This time, I am back to the East Coast's Atlantic winter seascape off of Nantucket, where cold, fierce winds move against the land & lighthouse in gales & howling moans.  I think of the icy water, polishing the day, polishing the sand and the beach glass for the summer people & their walks along the beach, in search of the ever elusive beachglass.  But mostly, I think of those lighthouses, alone , steeped in history, always on watch, always a nautical profile in the distance.

 

'Nantucket Lighthouse' is not named for any particular eastern seaboard lighthouse. Rather, it is named mostly for Nantucket, the sea-worn glass & shells on a winter beach, the classic Nantucket Lightship baskets and the keeper of the lighthouse, as represented by a sterling pair of binoculars, always at the ready when something looks amiss in the dark curls of water on the horizon. 

 

'Nantucket Lighthouse' uses the magnificent focal bead from this set by Gabriele Sarvayge, an esteemed glass artist from Germany.  Her beads often fetch $50 per bead as her work is gaining more and more recognition among artists.  The bead I use of Gabriele's is a sea bead with color of a teal sea, both transparent & milky, rising and falling against a beautiful dune.  She drew swirls of glass taupe colored sand, a raised seashell and dark bumps on the surface making, for a very complex, interesting & very beautiful bead, like a watercolor painting.

 

Lampwork companions to the focal beads are my all-time favorite sea-themed bead design by Catherine Steele.  These are some of her etched (meaning, like beach glass) seashell, sculptural beads.  Working with any of Catherine's sea-themed beads is like a stroll along the tideline.  I happen to know that she lives inland, far from the sea, and like I, craves the ocean all year round.   I have used two of her seashell beads here, all lampwork couched in sterling Bali twisted rings.  The final lampwork of the piece are by yet another German glass artist named Karen who calls herself, 'the bead fairy of Germany.' These are complex transparent-on-light teal & taupe, bumpy beads and work with the rest of the lampwork perfectly.  'Nantucket Lighthouse' is a stroll on a winter beach! 

 

The balance of my composition is awash in aquamarine stones, making this piece an especially high-end piece of glass jewelry art.  It was just one of those aquamarine nights, when way past midnight, I finally sat down to work, compose or 'write' in beads.  It is my favorite time of day when everything gets dreamy.

 

In any case, you will find all shapes and sizes and colors of Aquamarine stone -  moss colored rondelles, icy blue, sea-blue, sky-blue, Swiss Topaz blue.   Companions to these and the lampwork include:

 

* Silver colored roses by published clay artist, D. Jean Vainio

 

Other beads and stones inlcude:

* Baltic amber along with sterling droplets by the Hilltribe artisans

* Faceted pale blue Chalcedony briolettes

* Faceted Green Cubic Zirconia in teardrop shapes of AAA quality

* Gorgeous Chrysoprase nuggets in a turquoise shade

* Swarovski Crystal in a variety of shapes & sizes

* A gorgeous lighthouse charm

* A pair of sterling binoculars

* An anchor/ship's wheel sterling charm

* A Sterling woven basket for the Nantucket Lightship basket tradition

* A wee sterling sand-dollar charm

 

'Nantucket Lighthouse' is completed with a perfect Bali silver nautical rope toggle clasp and measures @ 9.5" in length and can be resized at no additional fees.  Should you require a size 7.5 or smaller & any beads have to be 'sacrificed,' I will create a pair of matching earrings of them for you at no charge.  I am confident this piece can be resized without compromising the overall design.

I am a gardener at heart and would spend hours out of doors working the soil and tending to my plants and trees. If only I could! I relish the ability to go into my garden to pick my own bunch of roses for the house or to give as a gift. Needless to say, I adore working with rose themed lampwork and especially those with a transparent glow to them, reminding me of the sparkling dew on the lush, fragrant roses in the early, early morning when I sneak out to take it all in; the beauty and solitude before kids and dogs and cats send the day flying.

The muse behind 'Southern Rose' are the exquisite lampwork beads by Heather Davis of Blissfulgarden beads. Her beads are always a treat to work with and she is regarded somewhat as the 'royalty' of lampworkers. I combined two of Heather's bead sets in this piece - her signature floral chintz roses done exquisitely with an encased technique.  She swirls transparent baby pink glass over a light, soft yellow core,  with a layer of transparent glass over the top, something I have never seen in her signature sets.  The effect is a rich, wet, watery depth.  As companions, I used two of her ice pink tulips sculptural  beads; a design of which I have yet to come across from any other glass artist. I start to hyperventilate when Heather offers her glass tulips for sale.  They are beyond divine, especially her transparent, glassy pink petaled beads. The overall effect is so feminine and hopeful as the days grow longer and Spring approach day-by-day, through the dense grey of waning winter chill.

In composing 'Southern Rose,' I kept the companion colors contained to those in the focal lampwork ~ shades of pink, faceted clear, light yellow and the rich lustre of pearl, mixed with the bright shine of sterling silver.

 

 Other lampwork artisan beads you will find here include:

 * Wet, bright pink rosebuds by Serena 

*  Transparent pale yellow 3D petaled flowers by Heather

* Elaborate roses by published clay artist, D. Jean Vainio

 

To complete the wondrous composition that is "Southern Rose," I used the following stones  & beads:

* Faceted AAA quality cubic zirconia teardrops

* High lustre AAA quality Iolite briolettes

* Pink & Lilac Chalcedony faceted briolettes

* Smooth white Chalcedony teardrops

* Clear, smooth, lilac amethyst teardrops

* Blue-fire flash moonstone rondelles

* Swarovski crystal pearls capped in bright sterling daisy beadcaps

* Karen Hilltribe bright sterling rosebud charm

 

Anyway...I digress.  The other thing about Siena is the Duomo - the cathedral - which is made of perfect squares of black and white marble.  There are other medieval buildings in Siena also made in black and white squares like this - I thought it was a common medieval period of architecture in Italy, however in looking it up just now, I find out that black & white were the symbolic colors of Siena (Civic Coat of Arms) and derived from the black and white horses of the legendary city founders, Senius and Aschius.

 

But back to the Duomo.  As far as cathedrals go, the Duomo is mind-bending and earth-shattering in its beauty.  More beautiful still is that I stayed at a somewhat modest hotel called The Duomo which was situated in back of the cathedral.  On my small deck, high up, I had a perfect view of the Duomo and her black & white cubes and ancient, medieval architecture. More fantastic still is that Duomo now had a webcam attached to its roof!  Except that it is 'down' tonight! Darn.

 

So for days, I have been designing this black & white bracelet in my mind.  The focal set of beads are elegant clear glass lentils over a white core, splashed with black.  Bumps and a single scrolling line of white and faint blue curl around each bead in a modern, edgy effect.  These are the work of OCD Lampwork and artist Tracey Nelson.  I have also used the work of Heather from her studio called BeadIntrigue.  She is the artist behind the small white bumpy lampwork rounds and the clear-over-white core, polka dot slices, as well as the etched white with black polka dot rounds done in miniature. Adding to the artisan collection of studio beads are clay roses in black and white by published clay artist, D. Jean Vainio.

Rather hidden in this confusion of black and white are two superb white tulip lampwork beads by Serena of  the studio, SJDS Designs.

 

To complicate the black & white chaos even more, you will find the following additional beads:

* Elegant faceted black onyx briolettes

* Blue Fire Moonstone rondelles with daisy spacers

* Clear quartz rondelles & chunky briolettes

* Tiny freshwater rice shaped pearls

* Swarovski glass pearls capped in white sterling silver beadcaps from the Karen Hilltribe in Thailand

* Swarovski crystals in a variety of shapes, in the color of black and white

 

'Dreaming of Italy' is finished not with a sterling charm of the cathedral of which I have been speaking, but with a charm of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, another jewel of Tuscany.  Except for a sterling bunch of grapes (Tuscany is famous for its fine wines), I did not have many Italian-themed charms to use.  But the Leaning Tower will do since it, too, is dramatic enough and has that luminous flare of exuberant expression the Italians are known and loved for 'round the world.

 

'Dreaming of Italy' is completed with a square Bali silver toggle and measures 8.5 inches in length.  Resizing is possible at no additional fees.