This piece was inspired by a friend’s Kenyan necklace made of bone & horn. I loved the strong shapes and the way the horns tapered around the sides of the neck. My beaded version looks nothing like hers, but it captures a similar earthy, bold feeling.
I made frames with 20 gauge sterling plated copper wire and filled them in with seed beads wrapped around the frames on 26 gauge silver wire. Then I embellished each piece with a mother of pearl teardrop bead surrounded by contrasting seed beads, which I secured with beading thread and a little glue.
I joined the pieces together with carnelian chips and faceted orange glass beads on eye pins and finished off the back with the same combo of beads strung on nylon-coated stainless steel wire.