Flaws and All

I have worked all day on my February project and have ended up pretty much right back where I started from. My original idea was to treat the jade Quan Yin pendant like a cabochon but I didn't want to mount it on anything. Attempts to free-form the backing with beads were unsuccessful so I went on to other approaches. I didn't like any of them. In the process I discovered a hairline crack in the jade. I don't know how fragile the crack makes the pendant. At that point I had to decide if I still wanted to use it. I decided that the flaw was pretty realistic of where I am at these days - not what I used to be but still going. It is the support of others which makes the difference. So I will provide the jade with support by mounting her on a piece of suede and using that to anchor the beading. Symbolically and technique wise it works.

January 2012 Bead Journal Project

My January project is finally complete.  Last January I had a mastectomy and became part of the "pink" community.  I am definitely not a pink person, especially what I identify as "breast cancer pink".  Red, quite definitely, or fuchsia or magenta.  Anything that is rich and lively.  This necklace is my protest.  If I am going to be part of a pink community I want it to be on my own terms.

Beader's Block

When I put the clasp on the necklace and actually put it on it didn't hang right. Now I am having a hard time deciding how to put it together. I am in my familiar state of having this gloriously complicated image in my head and simplifying the actual project to the point that it looks nothing like my vision. I don't consider myself to be a rigid person but my art says differently. One of my goals for the Bead Journal Project is to loosen up.