Art Bead Scene February Challenge

I decided to participate in the February Art Bead Scene Challenge.  The inspiration picture is very 'Vogue'.  I like the era when the picture comes from - maybe because it reminds me a tad of the current season of Downton Abbey.  And I like the structure and shapes. 



I had ideas in my head of how I wanted my jewelry to go and my piece came out vaguely like my imagination...

This necklace is made with a combination of wood beads, hand-painted wood beads, blood orange lampwork rondelles by Jodie Marshall, seed beads, blue stone beads and the loveliest glass beads by Beadfairy, which are the blue and silvery-white striped barrel beads and the lipstick red mini-ribbed spheres.

The picture is taken in bright sunlight, which is not ideal for photographing jewelry but, since I rely on natural light to take my pictures and we've only had glorious sunny (warm!) days around here (Yay!), this will suffice. 

Seeing the Vogue picture right above my necklace, makes me see what could be improved, and by the end of the month, I may still alter the piece.  You see, the creamy beads are actually painted wood beads.  They are painted with Vintaj Ranger Patina Inks.  First, I covered the beads in two coats of 'agate' and then painted the splashes of color with 'cobalt' and a mix of 'cinnabar' and 'rust', and then glaze.  I think the color would fit more with the original illustration had I not mixed the cinnabar and rust quite so well, maybe left a little more orange showing or if I had used the 'garnet' patina (but I don't own that color!  Also, I think I like the orange-red lampwork beads more than I thought I would.  

Of course, when I am designing, it is in my basement with lots of unnatural light, so some of the color disparities are more noticeable with the bright, bright sunlight!

My original idea was to paint  the beads with the same pattern as the dress in the illustration.  The bead on the right (below) was the first I tried on and it started looking a little Charlie Brownish.  The bead on the left (below) was my 2nd attempt and I actually used a headpin as my 'paintbrush'.  The pattern is nice but for the necklace, I think the abstract brush strokes work well. 

Overall, I think the necklace would look great with a simple solid color top - adding some fun to an everyday outfit!