Inspired By... talisman

It's again the 10th of the month and time for the "Inspired by" creation! But what is Inspired by? Every month awesome Marsha and I choose a subject to be inspired by. It can be a movie (link), an item (link), a designer (link), a painting (link) or a piece of music (link). Then we make something inspired by that theme or a piece of art and share it with you and each other on the 10th of the month.

As you can see from the title this time we went with a talisman. Let me explain. I was following CHA posts really eagerly and we sort of agreed that this month's theme could be related to CHA. If something should spark my imagination, I could suggest it to Marsha and we could see if there would be a new IB subject. 

What immediately resonated with me was a video filmed in the Ice Resin booth. Here's a link if you want to see it (link). So I mailed the link to Marsha without specifying a theme. I had something in my mind but I didn't want to limit her too much by suggesting a theme straight away. So understandably she was a bit puzzled and suggested several themes based on the video. She listed many things, including talisman. What spoke to me the most in the video were the mixed media pieces of jewelry and the idea of having something personal in the necklace, the idea of talisman.

So when we decided on the theme I already was set my mind to do a piece of jewelry. But now came the question - what to do? Mixed media would allow me to do anything, I mean anything so no help on that direction. I started to think about the talisman part. I've always loved crows and ravens. I find them absolutely beautiful with their pure black or black and grey feathers. They are also really wise and somehow I feel to have a connection to them. So a crow it would be. 

We have a red wedding kimono hanging in our living room, next to my craft space behind the couch. It's been there more or less since 2008 so the garment really could need a rest. I mean it has been taken down a few times but it really could use a longer time in a box, resting. I've been thinking what to put there instead and when I saw this fabulous piece of art by my co-worker (link), I thought to ask if she could do a wall-hanging sort piece there. As I was thinking about the wall hanging at the same time as thinking about this piece and then turned my head also to the brooches I made some time ago, I decided to go with fabric as the base for the creation. 

I'm a costume designer by education so fabric is familiar material to me and in the recent years I've been drawn to that again. I mean, I sew costumes for my two daughters every year on their birthday, but otherwise my sewing machine stays hidden in a cupboard. So including fabric and sewing would make sense and put the machines I have more to use. What I did for this piece was to dig into my piles of fabric and take some white felt and a piece of black sating to go with. I cut the felt into a circle and a little triangle of the satin. Then I first painted some white gesso haphazardly to the felt and sketched a bird on top using black gesso. After the paints had dried I then stitched the piece of satin to the crow's body and started embroider some feathers into him. I finished the piece with some glass beads and gold thread.

I really wanted to have the bird whole black, the only colors coming from the stitches - like an oily surface with rainbow colors reflecting from it. Maybe the reason for this was that I normally wear only black myself, so the bird would represent me in a way. What I also wanted it to have was an open beak - it's not a passive being but in fact keeping a noise (and such a noise! Even if I adore crows I can't say that their voice is beautiful. I do love their cawing, but it's definitely not lovely chirping but something deeper). 

When I had the embroidered piece ready came the part to add it to something to make it a piece of jewelry. Then I remembered that I had some Pebeo resin left in my drawer! So I mixed the rest of the stuff I had, used a Mechanical packaging as my mold and cast the piece of felt inside resin. What surprised me was its effect on the colors and the beads! Almost all of the details in the crow were lost in the process! But on the other hand my goal was to make a talisman and inspiration became of those hidden details. I know what's in there even if it's not obvious to the others. 

Maybe I should also mention the necklace I then used to wear this piece around my neck. Early on I knew that it would be the one so I purchased a loop so big that it would go to the band. The metal ring is a gift from my husband. It's from the same jeweler that our wedding rings. It's really plain (like our rings) but to me it always felt missing something. So now I have something I can use with it or then use the band just as it is. 

But now it's time to go visit Marsha! Here's the link to her post (link), I bet she's again done something really magical! 

PS. By the way, if you look at the Frankfurt photos really closely (link), you see me wear this piece. It was my goal to get it on the first day while demoing, kind of giving me strength and courage. I guess that's what talismans are for. 

Materials: Prima Marketing, Pebeo, Kreinik, Design Memory Craft, Sharpie