Painted with Roses ~ February 2014 ABS Challenge

I'm playing along in Art Bead Scene's challenge again this month!

Below is our inspiration…

The Rose Garden, 1920 

by Paul Klee

Oil on cardboard

I was really drawn to the white-washed tones of yellow-orange, fuchsia, purple, and red. And of course the bit of soft cream and golden browns was nice. The abstract style is something a little more challenging to me, but there's nothing like a good challenge once in a while!

So, here's what I made…

Are you surprised that it's a bracelet?! I can't help it—bracelets really are my favorite jewelry design to work with. For this challenge I decided to give the cuff style another go and I have to say that I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. I titled it "Painted with Roses".

The rose beads are of course, my own polymer roses. I made these in a golden-orange to match the color in the painting.

The geometric squares are painted leather. You've probably noticed that leather has been taking over my studio these days—not entirely, but I am playing with it a lot. I cut each square in soft suede leather and used a wood burner to create a geometric pattern to echo the houses and buildings of the painting. And then I layered on my paint colors, matching the tones of the painting, and I added a little gold accent too.

I chose a cotton fabric with a printed crackle pattern (like the crackled paint of an old house) and grunged it up a bit with burnt umber and black acrylics. I stitched the roses on to the fabric, but simply glued the squares in place—I couldn't decide where to pierce them and so I thought it better not to.

After I got the roses and squares in place, I stitched the edges of the cotton fabric down on to two layers of felt—one black, and one camel—for stability.

For the closure, I used a gold tone vintage button. And on the back of the cuff, I used acrylic paints to add some color and to hide my stitches. I was pleasantly surprised when the paints gave the felt a needle-felted look.

I love how it turned out both bold and rustic! I hope you all enjoyed this peek into my process.

* * * And, speaking of painted leather… don't forget to enter my feather giveaway! * * *

I also have a free shipping sale going on—everything in my shop ships to you for free when you use coupon FLYFREE thru March 5th. See all the details here.

Go here to see the other entries of the month: http://www.flickr.com/groups/artbeadscene/

What will Art Bead Scene challenge us with next month? I can't wait to see!