I have more artwork to show you from Santa Fe, but today I thought I'd show you my first attempt at a beaded cabochon pendant. I made some rookie mistakes, but I guess that's how we learn.
For this first practice piece, I didn't have the best materials. Those are on order. Being in the mood to practice, I just went with what I had around the studio.
The stone is a rock from my beach coming in Otter Rock, Oregon. I didn't have any of the Stiff Stuff that every book and website highly recommends. I was looking for fabric that the glue would stick to and that wouldn't fray and I found a little piece of vinyl. I used plain black cotton fabric for the backing.
Working with these soft fabrics made my first project a little more challenging, but it still gave me the change to practice technique. My first mistake was to try to bead too close to the cabochon. I quickly learned to give everything a little more space. The edging is a little untidy as well. This is largely due to the fact that I worked way past the point of eye fatigue and I halfway couldn't focus anymore. I never know when to quit.
In spite of these flaws, I still love my first project. I like the way I finished it undoubtedly inspired by my travels around the southwest. I also think I found the perfect beads to make the green stone really pop. Sometimes there is just no beating complementary colors.
I'm working on my second piece now. This one is a little more free form and utilizes more than one focal bead. So far, the beading is much more precise so I hope this means I'm getting better.
No comments:
Post a Comment