Tags
amphora, art bead, bead, blue, foam, JUL ABS, mother of pearl, necklace, polymer clay, ribbon, sea, The Little Mermaid
This month’s ABS inspiration painting is “The Little Mermaid” by Edmund Dulac. The problem that I had was that I knew exactly what I wanted to make…

The Little Mermaid, 1911 by Edmund Dulac
Pencil, pen, black ink and watercolour with scratching out on paper, 30.8 x 25.2 cm
I wanted to use my polymer clay “Oceanic Artefact” pendant, on an organic ruffled ribbon, ENCRUSTED with shells and pearls, perhaps with a hidden vial of magic liquid.
The problem was that it took me 3 weeks to get into town to buy the ribbon I needed… and then I couldn’t find my shell beads… but I couldn’t think of another design because I KNEW what I wanted to make! When I finally did get the ribbon, it didn’t ruffle like I wanted so I sewed up the edge with pale blue seed beads. Then it wasn’t as organic as I wanted, and the blue was too dark since now it was double. So I put some white glass beads inside the ribbon and by that time it didn’t really go with the pendant anymore.
Instead I used my little faux mother of pearl Amphora bead (which was going to have been the supporting hidden vial of liquid) as the focal.
The resulting necklace is quite pretty and sea foamy, but it is a bit more Disney Princess than I was aiming for. What I had in mind was a much more complex coral reef complete with sharp rocks and stinging anemones as a reminder of the pain in the original story. But now the time is up.
I suppose disappointment is also part of the story.