The Glass Bead Tree

I designed the Passion Flower necklace for a wedding I attended in August of 2011.  I knew what I was wearing, a simple outfit of black and white.  Of course a black and white piece would have worked fine, however I had done a black and white necklace in the past and it was just too plain.  I really wanted to jump-start the outfit with lots of color.

I have done many bracelets, that I have coined "Friday Night Brights".   A  brightly colored bracelet that can be worn with many styles and adds a great deal of color.

Just before designing the necklace I had the opportunity to see Chihuly's exhibit at the Boston Museum of Art.  With my own passion for the use of bright colors, added to the inspirational exhibit, the design for the necklace, especially the use of color was taking shape in my mind.

The next stage for the design was the basic shape of the necklace.  This was based on the collar of the shirt I was going to wear.  This is when I started to see in my minds eye both the color and the shape of the necklace coming together.  Flowers and leaves seemed to be a logical focus due to the time of the year that I was designing the necklace.  With these three elements the look of the necklace was really taking shape in my mind.

The next step was the mechanics of the necklace.  While studying with Stephanie Serisch, I learned some knotting and macrame techniques.  I knew that it would be a good choice in achieving the look I was going for.

After three days working in the studio making the glass components for the necklace and one full day constructing, The Passion Flower Necklace was complete.

I have a made a couple of changes on the necklace construction since the first one was made. Variations of the Passion Flower Necklace have been forming and taking shape in my mind.