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 In
Greek Mythology, Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos 2 of
Crete. Ariadne was the fertility goddess of Crete who was transformed
into a mortal human. She became known in history as the keeper
of the labyrinths, and the bearer of the thread ball that her
lover, Theseus, used to get out of the Minotaur’s labyrinth.
The translation
of Ariadne’s name, “utterly pure”, is a term used
by artisans that work in metal, using the techniques, repousse´
and chasing. Repousse´ is a French term, which means the
art of embossing or pressing shapes into the metal to create
a design from the back. Chasing is the opposite of repousse´,
and the techniques are generally used in conjunction with each
other. Where repousse´ is used to push the design to the
front of the piece, chasing is used to refine the design. The
“utterly pure” comes from the fact that no metal is
lost. Whether the artisan is using gold, bronze, silver, pewter
or copper, the tools of the trade have pretty much remained the
same as in the Bronze Age of history.
View
full necklace with pendant & additional color palettes...
Ariadne’s
Repousse´ Pendant is the result of my inspiration. The
main body of the pendant uses three-dimensional Peyote stitch
to form two major shapes, a round button shape and a long domed
lozenge shape. The shapes are embellished with pearls and crystals.
The pendant is layered, so that when you look at the back, the
full form is visible. Emanating from the main shapes are two
sets of wing-like, flat Peyote stitch shapes that are embellished
with crystals. A softly embellished bail readies the pendant
for the necklace. For the necklace, I braided two sizes of pearls,
seed beads and crystals into Peyote stitch “cones”
to end with a beautiful clasp.
Skill level:
This is an advanced workshop. Students must be comfortable with
Peyote stitch in the round and flat.
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