Let the Games Begin

    Welcome to the Game of Thrones Jewelry Challenge, hosted by Heather Powers of Humble Beads.
    With the highly anticipated season 5 premier almost upon us,  Heather Powers dreamed up this challenge to help those suffering from withdrawal pass the time. The idea was to create something inspired in some way by the series of prized books, now turned into an award winning television series.
    I must admit that I've never actually read the books, or seen the TV show. I stopped watching TV all together about 5 years ago.
    However, I never need much of an excuse to rise to a challenge......and then, well, there's dragons!

"Mother of Dragons" 

    For anyone who is a fan, or even aware of the series, it's probably pretty obvious who my inspiration was.
    For those who are not, this is Daenerys. Last surviving members of the House of Targaryn, and rightful heir to it's throne. She was also the wife of Khal Drogo, a Dothraki warlord, leaving her to rule his people upon his death. Lastly, and most important, she is the mother of 3 dragon hatchlings!

"When my dragons are grown, we will make waste of armies and burn cities to the ground."

 -Daenerys 

    All I know about Daenerys I have learned from google search, but here's my impression of her:

    Daenerys started out as a very frail and vulnerable girl, who was heavily taken advantage of. She has been through hell and back, and has come out the other side a strong and powerful, take no prisoners, total badass of a woman. A genuine force to be reckoned with.
    She is definitely NOT your stereotypical princess!

    I created the "Mother of Dragons" necklace to encompass the enigma that is Daenerys.  A delicate image of etherial beauty, combined with a pillar of strength, and unrelenting determination. 

    The center ceramic art bead focal was made by Birgitta Lejonklou of Angel Whisperer. It was gifted to me as a prize for winning the Blogger/Non-Blogger challenge last year, and has been patiently waiting in my bead box for the perfect inspiration. 

The dragon's wings were form folded and synclasted from copper sheet metal. I had initially intended to polish them to a shiny copper finish, but then decided that the charred and oxidized look of the metal was perfect for dragon wings. 

    I made a beaded chain of an organic mix of gemstones. Etched eye dot Agates, rough Carnelian gemstones, Picture Jasper, Howlite, a ceramic art bead by Grubbi, and terra cotta dragon hatchlings. 

    The dragon focal itself is adorned with gemstone tassels of Mookaite, Tigers Eye, Czech glass blossoms, Red Jasper,  and a titanium coated Quartz crystal point. 

   

     I had not actually seen this picture of Daenerys and her dragon before creating my piece. I was quite impressed with the similarity of my vision. 

    As an additional element of the series, I wire worked a link in the shape of the O from the logo and worked into my beaded chain. 

    I finished the back off with a leather strap and a copper hook through a terra cotta wheel. I was not real pleased with the leather strap. It seemed to polish of an application for the organic look I was going for. I ended up reworking the back with a much softer piece of leather tonight, and feel it flows much better now. I will add an additional photo of the rework when I have some daylight. 

Please make sure you head on over to Heather Power's blog to see the beautiful jewelry she created, as well as the list of blog posts links for all the other participants. 

    I hope you have enjoyed this tour of Westeros and Essos, 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Peace, Love, and PyxeeDust! 

    As promised, here is the updated photo with the more organic leather strap. 

Night At The Acropolis

                                                    Click here for Bead Soup.

    I'm a member of the SRAJD. That's the Self Representing Artist in Jewelry Design if your unfamiliar
    I just discovered that they've started a regular challenge. A monthly theme, and for the really ambitious, weekly sub themes.
    There is a weekly blog post of all the submissions. A winner is chosen from each month's submissions and there is a prize. The monthly prize is a feature on the SRAJD blog. There will also be an annual winner, receiving a trove of jewelry supplies.
    I'm intrigued of course. I could certainly use a little publicity.

    This month's theme is Greek Gods. This weeks sub theme is the God Dionysus.
    Some of the images seem familiar, but I had to do my homework. I'm not up on my mythology, and I didn't know anything about Dionysus.

Arno River, Florence Italy

    When I googled him I discovered that he is also known by the Roman name Bacchus.
    I know Bacchus. I learned about Bacchus when studying up for a trip to Florence Italy back in October of 2004.

Ponte Vecchio, Florence Italy

    He was the God of fertility and wine. He invented wine, and spread the art of tending grapes.
    He was also a patron of the arts. His festivals were a driving force behind the development of Greek theater. The theater of Dionysus Eleuthereus, built in the 6th century B.C. sits at the base of the Acropolis in Athens Greece.
    The last of the twelve Gods accepted at Mt. Olympus, and the only one with a mortal parent. He was the child of Zeus and Semele.
    Semele insisted upon seeing Zeus in his true form. She was instantly burnt to a crisp at the sight of his glory. Zeus rescued Dionysus and stitched him into his thigh until he was ready to be born.


    He was also known as the God of indulgence and ecstasy. Probably most famous for his wild parties.

    After doing a little reading a plan started to formulate and I got to work. A rather ambitious plan, because I could really use that feature for some publicity. Trying to get my work out there and actually sell it.
    Keeping my fingers crossed that all would work out.
















"Night At The Acropolis" - The wine flowed, the music played, and the Gods danced all night long. 

    The lute was forged from copper sheet and wire scraps. Ten separate pieces were soldered together, and then the strings were wired on to create the three dimensional instrument.

    Wrapped in a sea of twirling grape vines, with ruby Jade grape clusters and olive green glass grape leaves..
    Centered between two Lyre, made from heavy gauge hammered copper wire, and wire wrapped with 24 gauge strings.
    Flanked by two sections of Laurel leaf wreath. The twelve laurel leaves were also forged from copper sheet scraps. Soldered onto hammered 6 gauge links with drilled ends

    A laurel wreath is traditionally made with twelve sets of leaves to represent each of the twelve Gods of Mt. Olympus. I used just twelve leaves due to space constraints. One leaf for each God rather than a set.
    The laurel leaves are wrapped in Merlot sari silk. Finishing off the back with the sari silk for a comfortable wear.
    It closes with a hammered copper hook and sari silk loop.
    I am really proud of how this piece turned out.
    I mentioned that it was ambitious, but that was a bit of an understatement. This instrument is so far beyond my skill level. I'm completely blown away that I was able to pull this off.

    Soldering is one of the things I still greatly struggle with. I was completely winging it.
    Not to mention I didn't even know about this challenge until Saturday night. I cant believe I managed to pull this off in two days.
    This might be one of the coolest things I've ever made.

Head on over to the SRAJD blog to see the rest of the Dionysus inspired entries for this week.