The Prescient Artisan, by Caprilicious Jewellery

Hello people, how are you. It is raining outside, and the clouds are grey and the sky threatening more rain. Added to that my knee is giving me a bit of gypp. So, not much to celebrate here, then! Why do I feel all excited and smiley in spite of this? Well, I caught sight of the Pantone colours for fashion for the autumn of 2019 today - and they are rich and vibrant, very me, very Caprilicious. Usually I look at the predictions and go "Pshaw!!", and carry on with my own colour combinations. I simply cannot seem to create in colours that resemble fust, must, or dust! I just get creative constipation and the ideas wont flow one little bit. Now rust is another matter, I love the oranges and burnt sugar colours that come from the oxidation of iron. This week I made a couple of necklaces in the Pantone colours for 2019, even before I knew what they were. Prescient, or what??

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Autumn/Winter 2019/2020 colours reflect a new level of colour complexity; sophisticated and strong; a meaningful palette of colour that empowers and instills confidence. Displaying endlessly varied combinations, colour stories exhibit a mix of nuances, creating the feeling of freedom to create one’s own personalised identity.
​“The colour story for Autumn/Winter 2019/2020 suggests rich tones, each capable of making a statement but also with a versatility that creates warmth and harmony when paired together,” said Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute. “A sophisticated, yet bold collection of colours, this season’s palette exudes confidence and empowerment.”
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Rich tones, indeed, and the words 'confidence and empowerment' are close to my heart as that is what Caprilicious sets out to do. Strong women who express themselves freely are in the majority in the Caprilicious Tribe, and the rest of is made up of ladies who use my jewellery as a sort of armour, something to aid them in their quest for self confidence. Either way, the word 'empowerment' is fitting in the context of statement jewellery in general and Caprilicious, most definitely.

Agate is a rock consisting primarily of crystalline silica, alternating with microgranular quartz. It is characterized by its fineness of grain and variety of color. Most agates occur as nodules in volcanic rocks or ancient lava in former cavities produced by volatile gases in the original molten mass. They were then filled by siliceous matter deposited in regular layers upon the walls. Agate has also been known to fill veins or cracks in rock. Such agates, when cut transversely, exhibit a succession of parallel lines, giving a banded appearance to the section. Many agates are hollow, when deposition has not proceeded far enough to fill the cavity, and in such cases the last deposit commonly consists of druzy quartz, with the apices of the crystals directed towards the free space so as to form a crystal-lined cavity or geode. 

 One of my customers picked up a graduated string of the most beautifully banded peach and cream coloured agate on a visit to Pompeii, and my instructions were 'do something with them.' Such an ambiguous instruction can be nerve wracking, but hey, I'm always up for a challenge.
The lady in question is quite exacting in her requirements and isn't keen on the asymmetrical vibe that Caprilicious brings to the table, but yet likes my jewellery. I generally have to remake a few elements of my jewellery to suit her but I'm always accepting of the 'customer's always right' (even when I think she's wrong) dictum so I go along with it.
​The beads are graduated but the depth of colour does not follow the graduation. Another problem when attempting to make a non asymmetrical piece. I decided to follow the graduation in the bead size rather than the colouring and see what transpired.
​ The paler beads are almost cream and I sought to raise the colour quotient with a copper wire pendant made from one of Nicole Hannas designs. The addition of little gold tone seed beads and a matching clasp finished the necklace but the central piece looked dull when I added a creamy round agate from my stash, so I replaced it with blue/green crystals. I tried an orange tone teardrop, but this mango yellow bead seemed to do better in both raising the colour stakes and in coordinating with the main agate beads in the necklace.

The large central beads remained unused, so I put them into a simple piece on a memory wire so that the necklace sits close to the neck like a torque necklace. A contrast with gently faceted blue colour enhanced jade beads and silver tone spacers completes the piece. 

Once again, the symmetry of the bead sizes had to be paramount rather than the colour variation.

As for the Unfinished Business from last week - it remains unfinished, although I've made one more of the beaded tubes during the week.
​That's me for this week folks. Have a fabulous week and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then
xx