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.