Sewing machine part with beady tendrils
Sold. Random placement of vintage red flag beads. Someday I may be able to find a constellation it matches.
The gears represent the galaxies in a Hubble image of one of the oldest clusters of galaxies known. "Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies."
The small freshwater pearls are the stars in the Flying Fish constellation.
The framework for this piece is the lens holder from a pair of binoculars. It was antique surplus.
I didn't realize until it was finished that it looked a bit like a blue version of MST3K's Tom Servo. Maybe early on when he had his "house party" haircut.
More bearings. More beads.
I really wanted to entwine the beads and hardware into a unique, low maintenance pieces. The beads and small hardware are rigid and tight to the surplus gear component despite their organic placement.
As I completed this piece I discovered the concept that would begin to drive my hardware/beadwork jewelry: Mechanics of the Universe. Although it was not designed as a specific celestial object, I thought the placement of the spikes was reminiscent of the constellation Cassiopeia. The name was selected because it was the beginning of a lot of new ideas for my jewelry making.
2014. What can I say? I like ball bearings and I like to bead. This is a ball bearing being encased by a beady growth. The bead pallet comes from left overs from bracelets made by my mentor Judy Onofrio about 15 years ago. I wish I could take credit for such a rich and complex color mix.
The placement of the glass pearls represent the stars in the Summer Triangle (Altair, Deneb and Vega). The piece of hard hardware appears to be from a watch and I found it on the floor at BWI.
The Miyuki glass baroque pearls in this necklace are placed like the stars in the Hyades cluster (located in the face of Taurus). The central gear is a surplus unused molded powdered metal 30mm, 34 tooth spur gear, 6.3mm thick.
2014. Sold. One of my favorite zipperpulls (a clevis pin with compression sleeves and a wing nut) hadn't sold for years. I was going to dismantle it but decided it would be perfect for my new bead and hardware combos. This is my 2nd beaded necklace and uses the same pallet as Beaded Bracelet 08.
Sold. My third beaded necklace. Uses same base pallet as Beaded Bracelet 08. I really wanted the beads to be climbing up the bearing to defy gravity. The little bearings incorporated into the chain give it a bit of monster-snail face.
2009
Sold. After making over a dozen beaded bracelets I wanted to make necklaces too. Once I realized I did not want my necklaces to be meandering ribbons of beads and hardware like my bracelets, it seemed obvious to incorporate the beads into the hardware jewelry I have been making for over 20 years. This is my first attempt.