About 90% of the items in this necklace are from items I gathered on my daily walks at the beach (the other 10% were found in my office/studio). I often pocket interesting treasures, whether they are natural or man-made on these walks. But once I heard about the EBSQ recycle contest, I decided I needed a plan for the design of a special necklace. Since one never knows what will be found in found art, I decided to use color as a design element. The obvious choice was green for a repurposed art show. The label from a "green tea" drink begged for a starring role. I decopaged it onto a small piece of driftwood. Sea glass (Beach glass) co-operated and quickly the sea gave me some green and neutral white pieces. I wired loops onto them with green craft wire which I have had for 3 years and totally gave up that I would ever use! I found that pushing myself to look more closely at anything on the beach that was green made me go a bit out of my comfort zone. The clasp on this necklace is made from a green faded weathered,but still working, shower curtain ring. I found many pieces of green ribbon on the beach, green seems to be a popular color for ribbon attached to helium ballons. I wrapped ribbon on an old wooden spool and added varnish and wire. Empty Mountain Dew and Coke with Lime soda cans were used to create some charms. There's a weathered bit of green plastic which I have no idea what it is. It has some numbers on it and a name, maybe a part of a lobster trap ID, which I find sometimes. Some times what we think will be the main focus of a design just doesn't work out. I spent a full afternoon trying to make beads from plastic green soda bottles. The plastic shrinks when heated and the result is a beautiful green that looks and feels like stained glass. But it is not easy to control and for all my effort, I have only 4 little beads to add to the necklace. I do plan on playing with those materials more in the future, though. Hanging from those beads, I added two squares of computer keyboard circuit plastics. I found those under the keys on a keyboard. I also used two vintage green buckles and some vintage green plastic buttons. I added a good luck clover on a charm made from baking bits of a plastic take out lid. I attached all the elements with bits of mixed metal jump rings, which are from a necklace that I deconstructed for its charms a while ago. I couldn't resist adding a pair of earrings from computer keyboard keys. They didn't look green enough, so I added a bit of green glaze.
The necklace is 26 inches long. It represents a month in my life when the focus of my daily treasure hunts was "green". I enjoyed the motivation and the opportunity to think outside even my own already distorted box. The contest definitely helped me in my work, to try new techniques and to think in new ways.
