Imitation Game

Hi Everyone

The Starburst Imitation Game is finally coming to the end ! It's been going on for some time and most weeks other projects have pushed the Starburst Collection to the edges of the work lists. However, all coloured canes - green, blue, red and yellow are now beads. The blue and green versions have done well and are now incorporated into jewellery but the yellow and red although formed into beads are not quite finished - today ! Look back on Thursdays for more on The Imitation Game. I will take some more photos when they are complete and share.

Here is a look at how the yellow beads have turned out - some small rounds and some chunky flat rounds. I went for the rounds because the blue version is so pretty. I also wanted to keep the Starburst  pattern of the cane , hence the flat rounds. I think a mix of both bead styles in one bracelet will be good.

                         

I'm excited to announce the next Imitation Game which will be called The Carved Collection. I've been waiting to make some of these beads for some time and never quite found the space. Lots of people have produced lovely exampls using a slice/carving method. The most attractive versions (for me) of using these beads (so far ) are beads made by the polymer clay artist  Genervieve Williamson. This is a simple example of her work :

                      

I like the round shapes of these beads and will try for a range of different round sizes to form single necklaces. I want to experiment with shades of colours so will mix acrylic paints to colour white clay. I'm keen to try out pinks, purple, blues and orange. I'm not sure about sizes (lengths) for the necklaces, I think a range of lengths would be good. I also want to mix the colours as well as the beads sizes. I will use elastic, ribbon and a simple bead fastening technique - to give  the necklace a clean look.

Ive already started to experiment. The Imitation Game is all about using an idea/piece as a staring point and developing my own version with a characteristic of the original rather than a copy. For me, the example above is a favourite because of the small cuts and the use of the coloured paint which gives a smudged, soft look. My plan is to take the colour idea a stage further by graduating the range of the paint mix with individual beads and combining them in one piece. The slicing idea looks very simple but is deceptively tricky. I've had a few goes and produced very poor results. I've decided the clay needs to be colder. I've made up some test beads and put them in the fridge, I will try slicing small edges and see where I go. Im hoping I will have something to show next time.

                       

Thanks for reading