I spent a winter’s day making this necklace with my older sister with materials from her vast collection. Thanks, Beth! Unfortunately, we no longer live in the same town, but seeing this project will always be a pleasant reminder of listening to the Kinks whilst complaining about the big, bad world. This necklace has practically everything, natural stone rounds, freshwater pearls and lampwork glass. 22″
A nod to Rachel Nelson Smith, who showed me that you can build out and up. Combination of right angle and peyote stitch. Reversible. 8″
One of the nicer things I’ve made with beads I didn’t know what to do with. Right angle woven bracelet, two button closure. 8″ x 2″
A length of chain, a pile of beads and a spool of wire, and here it is. I don’t know how I ended up with so many purple beads, it’s not even my favorite color. Maybe it’s the way some purple beads will catch the light; there are bands of blue, flashes of red, flecks of brown. Not too heavy, feels nice around the neck, like a glass boa. 23.5″
Free form right angle weave necklace. This is African inspired, although I didn’t seek out any specific African design. I just went with my imagination. I’ve always loved looking through old National Geographics and seeing all the tribespeople decked out. What I learned while making this necklace is Ithat I can pretty much make any shape I want using right angle weave and get away with it. So far. 19″ x 4″.
There is something about this set that reminds me of the circus. The cuff bracelet and choker were made with herringbone stitch. The cuff is about 7.5″ long with a three button closure. The choker is about 14 to 16″ long with an adjustable chain closure. Accent beads of shell, abalone and pearl. The earrings are done in brick stitch, about 1.75″ long. $190 for complete set.
Two layers of beading around drapery cord. The base layer is a netting upon which I anchored the second layer with alternating loops of green. Feels like a caterpillar on your neck, except without the brown spittle. 22″.
From Thanksgiving to the end of January I toiled away. First, I covered a length of drapery cord with peyote stitch, simply letting the pattern “happen”. Then I individually stitched each leaf, adding dewdrops here and there. I hid the clasp within the leaves at the front, so the design could flow undisturbed around the neck.
I originally found the idea in a how-to book, and I thought I could make a fancier one. So I did. 23″.
So how about an artist’s statement? It seems like a little bit of a misnomer, since an artist’s statement is art itself.
So what is this site all about? It’s about self-promotion. I am the first to admit that promotion is not my strong suit, otherwise I’d have this super-duper awesome website and about ten salaried people working under me. In New York.
No.
I am a shy, quiet little woman living in a little house in the country who squints underneath her Ott light, keeping mostly to herself, enjoying a life of making things. There are probably a million similar souls, doing similar things. Some are successful, some aren’t. Some are hell-bent on marketing, others are just dibble-dabbling. I guess I fall somewhere in between. I’d like to get more hell-bent. It sounds cooler than dibble-dabbling. A skeleton riding a motorcycle on fire, not a bespectacled gerbil in a cardigan.
So, I’ve put up a jewelry page. I would like to sell this stuff, if I can. I know repurposing and recycling is really vogue right now, but these items aren’t, unless you count using stuff I’ve carried around since high school as repurposing. I will be adding more pages with drawings and paintings as time allows.
Tell me, what do you think so far?
Selina De Haan 