Kandinski, or why I'm not doing themes any more

This week's theme was Kandinski, and I thought it would be really neat to do one of his circles. This is a case of "Sandi bit off a pretty big bite there" You see, this is woven with 28g wire on a 20g core, and the beads are a mixture of #11 seed beads, #11 delicas and hex delicas, and #15 seed beads. Yes, you read that right, #15.

Now the problem is not that they are so difficult to work with, it is that it takes so loooooong to make any progress. So on top of a busy week, I wrapped and wrapped and wrapped and wrapped and never seemed to get any further along. And in the end, I'm not that thrilled with this as a piece of jewelry. It came out too literal an interpretation to be that interesting to me. It's a nifty concept, just not something I feel was worth the effort. At the end of the week-and-a-half that I spent on this, I realized that if I had ignored the theme I could have made a beautiful focal that I liked and a couple bread-and-butter chainmailles as well. The theme had become a procrastination enabler for me, and that's the last thing I need. So I won't be following themes for the rest of YOJ. If something I want to do happens to match up, fine, but I'll concentrate on following my own ideas for now at least. I do greatly look forward to all your interpretations, however.

But enough of that, on to the technical details. This is worked in sterling basketweave pave' with a 20g core and 28g wrapping and #11 and #15 Miyuki beads. It measures about 1 1/2 inches (4mm) although it isn't quite square, intentionally. I continued working on the hidden bail concept this week, and am very pleased with the result. In fact, I will probably revisit this concept, but without trying to emulate someone else's graphic. I also think some exposed basketweave would be interesting.

So, not an entirely unsuccessful piece, lessons learned, and on to the next week. Your comments and critique are always welcome.