Art Bead Scene monthly challenge July 2011

Morning in the Garden at Vaucresson, by Edouard Vuillard 1923 reworked 1938
distemper on canvas, 59 ½ by 43 5/8 inches

Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund, 1952

This month's painting is an idealistic garden scene with a colour palette that mixes strong colours like purple and acid green with pinks and silvery greys which, combined with its impressionistic style give the picture a soft, romantic feel.

Instead of trying to use the whole palette as I usually do, I decided to limit myself to 2 or  3 colours this month and, as pink and green seemed to me the most dominant I went with those. This gave me a little challenge of my own too - if you follow my Blog you'll know that I'm not really a great fan of pink. I've nothing against it as a colour, it's just not me and I don't work with it that often. Green on the other hand is one of my favourite colours so that tempered my concerns a little.

For me the painting has a very obvious vintage feel but I wanted to do something a little more contemporary while still trying to capture its essence. I hope I've done that with this glass and silver bracelet.

The beautiful handmade Calla Lily lampwork beads were made by Sally Carver and the smaller lampwork beads by Alison Chatwin. I've accented these with a selection of premium Czech glass, silvered Greek ceramic and sterling silver beads. 

The main structure of the bracelet is intended to set the backdrop of the garden scene and then, to represent the abundance and variety of the flora within it, I've  used a cluster of Karen Hill Tribe silver charms - a rose, a leaf and a beaded bell flower.

I think the combination the pink and green set off with silver give a really good sense of that lovely clear early morning light that you get before the sun begins to burn through with a harsher light.

To see the rest of the creations for this month s challenge check out the Art Bead Scene photostream on Flickr.


Lesley