a little like electric power line insulators so I tried a pair with the holes drilled off centre. I discovered that I needed to drill two holes to prevent the beads spinning around inelegantly. I was trying to achieve a look of an impossibly precarious cairn. The idea is pretty much the opposite of the order and structure of the painting, but don’t tell the muse!

Art Bead Scene – Hummingbird Surprise

Tags

art bead, Art Bead Scene, art charm, bracelet, hummingbird, macrame, necklace, NOV ABS, orchid, polymer clay

**Click here if you looking for the Art Charm Swap.**

This month’s Art Bead Scene Challenge inspired jewellery surprised me a little. Here is the inspiration painting:

“Cattelya Orchid and Three Hummingbirds” 1871 by Martin Johnson Heade
Oil on Mahogany Panel, 34.8 x 45.6 cm

Initially I focused on the orchid, and made some polymer clay focal beads/pendants inspired by it. I did string one of the orchids, but I figured it either needed something simple or something totally flamboyant. I went with simple since my supplies are still packed.

Orchid Necklace by Cate van Alphen

But then I thought the finished necklace was a bit too simple for a challenge piece.

Next I realised that the charm I received from Chris Eisenberg as part of the Art Charm Swap looked like a little hummingbird. I matched the beads and thread to the charm without reference to the painting. I made some polymer clay twist charms which are metallic green – they make me think of wings/leaves/petals. I added some AB coated beads and bright purple thread. The purple thread surprised me until I took another look at the painting and saw the throat of the hummingbird.

The charms are on a macrame cord with knots that twist forming a helix effect. I was thinking about the twist of the hummingbird’s wing as it hovers. I’ve been watching “The Life of Birds” on BBC catchup which has some wonderful slow motion footage of this (28:15).

Hummingbird Bracelet by Cate van Alphen

The bracelet is adjustable with the threads sliding through a central bead. I have left the ends quite long and added a little stack of beads to each so that they flit around the wrist like tiny hummingbirds around a flower.

Hummingbird Bracelet by Cate van Alphen

There we go – Hummingbird Surprise!

Orchid evolution

Tags

art bead, Art Bead Scene, Cate van Alphen, flower, focal bead, orchid, pendant, pink, polymer clay, purple

Back in 2010 I made my “Imperial Orchid” necklace. I really wanted to explore the idea further, but I never got round to it.

Imperial Orchid necklace by Cate van Alphen

So this month’s Art Bead Scene challenge painting was just the nudge I needed.

“Cattelya Orchid and Three Hummingbirds” 1871 by Martin Johnson Heade
Oil on Mahogany Panel, 34.8 x 45.6 cm

I started off making a pinstripe of magenta and lavender polymer clay as I could see those colours in the petals. Unfortunately the colours ended up too dark for what I was trying to represent from the painting.

Purple Pinstripe Orchid by Cate van Alphen

For the next orchid I made a subtle marbled mix of white and a speck of the previous pinstripe cane. I dusted on the pink using mica powders. I was much happier with these colours, but I preferred the proportions of the previous purple orchid.

White Orchid no. 1 by Cate van Alphen

So I tried again, and made a third orchid…

White Orchid no. 2 by Cate van Alphen

This time I was happy with both the colour and the proportions. It seems good things come in threes as today, for the third time, my work was featured on Polymer Clay Daily :). This time it was my Spectrum beads.

Polymer clay orchid evolution by Cate van Alphen

The outer two of these are now in my Etsy components store. I’m working the middle one into a necklace.

Art Bead Scene October Challenge – Autumn Beads

Tags

Art Bead Scene, Autumn, curved beads, earrings, handmade beads, leaf, magenta, OCT ABS, polymer clay, polymer clay beads, rust, ultramarine

With the new Bead category for the Art Bead Scene Monthly challenge, I dared to look at this month’s inspiration painting…

“Autumn” 1944 by Milton Avery
Oil on Canvas, 27″ x 35″

I may not have any beading supplies available, but I can still make some polymer clay beads!

I made a sheet of clay with blocks of colours from rust to cream and of course that magenta. I scratched in branching lines like the tree which I highlighted with white acrylic paint once I had folded cut out circles to form the beads. I also painted the edge of the beads with ultramarine acrylic paint to bring in some of the colour surprises of the painting.

I may have harmonised the colours too much. They don’t seem to pop as much as the painting. Maybe it’s because the bright yellow of the foreground is missing?

When I was finished making these beads there was enough clay for only two more smaller beads. Of course as soon as I have a pair of beads, I feel COMPELLED to make earrings.

They are pretty simple, but I only had my wire and those gold beads unpacked from making my Art Charms.

It feels really good to take part in the challenge again :).