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

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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 :).

From Summer sunshine to Autumn leaves

Tags

Autumn, beads, fire, necklace, orange, pendant, polymer clay, red, yellow

Back in May I decided to make a necklace using a pendant I had made with a yellow flower. At the time I had hardly any yellow beads so I specially ordered a sunshine mix of yellows and oranges. I ended up with a lot of leftover beads, so I decided to bead a necklace for my Fire Moon pendant.

Fire Moon pendant, polymer clay and glass nuggets by Cate van Alphen

My first attempt was a multi-strand necklace with a beaded toggle. There was nothing wrong with the necklace, but it just didn’t suit the pendant.

So I tried again including burgundy ribbon and silk yarn and I was happier with the result.

I still had the first attempt necklace which now demanded a pendant, so I made a sheet of mokume gane to match the colours of the beads. I made several pendants (some still unfinished) until I settled on a large barrel bead pendant.

unfinished pendants

Barrel bead necklace

What I find interesting is that now that it’s October those sunshiny Summer yellows look like fiery Autumn foliage. It just shows what a different perspective can do. Lately my glass has been half empty – I’m trying to see it full again.

ABS Challenge September

Tags

art bead, Autumn, beads, doughnut pendant, necklace, painting, pendant, polymer clay, SEP ABS, silk ribbon, silk yarn

This month’s Art Bead Scene challenge painting is Autumn by Alphonse Mucha. I made a hollow doughnut pendant using colours from the painting and a floral pattern to convey the bountiful atmosphere of the painting. Here is a video demo of me making the polymer clay pendant.

Autumn from “The Seasons (series)”, 1896
Alphonse Mucha
Oil on Panel

The first thing that caught my eye in the painting was her beautiful tendrils of red hair. I used a mix of red silk yarn, ombre silk ribbon and strands of beads to represent this and the maturing foliage.

Voilà – Autumn on a string. Or should a say many strings? 🙂