Oceania - A Lampwork and Wire Art Necklace

This is a preview of my latest necklace - Oceania. It is a wire art necklace incorporating some artisan lampwork beads as well as Mother of Pearl, Swarovski Crystals and Sterling Silver Charms.

The inspiration for Oceania came from the three gorgeous lampwork beads made by Sally of Happily Ever Artist. Although intended as focal beads I knew the minute that I saw them that I wanted to showcase them all in the same necklace through the techniques of wire art. Each of the beads, although slightly different in size, are pretty much the same in terms of an oceanic theme. They all have blue swirls to represent waves and each has a small shell set on the surface of the bead.

I therefore tried to emulate the oceanic theme through the swirls, shapes and contours of my wire work. Swarovski crystals in varying shades of blue have been incorporated at various points throughout the wire work to further enhance the waves, eddies and currents that the wire represents. All the wire work uses sterling silver wire and various techniques have been used to build up the different sections.

On completing the bulk of the wire work I decided it needed something further. The depths of the ocean comes in many shades, from crystal clear to darker shades the deeper you go. I wanted the wire work to represent that so for the first time I decided to take the plunge into oxidising my silver. Having darkened the work I then spent hours polishing it back up to produce the clearer, shinier silver on the surface with the darker oxidised silver within the depths of the wire work.

My last embellishment to complete the oceanic theme was to add some ocean themed sterling silver charms. two shells, a starfish, a seahorse, and some dolphins. These were deliberately added after oxidisation to help them stand out more, and after all, however deep these things go in the sea they retain their colour.

So that is the design story behind my latest piece - Oceania - A Lampwork and Wire Art Necklace.