Linked Together

I volunteered at the elementary school’s Book Fair this week.  I am supposed to be helping the little kids find books.  Finding something for myself is a side perk!  I bought myself The Little Book of Slime.  In it, are the most amazing creatures who are either made of slime or cover themselves with slime.   I found a fascinating sea creature called a pyrosome.

luminsecent pyrosome

This guy is made up of thousands of tiny zooids who link together with a gelatinous coating.  The colony is luminescent and its shining movement through the ocean currents is just beautiful! Here is a link to a story about a giant pyrosome that awed its finders.

and here is a link to a video of a pyrosome  in motion (there is also a story about squid in the same video and you know how I feel about octopi and squid!)

Of course, my mind went wandering to natural inspiration in the jewelry world and I wondered if the Vikings, who were fearless sailors traveling all over, found a pyrosome to inspire the beautiful Viking knit chains.  Viking knit is an ancient art and a very intricate and beautiful way to make chains.   This is one of the jewelry techniques I have always wanted to learn.   Time and old eyes make this an impossibility for me but I do so admire the technique.  The lazy looping fall of the chain reminds me of the pyrosome.

This bracelet is a gorgeous piece from  Artfire artisan studio,  Designs by Malone.

viking knit bracelet

I found a how-to tutorial in case you are interested in learning yourself.  You can see that it is not for the fainthearted.   To create a thing this beautiful, you must have patience and good eye-hand coordination.  How can they charge for the time it takes to make something like this?

Cary Kilmer has a five part video tutorial on You Tube.

Chaine Maille is another art I admire.  This also reminded me of the pyrosome……..a lot of small pieces linked together to form a flowing beautiful one-ness.

A beautiful piece from an Artfire studio Bohowirewrapped

There are many ways of making jewelry that I admire but do not have the time and money to invest in learning.   I put together a collection this week called “If I were a rich man”.   It has an example of each thing I would learn if I had time and money to spare.  I would take classes, travel to learn from experts and buy beautiful beads and supplies.   I would surround myself with beautiful lampwork, beads, polymer clay, forging, viking knit, metal clay and chain maille.   My collection celebrates my admiration for those who do this type of work and the beautiful beads I would love to buy.

If I Were a Rich …

Curated By: StregaJewellry

ArtFire.com