Pearls!

I love pearls.  I use many colors of dyed pearls in my leaf series of silver earrings and pendants.  But I haven’t used pearls often with polymer.  I have been doing a fun design with pearls set on a post and backed with a concave disc of silver.

I’ve been exploring this design element from several directions.  First came a series of designs using a cane pattern and a contrasting solid.  I’ve done a dozen or so of these and each pattern and shape combination is different.  So they are each one of a kinds.

Then, I wanted to come up with designs that were simpler, smaller, and which could be ordered according to shape or color for my wholesale line.  Here’s an example, and I’ve got sets accordingly in different shapes…

Finally, I wanted to take the design into deeper complexity and pieces with a bigger Presence.  These are each about 2-1/2″ in diameter, so they have presence alright!

I started with 4 color mixed sheets that I painted, stamped, sprinkled with glitter, dripped with ink, and even drew on with metallic markers.  Those sheets were covered with a thin sheet of translucent.  Those four sheets were cut up for the major spaces of these donuts, and interspersed with canework patterns.  Finally, I added floating cane slices or carved and back filled.  The pearl is mounted on a wire that is soldered to the portion of the bail that’s hidden inside the layers of clay.

So there you have it.  Same design concept applied in different forms.

Have a great weekend!

Patti