Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" Necklace Finished!

Well here she is! Finished at last. I really put a lot of time into this one, but I adore the outcome. The art bead is strung with freshwater pearls, rose quartz, a glass art bead from Greece, Greek ceramic beads, white coral, pink coral, Czech glass beads, and some glass turquoise seed beads. Make sure to check out the Art Bead Scene to see all the other beautiful pieces entered for this month's challenge.

Here is a detail. Who did the shell better... me or Botticelli? Ha ha, yea, don't answer that :) Even though I can't compare to great Renaissance masters, I'm very happy with the outcome of my copper patina finish!

Boticelli Art Bead Finished

So I soldered the art bead together and I must admit...I really love it! This piece is really special so far. The floating flowers are a perfect match :)

Now 100% lead free solder has posed a problem for me in the past. It doesnt take on copper patina well! And I LOVE the look of the copper patina. So its time to turn lemons into lemonade!!! Since I am such a lover of antiquity I give the soldered seams a look of aged copper!

I use three acylic paints to achieve the effect. A dark green/teal, a light green/teal, and a copper color. The finished product gives the look of aged metal and I like it better this way! I seal the seams with clear nail polish so there is no clothing color transfer :)

Interested in entering a piece? Do it!!!! Click here to visit the Art Bead Scene :)

The Kiss

Inspired by my new Stained Glass Jewelry beads I decided to take part in my first Art Bead Scene's monthly challenge. This month's challenge is meant to be inspired by Gustav Klimt's The Kiss. I was an Art History major in college so a challenge like this sounds fantastic!

I have two giant, beautiful Klimt painting prints hanging in my home. They are bright beautiful images of garden flowers. So I have a perfect place to sit and get inspired. I will be posting my ideas soon! Wish me luck!

If you would like to enter yourself, go to the Art Bead Scene Blog here.