Tuesday, July 24, 2012

ABS Challenge July 2012: Picasso's Acrobats


This month's Art Bead Scene Challenge focuses on the work
of Pablo Picasso, 
"Two Acrobats with a dog," 1905

For more information on Picasso's "Rose Period" and this painting, please visit the ABS website.

The clothing of the circus performer is significant.
As noted on the ABS page, "The harlequin, a comedic character usually depicted in checkered patterned clothing, became a personal symbol for Picasso."  The colors and diamond pattern will also be the focus of my entry this month.


In designing this piece, I went for several shades of bluish-gray (although they look more gray here), along with antiqued silver and the brass-tones found in the acrobat's leotards.   There is also a spot of black, also appearing at the top of the earrings as an accent bead and on the upper body of the adult acrobat's costume.   


The diamond shape is repeated throughout the components.

The art beads are 
Deep Slate Square Pottery Beads, 15mm, and Blue Grotto Square Pottery Beads, 15mm, both by on of my favorite artisans, Cindy Kovar of Captured Moments.

The brass components in the middle of the design were cut and embossed by me.   

I purchased the gray dangles on the end.  They are brass and were finished in gray, but I buffed slightly to give it a more aged look and to allow some of the brass color to come through again.

While the circular patterns used throughout the design, hoops and loops going in several directions,  do not appear in the painting, but they do remind me of the acrobats' work!

Thank you for stopping by for the July Art Bead Scene Challenge!   

     Sharyl McMillian-Nelson ~ Sharyl's Jewelry

P.S. You can view other entries at the ABS Flickr page.  There will also be a Blog Tour of participant entries on Aug. 31st!  

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8 comments:

beaded jewelry said...

I don't know about "ABS website".Visit as a newer.

Karin Slaton said...

The best thing about the ABS Challenge is the diverse way the monthly painting is interpreted. In your lovely design I can just FEEL the movement and the dance of the acrobats.

aneri_masi said...

Finally, you squeezed in ;)

And now I remember a comment on one of your ABS challenges had started our friendship.

I love these earrings, you make Picasso look very chic!

Shel said...

Sharyl - these are some wicked cool earrings - love them!!

Sharyl said...

To "Beaded Jewelry" and others unfamiliar with "ABS," sorry I didn't better explain. "ABS" stands for "Art Bead Scene." It is a very well-established blog for people interested in hand-made jewelry. Their special focus is promoting the use of "art beads" which I'll briefly define as hand-made beads and components made by artisans. They have their own definition that is more refined that this, so it's important to read more on their site if you want to enter one of their challenges.

Speaking of the challenges... there is an ABS Challenge each month! It begins with a piece of visual art offered as inspiration, then we have the opportunity to design jewelry based on the piece using one or more art beads. It's great fun to see the wide variety of interpretations and the amazing talent of many of the jewelry artists who enter. I think it's also a great way for newer people to learn too! I know I have!

I linked the pages in the text above, but they may not be all that obvious. A good starting place is this link: http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/2012/07/july-monthly-challenge_03.html

Thanks for asking, hope this helps, and hope you will participate! --Sharyl

Sharyl said...

My thanks to you all for the compliments! You inspire me to keep trying at this!

Monique (A Half-Baked Notion) said...

Sharyl, I loved seeing the many and varied interpretations on a single piece of art. I'd been following ABS for several months to get a feel for the challenges, and I finally got the motivation I needed to participate for the first time this month. I love how your earring design went beyond just the visible elements of the inspiration picture.

A Polymer Penchant said...

Very pretty! With that long length two they'd give an acrobatic movement too I'm sure