I went for a walk on Keraude beach to collect shells . Here are my finds from Saturday and Monday. There is not much glass because in France it is recycled. I don’t know what I’m going to do with the purple mother of pearl bearded mussel but I’m going to be able to make some nice pendants with the pearls and oysters adding bronzes to them The pebble should be fine for a painting
After coating some amonias and an oyster lid with crystal resin to give them a wet look and strengthen them, today I used them by adorning them with hand-modelled bronze pieces and freshwater pearl cabochons. It’s really not worth buying south sea mother of pearl, , our Breton beaches are littered with treasures
Asian beetle elytras have been used to embellish textiles in Asia for centuries. In Victorian England, elytra embroideries were added to decorate clothing and accessories. They are still used today to embellish clothing and to make jewelry and other decorative items.
These beetles are not killed for their elytras, they are bred and farmed for their larvae which develop in the wood, take on its fragrance and are consumed in Asia. The elytra are collected after the natural end of their life (lasting 3 to 4 weeks) which occurs after fertilization for males and egg laying for females The elytras are made of chitin, like our hair, they last very long and do not lose their color . A camera can’t render the glittering depth of color of these wings. They are green, but some have coppery, golden tones and others have blue reflections. The light plays on the wings and reflects in the “layers” of colors. They look like emeralds
some 19th century dresses and the grand gallery of the royal palace in Bruxel(Belgium)
Their color does not come from a crystal thickness like that of a gemstone , Reflections are created when the wings are moved, the colors are deep and changing and change with the angle. Their shiny metallic coloring is due to a phenomenon called interference and occurs in the physical structure of the insect’s chitin. Several layers of cuticle are composed of tiny gaps that allow light waves to strengthen, weaken or eliminate each other. The interference colors are not static, but vary according to the movement of the light rays. The colors vary from dull bronze to copper, emerald, blue or violet as the light changes. Left Painting by John Singer Sargent 1889 of Ellen Terry wearing the 1000 elytra embroidered dress in 1888 Dress made in 1888 her role as Lady Mcbeth. Right dress of the evil Stepmother in Snow White and the Hunters (2012 film).
I had made a small necklace with bronze butterfly fairy as center piece, mounted on freshwater pearls mixed with vintage brass beads.
A regular customer who loves emeralds I used on one of her necklaces asked me if I could replace the pearls with emeralds.
Luckily I had enough left, they were treated emeralds of lesser quality otherwise I couldn’t afford them.
I had to enlarge the holes in the beads so they would fit over the bronze wire.
How to widen the holes
And here is the emerald necklace. So, you see, anything is possible! well almost…. And here it is …everything is possible!…..almost … .
