The Earring Whisperer: Journey One Inspiration ~Illustrations of Aubrey Beardsley~

Hello! Thank you for stopping by! This is my first post of 2020 and our First Art Journey of the year! I don’t think we’ve done an all black and white challenge before! Let’s begin!!

How Four Queens Found Launcelot Sleeping (1893)

For the first pair of earrings, I focused on the striking leaves. I used stunning tribal patterned discs of stoneware and porcelain clay by Jill Stoffregen of Foxpaws. I wired vintage seed-bead millinery leaves on the bottom. I loved how the patterns flow into one another.

Above, I used enamel discs by Anne Gardanne. They are amazing with their little dashes like the quick strokes of a pen. I then wired petal-shaped seed beads to a looped connector to create a leafy branch.

Excalibur in the Lake (1893)

The crosses were made by Lina Macijauskiene of CeramicFantasyByLina . I wanted a medieval chainmail design and I’m pretty thrilled with these!

How Morgan Le Fay Gave a Shield to Sir Tristram (1894)

The ceramic connectors are by our very own Terri DelSignore of Artisticaos! I had tried a few ideas but kept going back to doing something with hands. I also wanted hands reaching out like the illustration rather than a center charm or dangle. I tried jump-rings but wire wrapping directly to the frame was the way to go; everything is perfectly secure. I decided to use a tassel because I loved the overall shape of the earrings with it. I went with a dark brown instead of black for a little warmth and it also complemented the dark copper wrap.

So, I hope you’re inspired to look through your stash of beads for some black and white pieces so you can play along!

Thank you for joining me and if you have any questions please feel free to ask. Also, I’ve added links to the supplier’s names.

Loralee Kolton xo

www.loraleekolton.etsy.com