This juicy little snow globe is a departure from my curious inventions, vagabond airships, steampunk’d machines and endless Escher-esque staircases. It is simply a study in colors and shapes that I liked.

A friend invited me to attend a bead show with her some months ago, and I went because I love to see all the possibilities and how other people make things. The shapes, colors and textures were mesmerizing.

These particular pretty leaf or teardrop-shaped beads came in a multitude of colors, shades, details and delights.

I gathered handfuls from a container of mismatched beads (which I suspect fewer people wanted), letting loose beads spill back through my fingers. I filled a bag and sorted out the colors later to see what worked.

This piece reminds me of a citrus sky at dusk, with lime and moss and touches of aqua, and one bright blood-orange bead for  a “pop of color” (as Stacy and Clinton used to say.)

I painted the wood base with a faux metal technique in the same greenish hues.

There’s no adventure to share, no story here, just an experiment in using different materials and introducing color into my water worlds.  The brother and sister of “Citrus Sky” – respectively called “Fired Up” (reds and oranges) and “Remnants of the Glacier” (soft aquas, silvers and grays) found homes the first time they were displayed. These two sculptures were sold before photos were taken of the final pieces, but I still love looking at the rich colors of the unique beads as art rather than jewelry.

Custom beaded miniature sculptures and snow globes, designs and photos are copyright (c) Camryn Forrest Designs, Denver, Colorado 2013.