Twisted

Twisted Copper and Steel wire with beautiful Jasper Points hanging below.

I adore the look of these 2 metals twisted together and the Jasper look so with it!

I must say it is challenging to twist small lengths of this wire together so that they match but I'm getting the hang of it the more I work on them. They are worth the effort in my opinion.

These have beautiful Lampwork Headpins by Leese Mahoney dangling from them!

Kristi

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Repeat Offender

For those of us who gravitate toward art beads---and who doesn't, really?---we tend to have favorite bead artists that we keep going back to, time and time again. Can't seem to shake em. And just when you think that 1.5 trays of their beads are going to satisfy your hunger, they list new components and you find yourself going back again for another fix, like a zombie in the endless pursuit of BRAAAAAAAINS. 

One of the bead artists on my short list is Marsha Neal. I remember buying from her years ago when I first started designing jewelry and I still buy from her to this day. Her abstract, organic shapes and earthy glazes have captured and held my fascination through quite a lot of creative growth on my part--through it all, her beads have always played a note in my cumulative song.

Some of my favorite beads are her twisted horns. It's clear that she takes great care in forming them but still lets them take on their own unique, evocative shape. I have yet to find two that match perfectly--that's part of the magic, for me.

For this pair, I used a slate blue-gray matte glazed pair of horns, stacked them with vintage German pressed wood beads, and capped them with rusty petal bead caps. Throw in some blackened soldering to fill the gaps, hang them from some of my extra long ear wires, and you've got two edgy pieces of art for your ears.


Happy Wednesday!
Nikki 
LoveRoot on Etsy

A Twisted Gesture

So have any of you ever taken an art class where the instructor had you do gesture drawings? Quick "first impression" line drawings that are less about accuracy and more about getting a feel for shapes, perspectives, and movement. They can almost be called a scribble or a doodle...capturing a macro idea in a short period of time, usually in about 30 seconds.


Well, the birth of my playfully named "twisted root" earring series is loosely grounded in this idea. Take textured copper wire, beat and twist it to hell, and then solder it into conceptual shapes. Do it quick and hot without a focus on perfection and more of an emphasis on instinct. The end results are deliciously primitive, organic, and wickedly pagan. I've had so much fun the past few months playing with this concept. I find it allows for a completely different kind of freedom from the traditional beaded approach. 

This particular pair has been set aside (read: hoarded for myself). The shape was inspired by the "devil's nests" from the TV series "True Detective". Yes, I'm a dork. But I just couldn't stop thinking about those dark mysterious beautiful little bundles.

It's fun to explore chaos in design. It can produce surprising results :) 

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy