I was never a fan of “Gilligan's Island” but as a child who read everything she could get her hands on, my favorite stories were of the sea, pirates and being shipwrecked-- “Swiss Family Robinson”, “Robinson Crusoe”, “The Black Stallion”, “Treasure Island”. I love that game that goes “who would you most want to be marooned on a desert island with?”
The idea of exploring an unknown island where you might discover anyone or anything has captured the imagination of storytellers for centuries and, given the recent huge popularity of “Lost” on TV, it shows no signs of slowing down. What will we find-- lost treasure, hostile inhabitants, a wormhole into another galaxy? The possibilities are endless.
Summer in the jewelry design community usually brings lots of pieces that reflect our passion for sun and surf. I'm a rocks-and-crashing-waves kind of beach person, not a sun-worshipper-- freckles and red hair don't pair well with Sol's sunny assault when July comes around. But I love beachcombing and tide pools and weird seaweed and beach glass and old metal and stones and shells.
So when I set about finding elements to use with a little experimental focal that Douglas made, my thoughts turned to mermaids and shipwrecks and things that have lain under the sea for eons. I adore the color aquamarine so slices of Impression Jasper from Lima Beads (link) set the color palette this time. I had a random collection of polymer beads that didn't make it into other pieces and had some thematic affinity so I began to fill out the strand with those and picked up the color of carnelian along the way from Douglas' focal.
Following instructions in a MissFickleMedia tutorial, I heavily patinated some bronze African rings and added those to some patinated droplet fringes. Rough carnelian rounds from my favorite Etsy seller in Vermont, One Piece at a Time paired nicely with discs of Roman glass from Happy Mango Beads.
The bracelet to match (sometimes I just have to) is in process but the earrings came together quickly.
Picture yourself wearing the necklace and some tiered, white, ethereal gauze creation, walking barefoot along the beach at sunset and looking forward to an intimate dinner with...........who would you most want to be marooned on a desert island with?
