Component
Challenged
It’s not
enough to be able to bead a really cool focal piece, for it will only languish
if you don’t have a concept for how it is to be used. And that means
components. That means having a flair for how the parts of a piece of beadwork
harmonize (or not).
I am often
challenged about where to go with a focal piece of beadwork or how to arrange a
smaller repeating motif. That’s one of the reasons I set up a Pinterest Board
“Jewelry Inspiration for Bead Design” which you can view here.
It has been a help to me in getting some ideas about how to put necklaces
together. Good design is tricky and I have also noticed that many of the
successful bead artists have a background in design, which I wish I had. If you
want to spend some time honing this sense, check out Charlotte Jirousek’s “Art,
Design, and Visual Thinking” which can be found here.
A while
back I created a motif using some 20mm lozenge-shaped beach glass beads I found
at a bead show:
You can
see (barely) that I attached them to each other using a band of Cubic Right
Angle Weave, but I wanted something more for the strap. I wanted components.
Here’s what I came up with:
