Fern Goddess Completed

I am still in overdrive making these big bead embroidery collars.  I'm hooked on them.  With each one I am experimenting with a different idea.  Where do I get my ideas? From books?  Sometimes.  From magazines? Sometimes.  So where do you get ideas to help expand your experimenting trying to find the perfect Necklace Collar?  First, I don't think I'll ever find that...or anyone as how in the world can you compete with Mother Earth.  She has components that we can never obtain...clouds, spider webs, ripples in the water, patterns on a desert plain, mountains covered with fog, creatures painted with the most wonderful palette of colors...nope it is hard to compete with Mother Earth.  But myself with others are constantly trying to achieve something miniscule in comparison with Her work.

I bought this pendent from Stoney Creek Beads in Michigan last month.  It is one of Duane Collins.  To me she looked like a Fern Goddess so there is the name I decided to call this.  I used the Rivolis that my friend Liz let me have.  Then I dived into my bead stash and find these dyed mother of pearl rings that were perfect.  I wanted to surround the Fern Goddess pendent with something more organic than glass beads, so I found this string of polished stone beads.  I chose colors that reminded me of my trip to one of the rain forest in Washington State (the Hoh Rain Forest at the foot of the Olympic Mountain near Forks Washington long before the Twilight movies came out). 

Hoh Rain Forest in Washington State

Close up of the caged Rivolis

I chose colors that reminded me of the Ho Rain Forest

 I have been having difficulty finding the perfect way to clasp these huge collars.  The weight is settled on the clasp, and I've had a few major failures in the most inappropriate places (like at the Worthington art show when I was taking one off to show...so embarrassing).  So I've been working with weight ratio (oh like the physics term) and decided that I had to reallocate the surface on the back making the piece not hang like a bag of weight off the back of the neck.  I'd looked around on Facebook and the blogs I follow looking to see how other Artist had attacked this problem.  Finally it came to me that if I completed the inner circle completing it to include the clasp that the weight would be more evenly distributed.  How to get that? I used a bigger clasp made of metal...it dug into the skin.  I made hand made clasp of beads for the toggle and ring which works well when it comes to comfort, but they have the potential to fail with too much tugging.  I added more weight to the attachments to the clasp and that did help with the weight proportions, and I think will hold up with wear.  Then I looked at a couple pieces from the Showcase 500 Beaded Jewelry book and saw that some artist were using hook and clasp from the fabric stores.  So this is what I've done with this necklace.  (no picture as though it works, I don't like the finished look as well so more experimenting with the next collar).  Oh yes...there will be more!  I'm going to have to buy more of those display pieces to exhibit them all in my display case in the upstairs studio.