Moon God Collar

Back when I started getting serious about beadwork, I developed an aversion to opaque seed beads. Something about them - or the designs I was making with them - seemed rather…quaint. Opaque chromatic colors started to remind me of crayons, clowns, and cheap plastic jewelry. I wanted to get away from these themes, and started cultivating a seed bead stash with unique colors and finishes that I thought were more sophisticated.

Fast forward several years, and I’ve rediscovered the beauty of opaque beads. With so many of my designs being influenced by tribal beadwork and Egyptian art, opaque colors are often ideal for the pieces I want to make. Simple shades of blue, red, and green now dominate my bead stash.

After trying several times to get the effect of moonlight for my latest project palette, I finally settled on opaque royal blue and bone white. Although using opaques has become acceptable for me again, I almost wish I had some iris or lustered blue for this piece. I still love the way both colors look together, and the addition of some silver-lined crystal 6/o’s leftover from last year’s destash challenge brought everything together.

This collar is inspired by the Egyptian moon god Khonsu. As one of the deities that served many roles and underwent many changes over the centuries, a simple collar with an inspired palette was the ideal tribute.

Copyright 2013 Inspirational Beading
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+