With either a Roar or a Wimper

I like a good challenge and I always enjoy the opportunity to stretch myself and learn new things.  But sometimes there is a challenge you wish you could ignore but you know that you just can't. 

 

It's actually not so bad . . . really.  . . I suppose . . . One of the groups I'm part of on Facebook is Bead and Jewelry Artisans and it is such a great group of people who love to support and encourage each other.  They decided to have a monthly challenge for the group where we are given a topic and then we need to be inspired to create a piece of jewelry that reflects that topic.

 

I have to be honest, the idea sounded great when it was first mentioned.  After all, I had just completed two blog hops this summer where I taught myself new beadweaving/beading techniques and it was a lot of fun.  And this challenge gives me a whole month to work on it, so what could possibly go wrong?

 

In a word....DRAGONS.

 

 

Not that I have anything against dragons, mind you.  My favorite time period to study was medieval and dragons factored greatly into the stories and artwork of the time.

 

 

St. George and the Dragon

 

This is probably one of the most famous historical paintings concerning dragons and knights.  So much to take in and so much symbolism!

 

And I can't let this post go without mentioning one of my all-time favorite knight paintings...

 

 

The Accolade

 

But dragons as inspiration to create a piece of jewelry?  Have you seen my jewelry?  I design with the ocean in mind...sea glass and little tiny beads that reflect the colors you find in the sea...or with crystals that are used to create something romantic and girly.

 

 

 

Not exactly my usual choice for something to inspire me...so I asked my daughter for her advice.  She loves dragons and has the most incredible imagination and if anyone could help me look beyond my mental block it would be her. 

 

The first thing she suggested was that maybe I could use the scales as inspiration.  I've been wanting to teach myself a netting stitch (and failing miserably, I might add) and when I showed her a picture of what I was thinking of, she said it really looked like dragon scales.  This would certainly be far out of my comfort zone design-wise.  Good for this challenge!

 

THEN she mentioned that creating something using red, orange and yellow that resembled the fire that dragons breathe would be amazing.  (This from my beautiful teenage daughter who is not at all into jewelry...no pressure...no pressure...)

 

 

Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon

 

 

So, at least I have some inspiration to get started with this challenge...and a whole month to work on it. 

 

Wish me luck!