Let's Take A Ride...

What kind of ride? A Ferris Wheel Ride!



Oh how I love what-if-I-do-that ideas! On Sunday when I was working on the custom necklace I showed earlier this week, I was building up layers to make the cool hollows when I though... what if I do just that? See, I had the idea in my head that I would be creating those big coils of wire... so I wondered, what if I only made half a hollow, and "capped" the big coils?

What is half a hollow, you ask? The way I build a hollow is from a tutorial in one of Corina Tettinger's booklets by Jill Symons. Essentially, I build up two discs on a mandrel and slowly add rings of glass until they touch somewhere in the middle. So I was thinking... what if I built up a disc and it didn't meet something in the middle? What if it was just a sorta cupped disc?



That got my mind really whirling. Then, "what if I make them all different colors" started running in my head. I worked on these beads Tuesday and just went crazy. I pulled stringers and twisties... I grabbed one of every color for a whole rainbow of rods on my desk. It was FANTASTIC!! It was exactly the creative outlet I needed after a wild week home with the kids.



As I built the necklace and twirled the wire, the capped coils reminded me of Ferris Wheel Carts... Like These. (Only mine are way more colorful.) I am thrilled with how it turned out, though I think I want to made a few more and make the coils go a little farther around the neckline. When you hold it in your hards, it is so slinky, I love the way it moves.

What I find awesome about the creative mood I am in right now is that ideas keep building on each other. As I was making this side winded discs, I thought... okay what if I make hollows now? So the idea kinda went ful circle. Hollows... lead to discs... lead back to hollows. I thought, what if I layer the colors into a wild colored hollow?!? You gotta be careful when using opaque color in hollow forms, it isn't as "stiff" as transparent glass and becomes much more soupy when molten, which leads to colapsing hollows. I was patient and things seemed to come together.



I want to experiment more with color combinations for these. I am so so with some and extrememly psyched about others. This is the "Funny Hollow" lariat! I know you all are going to be asking about that blue chain!! Well, I have been wanting to add even more color to my work. I knew colored chain was out there and I did a little research. Basically, there are three types of colored chain... plastic (YUCK!), anodized (like the colored wire I use), or enameled. This chain is the later. Enameled chain isn't made anymore so the only way to find it is in vintage form. I love it! Enamel is essentially powedered glass, so the colors I have found work beautifully with my work. I have several sketches with design ideas for this lovely new finding of mine. But we can't put my whole line of jewelry for the summer in a single post.