Transforming Inspiration Into Design

I realize we may have thrown some of you for a loop with this month's design challenge. Since our new challenge themes for 2009 are all from art history I thought I'd share some thoughts on my creative process of transforming a painting into a jewelry design.
Inspired by the movement of the brushstrokes, I want to create a design with movement and texture. I would use lampwork disks by Blue Seraphim in the colors of the painting, wire-wrapped with silver to show off their swirls. To emphasis the feeling of a garden, I'd pair them with leafy green freshwater pearls. To finish the design I'd return to the theme of abundant texture and use one of Mamacita Beadworks floral inspired buttons as a clasp.

Zoom in on a detail of a painting for unexpected results. Not every design inspired by Van Gogh's Irises need to have irises, blue or purple! By taking a corner of the painting that you find visual appealing, you can come up with a striking design that is a little off the beaten path. For this necklace I focused on the upper right corner of Van Gogh's painting to explore a design using those lush greens and sunny yellows. For this design I'd use a ceramic pendant and connectors in green from Chinook Jewelry. I'd connect them together with hammered silver links from Prolifique. On each link I'd add dangles of yellow crystals that remind me of the flowers in the painting.

While it's not necessary to take a literal approach to interpreting a masterpiece into a jewelry, you may find just the right bead for such a design. Lampwork artist Hannah Rachel offers sculpted iris beads that are made to order. Could there be a more perfect bead for this challenge? I'd make a tassel of pearls, crystals and stones in greens to create the "stem" of the iris. To carry on with the bold and organic theme I'd use peacock stick pearls mixed with silver beads. A handcrafted clasp from Cathy Dailey's shop would compliment the shape of the pearls and the earthy feel of the design.

I hope this encourages you to pull our your art beads this weekend and enter our monthly challenge! You can view this month's entries on our Flickr group. Let the masters in art history inspire your sense of color, design and creativity!