I got my inspiration for Giorgio when the Guild asked me to design a piece for our 10 year anniversary journal supplement in April, using some Miyuki beads and Swarovski crystals and based around a donut stone. I waited anxiously not knowing quite what to expect. The pack arrived and I lay everything out carefully on my workstation. I must admit feeling a little disappointed that the stone was quite drab at first glance and for some funny reason I felt guilty thinking that. But I got up to get a cuppa for inspiration, and as I moved around the table, I looked at the donut with its eccentric hole lying sideways on the mat, and suddenly it morphed into a fish desperate for his scales.
An absolute Eureka moment! Combining freeform peyote with herringbone (of course, what else) and blending size 15º and 11º seed beads produced a delicious scaly effect, finished off with delicate Swarovski crystal droplets of seawater. All that remained was to let Gorgeous Giorgio swim from a necklace of tails.
I was so excited with the whole concept of working this way with a stone donut, that I immediately searched for another one to work on. I found a beautiful tear-drop shaped carnelian with a large hole, and Celestine was born. The hole was far too large to leave unadorned so I added a large rivoli as a twinkling eye for her.
Giorgio made his debut last April in the BWG journal supplement, and the fish tail necklace instructions followed in the next journal. However I have now made Gorgeous Giorgio into a workshop too.