Thursday, May 10, 2012

Decay - May 2012 Bead Journal Project


 My rune stone for May is "Decay" - very much complementary to my April piece "Growth".

Decay is yet another force that on the surface seems negative; yet imagine a world where nothing decayed - "stuff" of every kind, piling up around us, nothing breaking down and being reused - life would simply be unlivable,  as life on earth is based on smaller organisms breaking down the larger and creating nutrients as a byproduct. Many of the agents of decay are not terribly attractive, but some are quite beautiful, like the fungus that dot the forest floor each autumn,

Decay is just another form of transformation, neither positive or negative, just necessary!
  

I have again used a Mackinac beach stone as a base, with another beach find as my focal piece - some kind of rusty widget. I especially like the little pebble wedged in the bend. I made sure the base stone was visible through the hole in the widget.

I created a bezel using yet more decayed items - Victorian era cut steel beads from an old evening bag; I love the mix of rust and shine. They are also a good example of my own personal transformation - I began beading by reproducing Edwardian beaded evening bags and have now moved in a completely different direction.



On the back is another rusty bit, with lovely patina, roughly wired into place.


I showed this to an artist friend of mine and was surprised when she described it as "dainty" - what do you think? 

4 comments:

  1. such an interesting and beautiful piece of work, i love the way you have brought all these finds together :)

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  2. Beautiful piece! Maybe your friend meant dainty as in fragile. Your piece reminds me of the fragile beauty of a bird's nest. Despite all the work and materials that go into them, the final result is a thing of delicate wonder!

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  3. This is such an interesting and creative piece. Love it.

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  4. Love the piece and the old beads are just wonderful, I do love vintage and antique beads. And the piece that you wrote about "Decay" makes it all the more interesting. Great Job!!

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