Designing a Phoenix Bird Pendant: Story Driven Art Collab!
I am so excited to officially share a collaborative project that has been months in the making. I’m working with two very talented women, Amber, AKA Labryntime, who is a talented writer and charcoal artist, and Sheri Lauren, who is a talented artist, musician and writer. We are working on an awesome project where we each contribute creative pieces that are all inspired by, and build off of one another. We worked together to build a general idea and rough story outline. From there, Labryntime builds and writes a story, while Sheri Lauren creates a painting based on the story, which includes in it a pendant that I’m designing, which is inspired by the story and the painting. Each creative element will be so beautiful on it’s own, but even stronger and more amazing together. So be sure to hook into the fan feed to follow the development of this awesome, creative project and see what we create.
So what’s this new design all about?
Well, while I don’t want to give away too much yet, I will say that the main character of the story is a woman who goes through a phoenix like experience in her life. The art piece will feature the lead character with hair that resembles beautiful flames. The way that it will lift and curl inspired some of the shapes used in this pendant design. The wings and tail play off of those curls. Originally I wanted to create something that was a more figurative phoenix, but recently I enjoyed the ArtWear fashion show in Fort Collins, Colorado. I saw a few stunning items that seemed to be inspired by peacocks, and it got my mind spinning in a new direction.
I started drawing with more literal wings, and eventually added a head. I also thought adding the head was a good way to add in some subtle details. The beak is hooked like many predatory birds. It hints at the behavior of the lead character as the life around her transforms her. The original idea was also to use a metal that was silver in color with a red, phoenix like stone. Then my wife thought I was crazy for not using a yellow gold. So I thought on that, and then thought about the stone, and started leaning into colors that represented fire rather than the phoenix itself. The center stone changed from red to yellow, and I added small highlight stones at the edges of the curling feathers/flames, that are a mix of orange and red, allowing the yellow of the gold to tie all of the flame colors together.
Amber, Alex & Sheri Lauren, the collab team
I was also inspired by the fashion show to go big and bold. I originally wanted to use a ruby at the center, but had a difficult time finding one large enough. I also want to chat with my metal smiths to verify that casting an item this large isn’t going to create casting problems.
I also love to get feedback from the family while I’m designing. It was such a big hit that my oldest son was inspired to borrow my tablet and draw up his own idea. He’s 9 years old. He wanted to make something with a door that you could open and store ashes of loved ones in, which represents them rising from their ashes to become something greater. I thought that was pretty cleaver.
My oldest son's design for a phoenix pendant
So, what do you think so far? Share your thoughts in the comments and stay tuned to watch this story develop. I can’t wait to see where this all goes.
Heart of the Phoenix Pendant Design - Rough Draft 4