Art Bead Scene is just finishing up its December Art Bead Challenge. Here's the deal: They give you 2 paintings to choose from and you use one as the inspiration for a new art bead creation. The art bead(s) can be made by you, or made by someone else and used by you. You can then enter pictures of your finished piece(s) to their Flickr group to win prizes and recognition. I had a lot of fun with this! The painting I chose for the challenge was The Storm by John Anster Fitzgerald. I really love the combination of icy cool and firy hot colors used in the painting - it just sends a tingle down your spine. I tried to play on that with my earrings, using warm reds and oranges for the filigree backing and hand-sculpted polymer twist and cool violets and blues with the lucite flowers and Swarovski centers.
I can just imagine the fairy in the painting (the one with the red cap) wearing these, can't you?
Thank you Art Bead Scene! Can't wait for the next challenge...
Some more pics of new stuff... I've been experimenting with coating my pieces in resin. They look great, but it's much harder to get a good picture afterward - the resin reflects the light so dramatically you get a glare. Another issue is lack of decent light -the rainy weather and short days are making my camera wish it was summer again! From top: Green MG Stick Earrings, Lizard Spot MG Earrings, Maize Pendant
Now that I'm finished writing my thesis, I've finally had time to create some new pieces. The top 3 images are of the same item - a pair of super-skinny, super-long mokume gane "stick" earrings. 
