Search This Blog

April 25, 2013

Beading Inspiration: Miguel Ases Jewelry


          
The beaded jewelry of Miguel Ases is nothing short of astounding.  I have admired his work for quite a while and even tried
my hand at creating a pair of earrings in this style for an earring swap in December.


Here is my pair of earrings from that swap.  They aren't bad for a  first try.  It was the first time I completed a pair of earrings using brick stitch, but I did work out the pattern in advance using larger 6/0 size beads.  



There are several things that I really love about Miguel Ases' work.  

First is the colors.  Whether they are muted or bright, the combinations are always eye catching. 

 I also love that he combines gemstones with seed beads.  Because of the difference in size, I think it can be a difficult thing to do effectively.  Miguel Ases jewelry has just the right amount of gemstones to add sparkle without overdoing it.

And then, there's the variety of shapes and sizes.  Most earrings seem to be chandelier style and rather dressy and elegant.  As a matter of fact, they are often seen on Hollywood stars walking the red carpet.

But, I think some of the styles are perfect for jeans.  I'm going to try my hand at making some similar styles over the next few weeks.
I'm afraid that I don't have a very large variety of seed beads - but it will take some time for me to work out the patterns anyway.  I'll probably start with something simple, like the round mandala earrings above.  The other thing that can be difficult is finding the center to start beading from.  I haven't found anything quite as nice as the ones Miguel Ases uses in his jewelry, but I have found a few spacer type beads that will work.

I also need to consider the thread.  So far, I have used FireLine bead thread, but it only comes in a small variety of colors.  I'm guessing I should be using Nymo (pictured) since it comes in a wide variety of beautiful colors.  Actually, I'm so convinced I need the Nymo that I just ordered the two different color varieties pictured from Amazon.  Anyway - if you've made these kinds of earrings and have any tips to throw my way, I'd love to hear them.  I've decided this will be a fun departure from wire work, or may even be a nice compliment to wire work, since I may need to solder some frames.

1 comment: