What do hares and armadillos must do with one another, you would possibly surprise? Properly, I puzzled that too, however realized what occurs between consenting lagomorphs and turtle-rabbits (that’s what the Aztecs referred to as armadillos) is de facto none of my enterprise. What’s my enterprise, or, extra technically, my pastime, is creating jewellery impressed by the “Hares and Rabbits” theme for the month-to-month Artwork Components design problem and sculptures prompted by an armadillo spirit information that started whispering to me final month.
A few years in the past, I can’t recall exactly what number of and it doesn’t really matter now that I give it some thought, I purchased a bunch of lunar hare pendants from a gifted ceramic artist. I’ve been curating them, together with many different artwork beads I’ve collected through the years, ready for simply the fitting design concepts to showcase them. Some individuals would possibly assume I’m hoarding them. These individuals simply don’t perceive than when you will have a good looking hand-crafted artisan bead you possibly can’t simply throw it into any previous jewellery design.
I used one in every of my lunar hares in a necklace for final month’s “spring” themed design problem. On the time, I didn’t know hares can be a part of this month’s theme. After I realized I might have a second alternative to showcase one in every of these lunar hares, I began pondering how I might design a necklace setting that was not the identical because the one I used final month.
These hares appear talismanic to me, and whereas they will actually maintain their very own as a pendant on a easy chain or cording neckline, I wish to give them extra of a press release setting. For this month’s lunar hare talisman necklace, I used vintage brass end wire to create a protracted crescent-shaped station with loops for dangling the pendant and different issues. I wrapped the crescent with extra brass wire and a few glass pearls in shades of purple. I used to be considering of a wild berry bramble as I wrapped the wire and beads.
The ceramic hare took the focal spot within the middle loop of the wire station. A ceramic man-in-the-moon attraction, by the identical artist, faces the hare from one facet of the crescent. On the other facet, I positioned a pentacle attraction, and for the in-between loops, I added purple lustre Czech glass leaves. The hare, moon, and pentacle every have Czech glass flower dangles. The remainder of the neckline is accomplished with antiqued brass rolo chain.
Along with the ceramic hares, I additionally collected a pair of bronze metallic clay hares from the identical artist. Though having a pair of any beads or charms nearly at all times makes me wish to make earrings, I used only one hare because the focal for a bracelet. I gave the hare connector a slight curve and added an indigo patina with some dye oxide. Since I didn’t have any bronze chain, I used copper chain to finish the bracelet. I saved the design easy, however couldn’t resist including a few Czech glass flowers as dangles. I like me some beaded dangles.
Early final month I began serious about armadillos as the topic for a sculpture or perhaps an embroidered design. I didn’t know why I used to be serious about armadillos, however I collected dozens of reference photographs as attainable inspiration for a design. Though I had loads of supply materials, I couldn’t decide on what to make. I simply saved discovering and saving photographs of armadillos. It wasn’t till a pal steered a spirit information is perhaps making an attempt to achieve me that I spotted why armadillos have been a lot on my thoughts. I gained’t get into what I believe Armadillo was making an attempt to inform me. Let’s simply say, as soon as I listened all of it made sense.
That very same pal commissioned me to make an armadillo cake topper this month – with out figuring out how a lot armadillos had been occupying my ideas. Earlier than she steered the spirit information, I believed perhaps my armadillo obsession was simply me tuning into her wavelength. However she was proper and the spirit was proper. But additionally, I made my first ever cake topper this month, and it occurs to be an armadillo. It’s formed like an armadillo cake, so, it’s an armadillo-cake cake-topper. How enjoyable is that?
My pal supplied a few images of the armadillo cake from her marriage ceremony and requested for a topper that resembled it, to be positioned on high of the cake for her vow renewals. I believe that’s such a superb thought. My polymer clay sculpture is just not an actual miniature duplicate of her precise cake as a result of (1) she requested for moons and suns the place the cake had flowers and hearts, (2) the tail is curved to suit on a spherical cake, and (3) I wasn’t capable of precisely match the colours. However it’s fairly shut and I look ahead to seeing the way it appears on the cake.
After I accomplished the cake topper, I nonetheless felt as if I wanted to make an armadillo, as a tribute to the useful spirit information. I used air dry paperclay – a medium I began working with a number of months in the past – and a wooden plaque. As I used to be sculpting, I didn’t have a plan for a way I might paint the armadillo. Fortunately, I had a pair days of ready for clay to dry to consider it. I went with a vivid southwestern-inspired coloration theme in shades of turquoise blues, orange, and yellow on a copper background. The background appeared somewhat plain as soon as the armadillo was coloured, so I added some paint splatter for curiosity.
That’s it from me for April’s inventive endeavors. Properly, there was additionally imagined to be an embroidered rabbit in a area of dandelions, however I didn’t begin stitching till the final week of the month and shortly realized the sample was going to take greater than a minute to complete. It’s thread-painting with single strands of floss and I accomplished precisely eight dandelion leaves over the course of 6 hours. Fairly than rush and make loads of errors, I’ll preserve engaged on it at an gratifying stress-free tempo and share it with you when it’s completed.
Thanks for stopping by. Please go away a remark if the spirit strikes you. This weblog is form of my model of “dance like nobody is watching” besides it’s “write like nobody is studying.” I take pleasure in writing even when nobody however me reads it. And I equally take pleasure in figuring out somebody is studying and will get one thing from it, whether or not that’s amusing or inspiration to create.