Experimenting

I've had some fun with freeform wire work before and I've been keen to try some more. I decided to see what I could do with this large bead. Unfortunately I've used up all my thicker wire on this project. And I haven't been able to find a local supplier where I can buy more. I'll have to order it from the USA. Anyway, I decided to try working with four thicknesses of the finer wire--it's 26 ga.

I'm not entirely happy with the result, but it was certainly worth the experimenting time. I like the pattern of wild-weaving I ended up with. I think the multiple finer strands work well there, but the finishing was really difficult. The finer wires don't tuck in well. I didn't want to end up with any loose ends or scratchy rough areas. And the bail was too fine. I tried to thicken it up by winding extra strands of wire around it, but I don't like the effect in contrast to the smoother texture on the rest of the bead. I'm also not entirely convinced that the shiny metal textures around the surface make the most of the underlying semi-precious stone.

My alternative approach for this bead is to nest it in some bead weaving. I don't have time for that today, so I'll just let this sit for now.