After missing the Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge last month… AGAIN… I was determined to complete it this month, and I have! The idea of the challenge is to create a piece (jewellery or otherwise) incorporating at least one art bead inspired by a given piece of art.
Italian’s House at Monmarte by Maurice Utrillo
Oil on panel, 53 x 76 cm
I was most drawn to the piece of sky at the back with the contrast of the dusky sky and the dark green trees. I decided to make a hollow doughnut pendant and “paint” the trees on with polymer clay giving an impasto effect.
For stringing the pendant, I made green beads in the same colours as the trees, but I also wanted to make some reference to the architectural element of the inspiration painting. I had planned to make textured white cubes until it occurred to me that they would look like sugar cubes! At this point there was some cross pollination between the 52 Earrings Challenge (this week’s theme is “Faux”) and the idea of “ivory” squares came to me. Ivory beads seemed appropriate to me given the era of the painting.
The turquoise colour of the cord in the earrings came back to the necklace in the form of stone beads I salvaged from an old necklace. These picked up the blue colour of the sky and lightened the green shades which were rather heavy against the ivory.
Unfortunately I could not use the same cord to string the necklace as I did for the earrings as the holes in the stone beads were too small. I used gold ribbon instead which picked up the touches of yellow ochre in the trees. While I am happy with both the earrings and necklace separately I am not quite sure they make a SET – they are clearly related, but perhaps there is just a hint of sibling conflict?
