Studio Musings

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Brown - what a boring name for an interesting color

Last month I signed up for Sally Russick's One Crayon Color challenge and blog hop.  But instead of choosing a color myself, I asked Sally to assign me a color.  I'll admit to being a bit, uh, surprised when I was assigned 'Brown'.  Hmmm.... somehow I tend to forget that it is indeed a color, in and of itself.

Truth is, I like browns, they're just not what I think of using this time of year.  Unlike the fashion industry, I tend to work in the colors of the current season, and browns are definitely Fall/Winter colors in my palette.  For inspiration, I went to - you guessed it, my crayon box.  There I found browns with luscious names like chestnut, tumbleweed, mahogany and bittersweet, but oddly enough, no chocolate. 

Then I came across an old UFO, a companion piece for my Leopard Jasper bracelet, and I knew I'd found my piece. So here it is, so newly finished it doesn't even have a name of its own yet, right now its simply the Leopard Jasper Choker.  Descriptive, eh?



And the back shall be front

This is actually a picture of the back of the choker.  The shank on the original button I'd selected when I began (and abandoned) this project two years ago had broken, so I went shopping for new buttons to fit the project and found this beauty.  Now, my choker has two alternate fronts.  And seems to have a decidely western feel I hadn't anticipated when worn back to front.

Here's the jasper focal:

Leopard Jasper choker, freeform peyote


I like the almost snakeskin quality to the coloration and bead work.  I think that is also adding to my feeling that this comes from the dusty southwest of my childhood.  Not the land of red rock, but of golden, drifting sand.

Truth is, I'm not entirely certain the choker is quite complete.  I may decide to add more top work - layers of bridges atop what's already there.  The bracelet definitely has more top work.  I found that simply increasing the scale from bracelet to choker created enough complexity that I'm not sure it needs anything else.  I think I'll live with a bit and see before I go too far and made it too 'busy'.  What do you think?

And in the meantime, here are the other participants, nicely grouped by color families:

Button Purchases - which one?

Hosted by:

Red

Bobbie Rafferty   http://beadsong.blogspot.com

 

 

Orange

Narrowing the selection to two
Linda Landig  http://LindasBeadBlog.com
Rebekah Payne   http://treewingsstudio.com

 Yellow

Blue

And we have a winner - now for more stitching
Cherie Reed  http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com
Rebecca Anderson  http://songbeads.blogspot.com
Alicia Marinache  http://allprettythings.ca
Charissa Sloper   http://blog.obsidiansoda.com
Sandi Volpe   http://sandivolpe.com

 

 

knee brace as needle holder & workbench

 Green

Jenny Davies Reazor   http://www.jdaviesreazor.com
Elizabeth Auld  http://beadsforbusygals.com

 

 

Adding bridge work

Purple

Jennifer Judd Velasquez http://jenjuddrocks.blogspot.com

Brown

Diana Ptaszynski   http://suburbangirlstudio.com
My original bracelet

Black

Birgitta Lejonklou  http://lejonklou.blogspot.com/



38 comments:

  1. Karen! I am so envious of your earthy, rustic, down right beautiful freeform peyote choker!! I love, love, love how the browns create such a wonderful pattern!! I'm envious because over the past month I have tried and tried to create a freeform peyote bracelet (your original bracelet is so stunning, too).. mine have been it's been an epic fail! I'm going to be contacting you for help!!!!

    Thank you so much for joining in on the challenge/hop!! I can't stop staring at your gorgeous bead work!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sally, I'd be more than happy to help with any questions regarding freeform peyote. It's far and away one of my favorite art forms and I love to share! :)

      Delete
  2. Oh, heavens this is gorgeous! Love the jasper, and the change in button is wonderful. Girl, you do such beautiful work!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi:-)
    Very beautiful and original work.I love the free form peyote stitch,because it allows our Beading Fantasy to spread the wings freely.Brown is beautiful and has got thousand'faces'.You have used those shades in the very interesting way.Also all the additions to both pieces are synchronized perfectly.
    Warm Greetings from Sweden-Halinka-

    ReplyDelete
  4. First, let me compliment you on your beadweaving skills. My eyes and hands would never be able to do this technique, nor would I have the patience.

    Your piece is stunning! It reminds me of a safari, or some remote destination in some exotic far-away place.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is one of the most beautiful designs I've ever seen! It's funny how you compared it to snakeskin, because when I first saw it I thought it resembled a snake that I'd see here in the desert - only much more beautiful!! I'm amazed at your talent and yes, brown is one of those fogotten colors - but it's one that I wouldn't want to live with out! My jaw is still on the floor over this stunning work of art!

    ReplyDelete
  6. It DOES have a snakeskin look! I love freeform work and this is exceptional!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! That is just a true piece of art. I love the beading and the way you incorporated the stones. I agree that it almost looks like snakeskin. The bracelet is also stunning. I am just in awe.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Another jaw dropping piece of jewelry. I love it! I love the snakeskin look and the freeform feel of it. Yes, it is definitely western in feel. First thing I did was run to your shop to see if you had listed it. But, then you said it wasn't quite done. Oh well, I love it. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Karen,
    I love your piece it is beautiful! I am in awe at your talent with free form peyote. I have always wanted to try free form but have been scared to try. My first thought when I saw your choker was a Rattlesnake skin. I love the button you chose and the Jasper focal is gorgeous.
    Therese

    ReplyDelete
  10. My jaw is still hanging open and my eyes are bugging out from the sheer WOW factor of your snakeskin bracelet. Awesome work!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is creative genius!! Love the progress photos! So very, very beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  12. That is wonderfully rich.

    ReplyDelete
  13. You really gave brown the attention it deserves! This piece is so pretty and all the browns are just gorgeous together!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow, gorgeous! To me, the bead weaving resembles fabric, it's so beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Karen, this is beautiful! I love the original bracelet, too, and I think your new piece is gorgeous - the rich combination of browns is lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh, it's Leonard's big sister! And she's beautiful. It looks like one of those beautiful rock formations in the desert, with the striations and variations of colors from each layer of geologic activity...I think she's perfect as is. Great job, as always, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  17. This is absolutely beautiful. I love your button choice and the mixture of browns is awesome. Great job.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Love your work. I am in awe of seed bead creations and the use of browns is really beautiful here.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Just gorgeous. Love the modulation of the color and the freeform use of peyote. Fantastic!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow! This is fantastic!!! Am amazed!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow, this is the second freeform peyote piece I've stumbled across on this blog hop and I love it...the design and your choice of colours are just gorgeous...I can see chocolate, coffee, caramel and liquorice. Yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I love this choker! It does look like snakeskin! I love freeform and I'm an admirer of your work. This beautiful and gives new meaning to the color brown!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Gorgeous! Oh how I wish I could create something like this!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Wow, what a gorgeous study of the color Brown. Love it. I like that it is still evolving.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I tend to forget that brown is a color too, but I love what you've done with it here! The beadwork is just perfect for the focal bead.

    This piece makes me want to stop overlooking brown, tan and bronze the next time I go bead shopping. :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. I wish I had known about your book when I first started free form peyote. You do beautiful work! I can relate when you say you wonder if you are done.....I have the same thoughts often. It is hard to know when to stop.
    I am going to follow your blog now.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Beautiful! Love everything about it!
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  28. Wow, brown is not boring at all, gorgeous work!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. My very first thought when I saw this beaiutiful freeform bracelet was WOW that looks like snakeskin
    Awesome bracelet!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Oh My Brownie Goodness!!!
    I love EVERYTHING that is going on here...I love the focal, or when the back is front that it looks like a small scarf. I love the soothing earthy colors. I love the stitches and beads. I LOVE the button choice---best of the 3 for this piece! I LOVE it all and really need to work out of that lovely book of yours I received this winter! I hope the knee brace isn't a result of a trapeze incident.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Oh what you've done with brown! This piece is so full of texture I just want to touch it!! Very cool necklace.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Free form peyote? I am always amazed and intrigued! Gorgeous variety of browns, lovely work! Wow!

    ReplyDelete
  33. I definitely enjoying every little bit of it. It is a great website and nice share. I want to thank you. Good job! You guys do a great blog, and have some great contents. Keep up the good work. expired tumblr

    ReplyDelete