Beth Williams

This brooch has a big pi stone, or donut stone, as its foundation.  The colors come from a clear winter morning with snow on the ground.  Holding the pi stone in place are several rows of seed beads, then there is a wealth of larger beads as embellishment.  It is a heavy item, meant for use on a coat or thick jacket.

This piece is done in free form seed beading.  I started with the blue cab, which reminded me of a pond, then added the "wildlife", one of which is hidden in the trailing strings of beads on the left.  I just let the beaded area grow until it felt right, doing it mostly in blues, like a pond at evening time. 

I made the green beads like waterdrops that are on the cords, and chose the cord endings and the clasp to fit the nature theme.  I used multiple strands to complement the heaviness and size of the pendant and to make a visual reference to grasses and vines.

The title of this necklace is "The B's Knees".

It is made of re-purposed filigree pieces riveted onto a (re-purposed) background piece of metal, hanging from a re-purposed chain. The small bees on the chain are each two face-to-face bee charms so that even if they flip over, one will see a bee's back, not the hollow "stomach" side.

The large bee and the arrow were added on last.

I taught myself to rivet so that I could make this piece.