A little over two years ago, the talented Eve Lynch of http://www.etsy.com/shop/krakenmosaics asked if I would be interested in collaborating with her on a submission for the Heaven's Above exhibit in Exeter, UK, that summer which coincided with the International Year of Astronomy. After its stay in the United Kingdom, the collar spent some time in a gallery in Florida. Now it's back with me in sunny New Mexico.
Eve sent me a beautiful oval (2.75" x 1.5") mosaic cabochon of a murini glass comet with a tail of glass shards. She gave me complete artistic freedom for my part of our collaboration. What I ended up with was a bead embroidered collar that echoes the design of Eve's cab with cab at its center. What an amazing one month journey I had with this project. Neither Eve nor I had any idea where this would end up. You can see in progress photos (with some commentary) in a special photo set I posted to my Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandfibers/sets/72157624350044832/with/3447151941/ .
To recreate the embroidered comet tail I used clear Czech seed beads which I attached to a interfacing-backed piece of black tone on tone cotton quilting fabric. To echo the colors in the original mosaic while not overpowering/outshining the cab, I used colored beading threads. The "cosmic" background beading was then done with Czech and Japanese beads in various tones and finishes of black, grey, and gunmetal...providing a lot of texture and movement but still without distracting from the focal.
I backed to collar in sturdy, upholstery weight ultrasuede so that it feels wonderful on the skin. The entire piece is edged with beading.
The closure for this collar was the last thing I designed and beaded. Gerlinde Lenz of www.flickr.com/photos/geometric_jewels/ had come up with the brilliant concept of the double toggle. For Cosmic Collar's closure, I decided to adapt the concept and make it LOOK like it was a double toggle. One of the toggles is permanently attached, but the look is definitely symmetrical. The result is beautiful enough to show off with an up-do hairstyle.
Measurements can be found in the last photograph. Click on it to enlarge. Feel free to contact me for more information.
IMPORTANT SHIPPING INFORMATION
This collar will be shipped securely using insured Priority Shipping with delivery confirmation for domestic orders. Because of the size, weight, and value of this collar, I will have to bill you separately for insured, prioriity International Shipping. Please contact me for a quote before placing your order. Thank you.
BEAD ART ORIGINALS STREET TEAM
I'm a proud member of the Bead Art Originals Street Team, a select group of both creators of art beads and creators of beadwoven art. To see more of our work, search for the "BAO Team" tag -http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_type=tag_title&search_query=bao+team
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Be well and get going!
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