April Art Bead Scene Challenge

    Matamoe or Landscape with Peacocks
Paul Gauguin
1892
Oil On Canvas

This month's Art Bead Scene Challenge is a colorful and vibrant landscape by Gauguin.  Gauguin found it constricting to do what other Impressionists did and paint entirely from nature. Instead, he created a new type of Impressionism by painting with large, outlined blocks of flat, bright color. One thing that separated Paul Gauguin from other artists was that he used heavy outlines in his paintings. Impressionists blended pieces together to achieve a sense of time in the painting. Gauguin separated out objects with clear outlines instead in watered down Prussian blue. Later the blue outlines would be filled in with opaque colors. The idea was for the dark outline to heighten the intensity of the other colors used. Gauguin used flat areas of bright color. He used colors such as Prussian blue, cobalt blue, emerald green, viridian, cadmium yellow, chrome yellow, red ochre, cobalt violet, and lead or zinc white.

                                       necklace by BayMoonDesign featuring focal by Mary Harding

I decided to limit my use of colors to blue, black, green, and yellow.  The ceramic leaf that I selected to use as my focal in a necklace is by the well know ceramic artist Mary Harding and it reminded me of the blues and blacks in some of the trees in the painting.  I love the earthy and rustic looks of her work and I have several pieces in my shop that have her ceramics in them.

Navy Blue Ceramic Necklace by BayMoonDesign

This earthy navy blue ceramic necklace is perfect for anyone who loves art jewelry.  The dagger necklace has a rustic appearance and reminds me of the many green, and orange colors found in nature especially in Spring.  I used navy blue Irish waxed linen thread to bring out the yellows and greens in the necklace.  This long boho necklace has a bronze clasp that I made for this necklace.

I was inspired by this piece.  I think it would be a great Mother's Day gift.  What do you think?