Beads, Glass and Tile...Oh My!!!

Since my last post, I have been very busy!  I have been working on the ribbon, the dancers tutu and the base.

Ribbon

Here I started working on the ribbon. This is the edging...I am alternating iridescent gold tiles with gold mirror glass, trimmed with ball chain.

The center part of the ribbon is red mirror glass. This is a little fussy to do since I am working on a curved surface. I have to cut each piece in half or even in thirds to get it to lay flat and follow the curve of the form. 

Tutu and Tulle

My dancer's tutu is going to have a very structured top and I want it to appear as tulle underneath....some of it is completed in the above picture. I used gold seed beads to give the effect of fluffy tulle. to apply the beads, I had to turn the form upside-down and use 2 part epoxy to glue them on.

This was a really messy job. It took a little figuring out how to get the beads on...first I just spread the epoxy on, then poured on some beads....the beads went everywhere, not matter how carefully and slowly I put them on. But I had to work quickly, since the epoxy sets up very quickly.

After some experimenting, I found the best way to apply the seed beads was to mix my epoxy in small, workable amounts and add the beads to the epoxy and then spread it on like peanut butter! It took some doing, but it worked very well!

Here you can see a section finished...It does have the appearance of tulle!

The Base

For the base, I am simply using black tile and trimming the edge with ball chain.

This will be grouted with black and the edge will be painted black to match.

The Sole

I am using clear glass pebbles to mosaic the sole of the shoe to give it a different texture than the tempered glass. I am embedding the pebbles in a layer of clear silicone adhesive. I like the way it softens the shadow. 

Here is the sole completed, also the ribbon and base.

Front view...ribbon, base and tulle completed.

You may have noticed that I gave the dancer some hair. I did this for a couple of reasons. First, her arm needed more support, since it was lifted away from the form.  The hair going behind her arm fills in the gap between the arm and the form. And or course, my dancing ladies ALWAYS have wild flowing hair!!!!

stay tuned....