Thursday, August 27, 2015

The Night Circus - August's offering for the Inspired By Reading Book Club

Le Cirque des Reves, The Circus Of Dreams, lives in Erin Morgenstern's imagination and on the pages of her novel, The Night Circus. This is a circus like no other. It arrives overnight without notice and disappears the same way. It is only open after dark.

I listened to the book back in June during my 10 hour drive north to the Hamptons. Since it was a while ago and I am not feeling super intellectual at the moment, I'll quote the blurb from the back of the book...

...behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game only one can be left standing...
... Celia and Marco soon fall in love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, leaving the lives of everyone ... hanging in the balance.

I loved the myriad of unusual characters, the plot twists, magical elements, and, of course, the love story.



I was drawn to the description of the lighting of the bonfire each time the circus opened in a venue. I wanted to replicate that effect some way in a piece of jewelry. I had some torch issues, so it didn't come out quite the way I wanted it to. If you squint, you might see flames.






The crystals represent the shift of flame colors  as twelve archers light the fire...

First yellow, then clear sky blue, warm bright pink, ripe pumpkin, sparkling crimson, incandescent wine, shimmering violet, indigo, midnight blue, black, and, finally, blinding white.
As I write, I realize I have forgotten the black and blinding white crystals. I also plan to use a shorter connector.



This next piece came about quite by accident. The last time I was in NYC I picked up a gorgeous strand of red coral at Wonder Sources on 38th St. I love the contrast of the rectangular ceramic beads from Golem Studio. I purchased those (and more) directly from Vladislav, the artist, in Tucson last February.


As I tied knots in the silk cord, I remembered that the circus tents were striped white and black, with no other color. I also recalled the "Revelers", a society of folk (groupies) who followed the circus, wore black and white with a splash of red to distinguish themselves from other circus patrons.













So - back to my stash for a bumpy black and white lampwork bead by Jason Powers. I repurposed a black Chinese crystal necklace that hasn't sold in a few years and a splash of red - more ceramic from Golem.

I love the results!






Thanks for visiting!
Please visit our book club leader, Andrew Thornton's blog to learn about the next book and links to see creations by the other participants.   click here!

7 comments:

  1. the reveal snuck up on me so nothing to show, but I liked the book so far, am about halfway done. I can't see the flames in your first piece. really like the third piece and represents the Revelers well.

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  2. I see the flames! I love the colors in your "bonfire" piece -- in fact, I love the way you used color in all three pieces!

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  3. Wonderful variety! I'm so glad someone did the original lighting of the bonfire with all the different colors! It was a beautiful scene in the book and you did it justice with your original pendant!

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  4. I like the copper and flame pendant a lot!

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  5. I love all three of your pieces! It may not have turned out exactly as you envisioned, but your first piece is delightful. Your pendant has a caldron feel to it and it was a great thought to bring in the various flame colors by way of the crystals. Your black and red pieces are both very elegant. I think the one with the rectangular beads might be my favorite. Great job this month!

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  6. Your necklaces are great! I do see the bonfire in the first one. It's fun to see someone use that as inspiration. I especially love the second necklace with the Golem beads. Beautiful.

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  7. Wow! Lots of beautiful pieces! Great job! I loved the image of the bonfire and really like how you translated it into the necklace. The fire polish effect on the copper is lovely and I'm sure even more lovely in person. The other necklaces are so bold and graphic. Nicely done, yo! Thank you so much for participating!

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