This is perhaps the most literal of my Bead Journal pieces to date, in that it actually represents an event that took place in the month. The idea of a fish swiming in water is to commemorate a cruise taken early in the month. The cruise was the perfect holiday - too much food, a little good wine, very little connectivity to the outside world, and the company of good friends.
About the red fish ....I received the fish many years ago as a "treat" in a secret swap program, and decided that the fish would fit this month's chosen colour of "red" perfectly. (For those of you who are reading my blog for the first time, or more hopefully, are enjoying too much BJP eye candy and can't keep up with what everyone is up to, I decided to do form all of my BJP on button covers, for a 1 7/8" round shape, and decided to complete a colour wheel during the year. It seemed like a good idea at the time....)
The fish is joined by lots of seed stitches in opaque and transparent red, along with some off-centre/bubble/magatama beads to form the ground. I think the off-centre beads are actually amber, but look slightly red, and when combined with red background fabric, seem to be a perfect garnet colour. I also threw in to the mix 3 red circles purchased in New York last fall (again, while on holiday). I'm not entirely sure of the significance of three, other than it felt right, and it fell into my new mantra of trying to edit less and bead more.
