As 2017 comes to a close, here is my entry for DEC ABS, the beaded Tulip Necklace. Every time I attempt an Art bead scene challenge, I try to create a piece inspired by the intended form, mood and feel of the painting. Though I create wearable, tangible pieces, the interpretation is often abstract or stylised. However, as the year ends, I find myself longing for simpler things. After being a part of over 18 Design jury panels this month, my heart yearned for a simple design. One that is direct and needs no elaborate explanation. But if you are looking to understand the sysmbolism in the inspiration painting, I suggest that you read Sarah’s post on her blog anordinarymiracleday.
Still Life with Tulips and Fruit Bowl
December 2017 Monthly challenge is inspired by Suzanne Valadon‘s still life painting titled Still Life with Tulips and Fruit Bowl.
Marie-Clémentine Valadon became the first woman painter admitted to the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1894. Her journey to this destination saw her in different roles – a milliner’s assistant, a circus acrobat, a model, a housewife, and an artist. Valadon is known for her nudes – women painted from a female perspective. She used hard black lines to emphasize the structure of the body. She also used firm lines in her nudes to emphasize the play of light on curves. You can see these black lines in her Fruit bowl painting too. Symbolism, Post impressionism, and traces of expressionism can be found in her work. The seemingly simple “Still life with tulips and fruit bowl” has a richly patterned drapery symbolic of her later work. It gives the feeling of warmth and comfort that comes from taking delight in ordinary things.
Why tulips?
This painting, apart from showcasing apples in a China dish also has three types of flowers in addition to sprigs of baby’s breath. I chose the red Tulips and sprigs of Baby’s breath for my design. Tulips are considered to be the symbol of love (unrequited love at times), kindness, and even charity. Turks believed that the patch of tulip flowers who serve as a reminder of Heaven. Enamored by the beauty of these flowers, the Dutch popularised them. Today, a tulip bouquet is a memento that is used to show kindness to the guest and appreciation for their presence.
Beaded Tulip Necklace
As I mentioned in the begining of this post, I made a fairly direct design this time. However, It has a small twist. I strung the beads first, then proceed to create the pendant. This would explain the liberal use of violet in the pendant. I made the Pendant out of a copper blank I had experimented upon before and failed. Not wanting to throw it away, I scrubbed it and applied gesso. I painted the Tulips in the Color pencil technique. But I did not use turpentine now did I seal it in between every layer. I used heat setting and wax polish for it instead.
The Tulip Necklace has a double-sided pendant with the tulips on one side and abstraction of the tapestry on the other side. The Prisme paint has been heat treated to get the folds that are visible in the fabric in the original picture. Though I used the bold black lines for the tulips, I have kept the back free of lines. It is as though a blur filter has been laid over the painting at the sport where the flowers meet the fabric. The beads are basic – glass, ceramic, and acrylic.
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