Challenge of Color Reveal

Today is the day, folks!  Erin and Brandi are hosting the 3rd Annual Challenge of Blog Hop and I've had such fun working on this challenge.  They chose to use NASA's Earth As Art photographs as the inspiration for the color palettes.  Each participant received two palettes from which to choose, and I got these:

 

I had a hard time deciding which one to use.  Such a hard time, in fact, that I did both.  I did choose the first one, the Brandberg Massif palette with it's limey green tones as the one I wanted to work with. But I couldn't resist the oranges and turquoise in the Desert Patterns:

You can read more about that piece here if you'd like.  But on to today's reveal...

 

I rummaged through my stash and came up with several options for cord and seed beads, as well as some Czech glass diamonds, lava beads, African recycled glass, painted Lucite and a circular slider.  I decided to do some research on the Brandberg Massif to get some inspiration and what I found fascinated me.  

 

 The Brandberg Massif is all that remains of an ancient volcano in the Namib Desert.    It was once an active volcano until granite magma hardened and plugged the vent millions of years ago.  Eventually everything around the granite eroded away and all that is left now is this circular protrusion rising over a mile high, towering over the desert below.  Encompassing an area over 250 square miles, it is so tall that it actually affects the weather.  It takes what moisture is in the clouds before the rains can reach the desert.  It is a wild an inhospitable place, but it was not always so.

 

 Archaeological evidence suggests that people lived in this area, sheltered by the mountain.  They drank from streams that are now dry, filling only on those rare occasions when rain swells the forgotten riverbeds and collects in small pools.  They hunted in the valleys and they left behind pot fragments and spearheads that are now covered in earth, buried in time.  They also left behind a huge collection of rock paintings that give us glimpses of their lives.  The most famous of the Brandberg's paintings is The White Lady. 

The exact age of these prehistoric paintings is unknown, as is much about the figures represented.  The White Lady was so named because of the central and most detailed figure - that of a human with white arms and white legs.  Now thought to represent a hunting scene, the central figure is probably a medicine man with arms and legs painted or covered in some sort of decorative attachments.  It's a tantalizing glimpse of a culture long since gone.

I am fascinated with the people who came before us.  They seem so different, so far away both in time and in distance, but in the end, we are all the same.  We live, we breathe, we love.  We raise our children and get by the best we can.

But back on to the beads.  I decided to use some glass seed beads with a Picasso finish - the grays and blacks all mottled together remind me of the rocky mountain.  I chose chartreuse cord to represent the pockets of lush grasses that spring up when it rains.  I used a pattern I've been developing, with circular portions that seem to mimic the round shape in NASA's photo.  And I added a sterling silver charm that reminds me of the simple lines of the rock paintings and the relentless sun of the surrounding desert.

I hope you've enjoyed this post and I hope that you'll take the time to visit the other participants!

Erin Prais-Hintz
Rebecca Anderson
Kris Auderer
Chrizette Bayman
Lori Bowring Michaud
Courtney Breul
Lynsey Brooks
Stephanie Buss
Iveth Caruso
Shannon Chomanczuk
Lisa Cone
Cece Cormier
Lori Dorrington
Dawn Doucette
Jeannie Dukic
Kim Dworak
Beth Emery
Janice Everett
Pam Farren
Donetta Farrington
Gloria Ferrer
Cherrie Fick
Therese Frank
Patty Gasparino
Tanya Goodwin
Ambra Gostoli
Jess Green
Denielle Hagerman
Mary Harding
Karla Hartzog
Kim Hora
Brandi Hussey
Emanda Johnson
Jennifer Justman
Sue Kennedy
Ema Kilroy
Lee Koopman
Linda Landig
Kirsi Luostarinen
Cynthia Machata
Alicia Marinache
Beth McCord
Mary K McGraw
Karen Mitchell
Cheri Mitchell-Reed
Aimee Moisa
Karla Morgan
Penny Neville
Becky Pancake
Kashmira Patel
Alice Peterson
Kayla Potega
Debbie Price
Bobbie Rafferty
Caron Reid
Nicole Rennell
Cynthia Riggs
Andrea Ross
Sally Russick
Annie Scherz
Pam Sears
Renetha Stanziano
Sandra Stein
Kristen Stevens
Tracy Stillman
Sherri Stokey   <--- You are here
Lola Survillo
Kay Thomerson
Jo Tinley
Emma Todd
Cory Tompkins
Pam Traub
Melissa Trudinger
Michelle Tucker
Shelley Graham Turner
Monique Urquhart
Rachel Van-Walsk
Patti Vanderbloemen
Lesley Watt
Lynn White
Joan Williams