May 6, 2006

Nopal Bracelet


The Nopal or Prickly Pear Cactus is in full bloom outside of my Arizona Studio window. It's a distraction as I keep admiring the new flowers that open each morning. Since I still had the hot (red/orange/yellow) palette of beads on my work table, an idea surfaced to bead a Nopal bracelet with Mother Nature's wonderful color combinations.

.



Let's see, start with the flower..... Make petals with the idea of joining them together in a centerpiece. Somehow that just became too structured for me so I switched to a free form peyote technique and incorporated the petals into the form.
.

Next I picked up the beautiful purple and green of the unopened flower buds for the strap. I love the way that different sized beads undulate along the length of the strap. Next I went back and added more beads and detail to the flower.

This bracelet most certainly will be noticed as the flower fills the top of the wrist and sits halfway up my hand. I'm very pleased with the way the bracelet finished up, however it is much more tropical than "cactus flower' looking. Seldom does a design come out exactly as I see it in my mind's eye and I am often surprised with the final results.

6 comments:

  1. Beautiful, Judith!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful, Beautiful bracelet! I wish I had the guts to work with nature in beads like you do!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Judith, I love the way the new bracelet came out. I think your mind and hands worked very well together to create a work of art from nature.
    Bevvie

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks wonderful - the combination with the orange/yellow and the purple is very unexpected, but it works so well.....

    Bead on!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Liz
    I'm always suprised at the color combinations that Mother Nature puts together - VBG and some work in beads, and some don't....

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous12:35 PM

    Judith it is gorgeous! I love the color compliments just perfect to make it pop.
    Donna A.

    ReplyDelete