We're All Ears :: June Reveal :: Lightning Bugs + Fireflies

After spending almost a whole week in Milwaukee for the Bead & Button show and turning around this week to chaperone 10 dancers at a pre-collegiate dance invitational, that didn't leave much room for making earrings. But it is my party, so I have to be sure that at least I set up the space to allow everyone else to have fun!

I decided to whip up two pairs of earrings: one inspired by the look and shape of the actual firefly beetle, and the other inspired by the lights dancing around in the night forest. (To see the inspiration, please click here.)

I gave myself one hour to make, photograph and post. A true quickfire challenge!

Here is the first pair called Lampein for the Greek word that their species, Lampyridae, comes from and literally means "to shine," It is funny that this rather unassuming and rather drab looking winge beetle (they are not flies at all!) can produce such a wonderful nighttime light show!

And the second pair I made is called Flashy Flirt for the playful way they do their mating dance in the dark of the forest.

Now it is your turn! If you made some earrings for the Firefly challenge, please share your link below. If you didn't make any and want to do your own quickfire challenge, please join in the fun! The LinkTools will be open for one week. And don't forget to hop around and see all the fun nighttime summertime earrings that were made!

The Light of the World

Those of you who know me already know that I love using evocative (sometime provocative) quotes to complement my jewelry. I'm an avid bookworm and am infamous for peppering conversations with arcane underused words. My husband always gives me the eye-roll when I pull some old-timey phrase out of my hat. There are so many nuanced words out there - why stick to the same boring limited lexicon?

When I'm reading and come across a passage or phrase that haunts me, I dog-ear the page so I can come back to it and pull the quote. Sometimes they're humorous, sometimes beautiful, sometimes they hurt.

My bread and butter is 20th century fiction---pre-1980s, if I can help it---and I've been on a huge William Kennedy kick lately. His Ironweed series mixes darkness, humor, beauty, and verve in a really delicious way:

" 'Four hundred dollars there, boy,' he said. 'Feast your eyes. The sky's the limit on this trip.'

I took the money into my own hand, counted it (fifties and twenties), tapped it on my knee to even its edges as I would a pack of cards, folded it, felt its thickness and heft.

'It's nice,' I said. 'What are you going to buy with it?'

'I'm going to buy the light of the world and bring it home,' Peter said.

'Where's the light of the world?' I asked.

'I'm not sure,' Peter said, 'we'll have to go shopping.' "

When I was creating these polybells, the little radiant textured suns never really struck me until they were already formed. Earthy warm hues, abstract glyphic textures, ragged organic forms. I formed these from polymer clay, textured, cured, painted, and sealed them. They're deliciously lightweight. Once I looked on the finished bells, I knew I needed to give them a name that dealt with light. The above quote was just perfect.

Art inspires art - a wonderfully endless circle!

Happy Wednesday :) 
Nikki
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