Inedible fish






Back to pale, iridescent colors now:  I'm working on a dove.

17 comments:

  1. Wow. That looks tasty.

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  2. How big is it?

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  3. Gorgeous!

    Did you use delicas for some of the colors? I can't quite tell.

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  4. You should start marketing this stuff. You'd make a solid living, and bring joy to lots of others.

    Or (putting on my professional victim PJB sweater), how selfish of you not to sell this stuff, and deprive everyone else of such beauty.

    Eric Hines

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  5. raven3:57 PM

    Very nice work!

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  6. Anyone who wants to enjoy it has only to visit my church! It's prettier in person, because you get the full glittery effect only in shifting light.

    The fish is about 10 inches across. The beads are size 8, rather large, not quite as big as a peppercorn, a size I prefer because a needle big enough to be threaded easily will also fit through the holes without 1/3 of them jamming. Is "Delica" a brand or a manufacturing style? These are glass beads, some metallic in finish and some a bit iridescent. I buy them at a local bead store; the containers don't have any info.

    The dove is really coming along. I think it's going to be nice.

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  7. Delica is both a brand and (loosely) a style. The original delicas are made by a Japanese company (the style is also sometimes called "Japanese seed beads"), and rather than being sort of spherical or cake-donut-shaped, like Czech glass seed beads, they're cylindrical, with a thin wall. (This makes them ideal for bead-weaving because the hole is large—lots of room for many passes of thread—and the cylinder shape makes them square in cross-section so they line up nicely.)

    I asked because it looks like the beads might be mixed in shape—giving a more shimmery effect as the light reflects off the differently aligned beads.( I can't really tell from the picture though.)

    Oh, post the dove, do! I want to see it.

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  8. They are a mixed bag in shape, some more cylindrical and some more spherical. I go almost entirely by color.

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  9. You really are an artist - this is beautiful work, Tex.

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  10. Thanks, Cassandra, and everyone.

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  11. I've got to second Eric H. on this- definitely marketable. I could see these as wall hangings or on clothing even. In very high end boutiques in places like Aspen or Vail and the like.

    Beautiful stuff, Tex. I bet there's a real peace in working on these- that meditative state that comes from a relatively simple task focused on and repeated. Good for the soul.

    I suspect a dove may be even more impressive if not quite so spectacular, as it will involve subtlety and modest tonal variation to achieve the desired results. Can't wait to see it.

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  12. Oh, and that eyeball really brings it to life!

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  13. :-) Do you guys have any idea how much I'd have to charge for this to make it worth my while, if I didn't enjoy doing it for its own sake? Luckily for the world of crafts, I'm a Woman of Independent Means.

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  14. It would be worth every penny of it, Tex, and folks would willingly pay your ask.

    Try it out: do another trout or dove--or anything de novo--put it on eBay or Etsy, and see what the auction brings.

    Eric Hines

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  15. $10K? I doubt it.

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  16. Try the auction, see what it brings. At the least, it'll cover your material costs--and you'll still have all that enjoyment of craft for psychic income.

    Eric Hines

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  17. That would leave my church's Christmas tree bare. We're in an area now where a monetary system doesn't map with my private goals at all. They would kick in only if I really wanted to be doing something else, but consented to do the beading to please someone else, especially a stranger. If I wanted to generate cash income, I'd practice law.

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