Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Charming Tennyson

A few years ago, I bought a collection of charms.
I was told that they were 'very old' which I don't believe unless the seller's definition of 'very old' is anything dating earlier than 2010.
It's easy to imagine that these charms are replicas of something from an earlier era, but that is fairly irrelevant to me.
If I can't verify with confidence the backstory of an item I'm selling, I describe it as honestly as I can...something lovely that I found to be irresistible.
Wherever and whenever these charms came from, I appreciated the appearance of age and the subtle texture of the featured figure.
I assumed I would eventually use the charms as pendants, but I of course had to consider the options for several years. 
 
Last week, I had a plan and the charms came out.
The back side of the charms have no texture, and I thought that presented an opportunity to do something poetic. 
I pulled out one of my thrift store finds, a 1919 book of Tennyson poems, and searched for passages that I could set in resin.
 
The size of the charms presented a challenge.
I had to find complete thoughts expressed with a minimal number of words, and each word had to be limited to 6 or 7 letters in order to fit within the confines of the charm bezel.
Each word was secured with a dab of glue.
Once the glue was completely dried, I mixed a two-part resin and coated the back of each charm.

 
Two days later, the resin was set and necklaces were made, ready to be delivered tomorrow to Woodmere Art Museum gift shop.
(and yes....Bertha is being put to use even though she is still in need of a more thorough makeover) 

1 comment:

  1. These are really nice; what a wonderful way to re-purpose something so charming!

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