Where Am I Going? - A Recipe for Trouble!

People have sometimes remarked that my necklaces are works of art and should be displayed.  So, building on that thought, I am doing this piece where the necklace and its display are designed as one whole.

The necklace is a "Circle of Hares," after the somewhat mystical observation of the occasional springtime behavior of these wonderful creatures.  I have sculpted ten tiny hares, including the little sleepy one that forms the clasp, from polymer clay.  They are each in a different position, and the two outer ones are rushing to join the circle.  The center one is the high priest as he wears a torque.  The beads between the hairs represent sections of a bundle of hay stalks.  The center dangle as well as the two side beads, are gorgeous vintage glass cabochones surrounded by polymer clay stems of hay, with the grain heads hanging from the beads.  I've coated all the polymer clay pieces with mica powders, giving a beautiful sheen.  And the hares' eyes are tiny glass eyes that I got from http://www.glasseyesonline.com.

I have vaguely based the inagery in the necklace on celtic beliefs about hares, who are believed to be symbols of abundance and fertility.

Sculpting the tiny hares was the easy part.  Shopping for the perfect vintage glass cabochons was the fun part.  And, now, creating the background display is turning out to be the hard part.  A central challenge is to figure out how to attach the necklace so that it can be taken on and off the display.  I've considered making an oval, silk-covered low pillow stuffed with a layer of two of fiberfill and backed with foam core.  I could attach the necklace to this "pillow" with pins.  Or I could push the pins directly into the backing painting and secure them in place with epoxy glue.  The jury's still out on that one!

So for now I'm working on the display part.  I'm using a piece of Strathmore illustration board.  The initial layers are soft-body acrylic washes applied with marbling techniques.  This part has gone pretty smoothly, but now it's time to get serious.  The challenge will be to achieve a proper visual balance between the necklace and its display.