Swinging into the New Year

Hello readers, I hope you are now all filled full of good cheer and conviviality, have made (and  broken) your New Year's resolutions and are ready to get the old noses back to the grindstone. As a reward for working through Christmas, I have taken almost all of January off to visit with my mother - well, in a way, that's hard work too, but then, someone's got to do it!

Storm clouds are raging on both sides of the Atlantic - much worse in the USA than here in Britain,and I won't be sorry to go into a bit of sunshine and get away from the greyness of it all.

 I think one can tell by the pieces that came off the work table this week, that I am in pre holiday mode. I picked a playful lampwork glass bead and encircled it with woven wire - the result, when I had finished embellishing it reminded me of the Cirque du Soleil - a trapeze act! - I'm not sure I was aiming for that effect when I started out - but the bead is so colourful and fun, I should have known it straight away - perhaps even when I bought the bead at the Newmarket bead fair.
The Cirque du Soleil is a contemporary artistic spectacular circus, conceived in Montreal. The music, costumes and atmosphere are fantastical, and the best part, for me, is the absence of animals. The Big Top is almost out of a child's dream, well heated and comfortable - and the whole experience resembles an evening at the theatre.

Once I had this fun and fantastical piece ready, I couldn't decide whether I should just call it a day and put it on a ribbon as a pendant, but in the end, decided to go all the way (is there any other??) and make an exuberant necklace to go with it.
I made some large hollow beads in polymer clay and covered them in circus bright colours and stripes. The tutorial was from Orly Fuchs Galen, and pretty easy to follow. Here they are in the making.....

Once they'd been buffed to a high shine, it was time to put them into this fantastical necklace which until then, existed as a tiny speck in the deepest darkest recesses of my mind - and, exuberant it is! More fun than a barrel of monkeys! I think it is fabulous as a daytime necklace with jeans and a jacket, but will be equally nice in the neckline of a simple neutral coloured dress.

The Balinese Dancer

Mike bought me a few tutorials for Christmas - he knows I love my wire work, but this one looked so complicated, I almost didn't know where to start, or even whether I should! One dark cold evening, I decided to get on with it - and my instincts weren't wrong - though the tutorial was easy to follow, the bracelet was hard work - it took well over three evenings to make, and my fingers were sore, my knuckles grazed and bleeding (Ok, no more self pity!) - but, I think you will agree that the bracelet is stunning. The tutorial came from Indonesia, and I called the piece the Balinese dancer.

I must have overplayed the whingeing 'oh me, oh my poor hands' bit, because someone on Facebook asked me if the wooden hands I used as a display aid were my own, after I had made the bracelet!  In actual fact, after the last couple of wire pieces I made, my hands do look as rough as a bear's bottom. They need some pampering - a manicure is definitely in order, and I am going to exactly the right place for one!

There, Iv'e gone and done it now - a week before I was planning to travel, my friend from school, OT, said I ought to have an exhibition - one that I had been planning previously, fell through for unforeseeable reasons, and I had resigned myself to a quiet holiday - however, OT sent me a list of venues, and was so positive about it, I went online, found a venue and set the ball rolling. My friend Neelam Modi of Look in The Bag used to be the Art Director of an advertising agency, and she made this one up for me, off the top of her head - isn't she clever?? - I'd shop with Caprilicious Jewellery if this dropped through my postbox!!

Anyway readers, keep everything crossed for me - I have packed a lot of my jewellery, and will of course share my experiences and photographs with you - I have to get to India, with all my jewellery intact first! The next time you hear from me, I shall be in a warm place, typing away on my android.

That's all for this week folks, catch you next week with an update, same time, same place
xx