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Friday, July 5, 2013

Spectacular Spirals

I've had spirals on my mind, ever since I received Jenny Davies-Reazor's June Component of the Month charms.  The pair of charms I received had spiral impressions on them.  I designed earrings to emphasize the spiral motif, by echoing it in antiqued brass wire. This got me to thinking about the meaning and history of spirals.
Once I began looking around, I started seeing spirals everywhere.

They are found in nature; in animals, plants, weather patterns and who knows what else. This dahlia from our front yard is unfurling in a spiral pattern.


Big Horn Sheep -  Pinterest.
Weather Patterns - Pinterest
Spirals also show up in many cultures, religions, traditions, art and architecture.

Pinterest

Spiral Petroglyph - Pinterest

Buddhist Temple in China - Pinterest
So what about spirals in jewelry both ancient and contemporary?  Here's a very quick sampling of what I found.
Greek gold ring from the 7th -6th century BC - Pinterest
Then skipping blithely through many centuries, I photographed these early colonial filigree earrings in a museum in Oaxaca, Mexico.
And still later, Art Nouveau jewelry was awash in spirals and swirls.

René Lalique - Pinterest.
Which made me wonder about contemporary jewelry. So I decided to make an Etsy Treasury of spiral art beads and components, as well as finished jewelry.  I quickly found that just on Etsy, there were enough spiral pendants and jewelry designs to make a dozen treasuries. I was amazed!

AJE team member, Karen Totten loves spirals.  In fact, here's a peek into her studio earlier this week.  She's a spiral maniac!  These pendants and charms are all works in progress for Bead Fest, August 23-25.  In fact, many of our members' studios are filled with work for Bead Fest, including Susan Kennedy, Jen Cameron, Jenny Davies-Reazor and Diana Ptaszynski.  

Here's a finished piece from Karen.
And Diana has spiral ammonites.

Kristi has lots of ammonite spirals, too.

Here's a pretty flower with a spiralling stem from Rebekah.
And I have a necklace with a spiral pendant.

And if that's not enough, you can check out all these amazing spiral components and jewelry designs in the Spectacular Spiral Treasury that I put together on Etsy.  Enjoy!

'Spectacular Spirals - Part 1' by beadmarie

Spirals are a universal motif in nature, architecture, science, art, religion and mathematics. I found so many handmade art beads and finished jewelry with spirals, that I'll be doing two treasuries with this theme. Enjoy!


Yellow Swirl Porcelain Flowe...
$10

Swirl cuff bracelet
$23.9

Round Porcelain Bead Mix Wit...
$20

Handmade Polymer Clay Chubby...
$10

Ceramic charm pair spiral or...
$10

Little Gecko Lizard bead - S...
$8

Pink and Copper Scoops Neckl...
$95

Copper Swirl Fibula
$38

Lampwork Beads - SueBeads - ...
$30

Porcelain Clay Spiral Textur...
$10

Spiral Earth Stone- Black La...
$32

Large Copper Swirl Pendant R...
$10

Golden Acorn Glass Lampwork ...
$18

Large Handmade Ceramic Porce...
$9.5

Bronze Age Spiral Toggle Cla...
$18

Earrings Wire Wrapped Bronze...
$30

8 comments:

  1. I love spirals too! The ammonite texture I use constantly has been my favorite for years!! Thanks for putting together this wonderful gallery!

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    Replies
    1. You are the queen of ammonite textures, for sure! I'm glad you enjoyed the post!

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  2. I really enjoyed seeing your spiral collection from nature and artisans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm happy that you enjoyed the post. Thank you.

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  3. I love Spirals! Love the post and thanks for including my copper pin!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your copper pin is so fantastic! It was the first thing I added when I was putting the treasury together!

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  4. There is something soothing and hypnotic about this universal motif. Thanks for sharing the amazing examples, Linda!

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  5. Thank you for the shout-out Linda! It's true - I LOVE spirals! Who knows how far back the motif goes in human history? Perhaps one of our earliest expressions, a reflection of the natural world we see around us.

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