No, I’m not practicing a witch chant; I’m just continuing my work on the double wire series. You may recall seeing some of these necklaces in a post several entries back. I continue to be fascinated by the myriad of possibilities that exist with this basic design. That’s the “Double, Double” part.

 

Then there is the toil. Each time I pull out a long piece of wire and double it back, I get excited about what may develop; yet, I toil over how to get just the right balance in the wire armature and the beads. The necklace on the right looks a bit off, but I turned it too much in the photo and it is actually OK in person. I would have taken another photo, but this one found a home yesterday. Part of the toil comes as a result of needing to think of both sides at once. I’ve learned I can’t just do whatever I want with one side of the wire and hope I’ll be able to do something appropriately balanced with the other. It just hasn’t worked that way. Yes, I know I should probably draw the design before I start, but I’m a hands-on designer, not a pencil artist.

A significant part of the toil is determining how many beads to use. Originally, I planned to use many more beads on these armatures. I had an unfinished double wire necklace with me one day while visiting a boutique and wanted to get the owner’s take on the armature shape. She liked it, but didn’t want any more beads on it. She appreciated the simplicity. In other words, she helped me see that less can be more.

 

Finally, as the title suggests, there’s the trouble part. This occurs when the boutique client calls to request another double wire necklace “just like” the one I sold her last week. “Sure,” I say while wondering what in the world I sold her last week. I often feel like quite the dim wit as a client carefully describes the pieces she wants replicated and I have no recollection of what she’s talking about. Obviously, I must do a better job of taking photos of EVERYTHING. I just haven’t been that disciplined. Yesterday, I went to a gift shop that sells my work and took a photo of the display. It should help me remember a number of the pieces that found a home there. By the way, this store, called Paper Bear, is in San Marcos, Texas. Visit this unique place if you have a chance. 

 

 

I apologize for the poor photo on the left, but wanted you to see just how different these double wire pieces can be. This one seems to resemble a cat.

I guess my conclusion from all this “double, double, toil and trouble” is that it will continue for me. In the sports arena, that would probably be stated as “no pain, no gain.” Maybe for designers we could say “no play, no pay.” If we don’t play around with our designs (or toil), they will be the same old thing and may not sell. I, for one, am going to continue to play, take lots of pictures and hope for the best.