Art Bead Scene: April 2015

This month's inspiration for the Art Bead Scene challenge is the lush Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird by Frida Kahlo.  You can read more about the artwork and the artist HERE.

Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940By Frida Kahlo

While there is a lot of great imagery to pull from in this painting (leaves, moths, hummingbird, cat, thorns, and dragonflies), I ended up designing a piece that focuses more on the colors of the painting.  I'm slowly making a dent in the stash of enameled copper pendants from Becka Beads that I've had in my hoard for years.  With all the black in the painting, I immediately thought of this one:

I wanted to let the pendant and it's pretty colors do most of the talking so I pulled a collection of little gemstones together to wire wrap along the chain using a mix of onyx, faceted aquamarine, and faceted dyed agates.  The blue of the aquamarines is a little brighter than the color in the painting, but it fit nicely with the color in the pendant so I feel ok with taking small liberties!

At the last minute I added a little bird charm and some crystal and matte aquamarine dangles to the pendant.  I'm still not sure about that part of it... I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Should I keep or ditch the dangles?  Thanks for the input!