Showing posts with label Erin Prais-Hintz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Erin Prais-Hintz. Show all posts

Friday, November 30, 2012

The Challenge of Color - Earth as Art

I joined the challenge this year. Erin Pais-Hintz of Treasures Found and Brandi Hussey of BrandiGirlBlog are hosting the 3rd Annual Challenge of Color.

The Earth As Art image gallery is a group of over 120 pictures taken from the Landsat series of Earth observation satellites since 1972. These pictures of the unique features of our beautiful planet are a vital resource for understanding scientific issues related to land use and natural resources. I encourage you to check out these photos. They are beautiful images and so inspiring!

 Each participant was assigned two color palettes from the Earth as Art images. I was given these two color palettes to choose from. 
A little background on the Dardzha Monster:  Looking like a monstrous ogre with something gooey in its mouth, the Dardzha Peninsula in western Turkmenistan lies among the shallow coastal terraces of the Caspian Sea. Strong winds create huge sand dunes near the water, some of which are partly submerged. Further inland, the dunes transition to low sand plains.
Background on the Dasht-E Kevir: The Dasht-e Kevir, or Great Salt Desert, is the largest desert in Iran. It is a primarily uninhabited wasteland, composed of mud and salt marshes covered with crusts of salt that protect the meager moisture from completely evaporating.

I committed to working the Dardzha Monster palette. I found this choice to be my challenge. I thought and thought, how could I design a lampwork bead in this color scheme. I had some ideas and got to the torch.


Round 1 of beads. I was not satisfied with what I was coming up with. The colors were proving to be a real challenge for me to create beads with. I had made a few more of the spacer beads. They seem to have disappeared from my work bench for the moment so they missed the photo shoot.
I know I committed to the Dardzha color scheme but it just wasn't working for me. So I thought I would try the Dasht E Kevir color scheme.



These beads are from the second round at the torch. I was seeing blues and off whites in the Dasht photo. Then I thought earth and nuggets. So I created nugget shaped beads as well as round beads.
It all looked good going into the kiln but once the kiln had cooled I was disappointed. Although I like the beads there is too much blue in these. Again not the look I had in mind.


Round 3 and I nailed it! (if I am allowed to say so myself). Okay, finally, beads I can work with. Immediately the ideas for a finished jewelry design began to  take shape.






 This is a blog hop. I am sure you will want to check out what all the participants  created based on the images they were assigned. We were given some great inspiration photos. I can't wait to see what everyone has come up with!

Ema Kilroy http://emakaye.blogspot.com ***** you are here *****

Thanks for joining me. As always you can visit my Etsy shop to find lampwork beads, metal components and finished jewelry at Ema K Designs.
Posted by Ema Kilroy at 1:00 AM 46 Beautiful comments
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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

The Challenge of Music by Ema K Inspired by Stevie Nicks

"What song do you connect to so personally that every time it comes on the radio the beat moves you, the lyrics speak to your soul, and the harmonies make your heart sing? If you love music, this is the challenge for you! For the Challenge of Music, we will choose a song that speaks to each of us personally and translate that song into an accessory.", quote from Erin Prias-Hintz of Treasures Found. Erin had the idea for a challenge, The Challenge of Music.

I love when a challenge inspires me to create. I didn't have to think twice about entering this challenge. I knew immediately what I would create and which song my piece would represent. I grew up in the 80's and have always been a huge fan of Stevie Nicks. There are so many songs I could have choosen for this challenge. Ultimately I ended up going with an old Stevie Nicks song, The Highway Man. I hope you will take a moment to listen to it. This song is from her album, Bella Donna. I don't believe this particular song was a hit that aired on the radio but it is one of my favorites from the album.

"Alas he was the highway man
The one who comes and goes
Only the highway woman keeps up with the likes of those."
...."A dream begun in white."...
                                             -Stevie Nicks, The Highway Man


The piece I created for The Challenge of Music
A Dream Begun In White

A Dream Begun in White Necklace began with a variety of different types of yarns. (I wrote about the search for these specialty yarns, you can read that backstory here.) I knew I just had to create a whimsical, white, fairy tale type of necklace using the kumihimo braiding technique. Once I began working the necklace and saw it coming together I began to envision the beads that would accompany it. I didn't want the beads to take away from the necklace yet they had to be strong enough to stand with it. My vision was to create some beads that were white with gold foil shimmering from within. If you have been following me you will know that I am in love with a certain type of lampworking glass known as Kalypso. (aaaahhhh Kalypso!) Naturally I thought a couple of beads that included the beauty of Kalypso would work perfectly with the shimmery, sparkly yarns in the necklace. Mission accomplished!




I learned something through the writing of this blog. I have to laugh because all these years I thought the words to the song says "a dream begun in white" I found out that the words are actually "a dream begun in wine". Now isn't that funny? Perhaps my creation would have been completely different if I had realized this sooner. I for one am glad I DIDN'T know this fact until I completed the necklace. I am quite happy with this necklace and the lampwork beads I created to accent it.




I have been completely inspired by Erin's challenge. I have so many songs that I feel have been a representation of my life as I have moved through various phases of living. Some of the songs I would call theme songs, others provide inspiration and others are simply just fun. I would like to continue creating based on some of my personal theme songs. The ideas are rolling in. I guess it is time to get out my sketch book and start taking down some notes and drawings.....
Remember Bette Milder's The Rose? I walked down the aisle to that song. I see a necklace.....

Here is a list of the artists involved in The Challenge of Music. I'm sure they would love you to stop by and see their wonderful creations.


























                   Ema Kilroy  (you are here)





















What is your theme song? I would love to hear your thoughts on music, life and art.






Posted by Ema Kilroy at 3:26 PM 23 Beautiful comments
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