Wearable Art

I found a few of my necklaces.  For scale, the larger paintings are about an inch and the smaller ones about a half inch.  I just finished vacuuming the house and mopping the floors and don't feel like running errands yet.  So I dug around in my old jewelry box supplies.  I haven't made any in years.

This lone tree is painted in gouache and I can't remember what the beads were.  The prices depended on the frames, whether or not the materials were in gold or silver and the cost of the beads and pearls and/or semi-precious stones.  The larger the silver chain links, for instance, the more it costs, etc.  I do have one in jade that turned out pretty, but it must be at the farm.  

This still life of white hydrangeas is made with tiger eye beads, but this isn't in real gold.  I only did some earrings in 14k gold as they were pricey, even before the price of gold went up.

Some were even more detailed than these, so you can imagine how one stroke can change the entire painting.  I did enjoy it, but didn't have the right market to sell them.  That, and back then, it was very hard to find frames that weren't outrageous.  I wanted to make some wooden ones, like tiny framed oil paintings, then gild them, but they were much too intensive and the price would have gone up considerably. Today, there are tons of frames to choose from.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

GIVEAWAY FRIDAY

The time for the giveaway has come. This Friday, April 24th at 9:00pm CST, the first three followers to answer a question about a previous post, will receive the above artwork. The first item is a painting I did in gouache, of a horse in a vintage frame. The second item is a necklace made of snowflake obsidian with a silver cowboy hat charm at the closure. The red cowboy boots are also a gouache I painted. The third item is a necklace of champagne pearls with a tiny gouache floral arrangement.

So, all you have to do is become a follower. Just click on the followers icon to follow my blog. Next, Friday night at 8:30 pm CST, I will ask a question about a previous post. Be the first to answer the question (and second and third) in the comment section at 9:00pm CST and voila! Hope you win!

100th Post Giveaway Coming Up

It will be my 100th post in the not too distant future. I read in blogland that there are contests and giveaways to mark the occasion. So, here is a gouache of a horse I painted on a grocery sack. It comes with the vintage carved frame. I have some other goodies too; some jewelry I made; necklaces with a tiny (1") hand painted gouache painting. I call it wearable art. As the time looms closer, I will post more about this. Meanwhile, all you have to do to be in the running is to become a follower. On the day of the giveaway, I will ask a question about one of my earlier posts and the first 3 that answer it in the comments will win. Easy?

Here is one of the necklaces for the giveaway. It is made of snowflake obsidian which doesn't show up well. There is a greater contrast in the beads; more light gray shows up. I had a devil of a time shooting these for some reason. The glass on the frame reflected everything and/or the colors looked darker than they are. The frame is silver. Also, notice in the first necklace pic, the sterling cowboy hat charm at the closure. Did you have a child in your family that wore red cowboy boots? My son did for years; wouldn't take them off. That's why I painted them in gouache.

This is the other necklace. It is strung with champagne pearls. The gouache painting, under glass, is a one inch still life; it's a glass bowl filled with white flowers. Who knows, I might just come up with more stuff to make the odds better. Why? Because my followers are the most incredible bunch of people and I am so glad to have met them!