February 2008
Finishing off my Fan-tastic Variations workshop instructions is finally complete and now I’m free to develop an idea I’ve had rumbling around for over a year. I am fascinated by Fractals and the images they cause, particularly the Mandelbrot and Julia Sets.
These are mathematical patterns which, as you can see, can be generated into the most phenomenally colourful infinite images. (See the Links page for some other wonderful examples). They really invite you to do something in beads. So I was inspired to mess about with Peyote and work some curly stuff. My first attempt produced something very conservative and not at all infinite, however I could embellish it with smaller and smaller seed beads. This was great as I’ve wanted to get out my size 21º and 22º seed beads for such a long time. Well the resulting piece was a pretty hoop which just happened to fit little ear posts I had. So the Mandelbrot Earrings evolved. I worked away feverishly and produced several pairs which I sent to the Beadworkers Guild to submit for a workshop.
