"A Multitude" is my November rune stone; each stone has been intended to represent a force and this month's force is the power of mass or numbers.
Coral reefs are formed by the calcium carbonate exoskeletons of coral polyps - uncountable numbers of individual living creature in some cases; the Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space! The coral attract other creatures resulting in an elaborate ecosystem involving numerous species - all living together in careful balance.
Working with seed beads is a similar system - each bead is individual and complete, but not of much use in it's singularity. But combine a multitude of them together and the product is certainly more than a sum of the individual parts.
This month's stone is a bit different than previous stones, as the stone itself is the found object. This particular stone is a Petoskey stone, fossilized coral from the ancient reefs which once existed in the shallow seas that covered this part of Michigan. I intentionally left a large portion of the stone uncovered to show the distinctive mottled pattern.
I tried to emulate this pattern with beads on the bottom of the stone.
The focal point is my representation of a single coral polyp in three dimensional beadwork.
Only one more month to go !!!
Each time you finish one of these it becomes my new favorite. This is no exception... but will be hard to surpass. I love, LOVE your statement about a multitude of beads, stitched together, being much greater than the sum of the individual parts. Congratulations on keep on schedule and on your beautiful BJP pieces for the year!
ReplyDeleteA fascinating body of work, Kelly. 'The sum is (even) greater than the parts' is also true for your pieces. Individually they are imaginative and meaningful, but I very much enjoyed seeing them interacting together in your earlier photo. I'm so looking forward to seeing what you come up with for next year.
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