Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month, October 2015

How does this sneak up on me every month?!?  Yes, it's time again for another reveal of the Art Jewelry Elements Component of the Month challenge.  Although...this time there was no component of the month, but rather a theme.  When Karen announced that we were all to challenge ourselves to be inspired by a Raven or Crow theme, I knew it would be fun!

Raven inspiration from Pinterest.

Growing up in Alaska, I have always identified more strongly with Ravens.  I love all the variations of black in their plumage, their antics, and all the lore surrounding them.  If you've never been up close to a raven, you should know that they are nearly twice the size of a crow, standing an average of  24" long, with a wingspan up to 50"...they truly are a majestic bird.  The images above give you an idea of the color palette I think of when I hear "Raven".  Unfortunately, none of the crow/raven components that I had in my stash already really fit into my preconceived color palette.  Then my buddy Katie Dirnbauer of Knoxville TN posted this piece on Facebook, and I had to have it...

Check out Katie's work on her Etsy page - KDD Jewelry

It's been really neat over the last few years to watch Katie's style develop and see her skill set grow.  In the last year or so I feel like she's really come into her own creatively, so when I saw this raven, I was happy to support a friend and fellow artist.  And now you ask...but Lindsay, this piece is finished!  How are you going to challenge yourself and create with it?  I admit, I was a little bit intimidated at first.  Then I remembered this piece I made for another artist friend a couple of years ago...

This friend wanted her fossil ivory feather to have some sort of arrangement where she could take off the beaded strap and exchange it for a strung or chain strap.  I got fancy after figuring that out, and made a few beaded charms that she could add or subtract as well.  So, how do I turn Katie's raven pendant into something like this?

First I made the beaded strap with loops on each end.  Then I scrounged around until I found a scrap of thick sterling wire.  It was already curved into some fancy shape that I never ended up using, so I hammered it out flat, cut it in half, filed all the ends smooth, and curled them into spiral shapes that I could slide the chain/beaded rope/and charms on and off of.  Oh yeah, the charms...

Each charm has a different look, different beads, different shapes.  I wanted each charm to speak "raven" in a different way.  There's a dimensional drop using some of my new quadratiles and the long Miyuki drops, a feather in dark oil slick colors, a captured rivoli with lampwork beads by SueBeads, Marie Sawyer, and my buddy Wilbur, and a captured vintage glass stone with a 2-holed Czech drum bead.  Because these charms dangle and twist around on their own, even the back of the captured stone and rivoli are fun to look at.  I didn't want to be constantly looking down adjusting the charms.

You'll have to forgive me this month, I was rushing to get pictures taken (taking them on the floor of my cubicle in the office), and missed out on the beauty shot (didn't miss out on the blur though...).  I guess there's always next time, right?  I hope you'll hop along and see what everyone else has created!  As always, thanks for looking!
Art Jewelry Elements Team:
Lesley Watt
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Phantasm Creations (you are here!)
Caroline Dewison
Linda Landig
Niky Sayers

Our Guest Bloggers:
Linda Newnham
Michelle McEnroe
Sarajo Wentling
The Paisley Lizard