I know it’s Wednesday…a day late and a dollar short and all that LOL…but today is better than never for Flaming Hot! Tip’s Tuesday…”More About Color” Where do my color combo’s come from? Nature…a great fabric…pair of pant’s…or outfit that I need something to match?….a feeling…holiday’s…my personal preference mostly. I do some samples of idea’s…sometimes I only make one, Dan will ask me why? Most of the time, I didn’t like it…just personally I wouldn’t wear it. Dan will like it and will ask why I just didn’t make the set. For me…if I don’t like it, I just won’t take the time to make a full set. I have made a set that Dan pushed me into before…most of the time my gutt instinct was right and it didn’t sell well anyway. So I go with my likes and preferences when I make beads. I figure if I make what I like, someone with taste like mine might just like it to. If it doesn’t sell, well then…I get to keep them! So that is how I work, and how I choose my colors. I do go through moods, earthy, rocky, natural organics. Then I go through brilliant floral colors and the feeling of vacation (maybe it’s the need for vacation!)…most of my florals are in colors of pants or outfits I have “if” I go on vacation LOL. Sometimes a cool set of dishes, or fabric will help me choose what colors I will work in that day. Many of florals are copy’s of a look…. “Old English Garden” are a spin off from a Royal Albert pattern.
“Maui Garden” remind me of the fabric of a Hawaiian shirt I had at one time.
”Hot Tropical Garden” are a match to a pair of tropical print capri’s I have. So clothing…matching a feeling or look, are big color pushing qualities for me.
I love khaki’s and a simple tee…be it white or black…I designed my “Primitive Stone Raku” beads to wear with such clothes.
My bling are my fun and colorful flashy style. I have always loved dichro, but also want to make the beads really interesting so I added the raku and silver mesh elements. Made to please me…I guess thats how I make most of my beads….beads for me…that I end up selling. Below are my “Planet Earth” created in globe like earth colors, with a lot of fashion bling to them. “Sedona Stone’s” created after a visit to Tucson AZ last year.
Sometimes the buying public will make or break a color combo I come up with. I usually will make a couple auctions worth if I love it myself. Then its up for a test when it hits eBay. If it sells well both times up…I will make them again. I will also bring back favorites from years past…they stay with me mostly because I just love them…I’ll pull out a bracelet I have in them to wear and think hmmmm…I should make these again. Then I will get remake request, and if the mood strikes…I’ll make them. I would love to be able to come up with the perfect “new” color combo each and every day I torch…but for me it’s much more difficult than that. I have made versions of a style with winning color’s using different colors that just don’t do what the original did. If they fizzle at auction…I normally figure it wasn’t the best choice in color. In writing this blog subject today I guess I am coming to understand that I get my color combo’s mostly from me…what I want beads out of, what I want to wear. Pure and simple thats number one factor…Sometimes I will see colors sitting together and think …oh yeah…that style in those colors and I will give it a whirl. Sometimes happy accidents…sometimes its pure copy…trying to duplicate a look…like fabric’s etc…or a sunset…even a stone if its an organic bead.I really don’t look at the “in” color of the season to much. I know many go look at the forcast put out by style magazines and so forth…I really have never given them much thought….Ok, well maybe I do somewhat…Only because I do go shopping and usually have my favorites and just by doing that I am influenced by fashion because of what is offered in the stores. Sometimes in clothing I can’t wear a color I would love to…after a lot of years and many wasted dollars…you finely learn you can’t wear that shade of orange or yellow or what ever it is….It just looks bad and sits in your closet. Beads are another way to bring a color you can’t normally wear into play in your wardrobe. You can use them as accents to colors you can wear. That part of being a bead maker I love. You can always wear a bracelet out of any color!
Honestly, I just make what I want…what I feel like…with what colors I pick up in a given day. All personally to make me happy…It’s why for so long I didn’t make florals. They just didn’t make me happy to make them. Lately I have been making them slowly again…a set here and there. I was in the mood I guess. I am ready for those hot pinks and golden russet hues or blended florals. Maybe I am just ready for vacation and the time to wear those style of beads!
Mood, personal preference…feelings…surroundings, influence from where I live, where I go…what I see, what I want to see!…all of that and much more is what will determine’s the colors I pick up and create with.
Great article!! You put into words what I seem to do.