The Tale of Davy Jones Locker

I made this piece originally for a challenge on the Australian Beading Forum, the theme of which was "Davy Jones Locker". I took the theme quite literally, and tried to imagine what a lost soul would see as it sank towards the bottom of the deep sea. It would drift through different layers of the sea with water in different shades of cold blue and green. There would be worldly treasures - diamond, sapphire, emerald, peridot, citrine, pearls, silver and gold, but there would also be signs of death, despair, darkness, and passage of time. It would be a choice between good and evil, a fine line between attraction and repulsion. If the soul was overcome by desire and lingered on, before it realized, it would be chained to Davy Jones Locker, forever condemned to the bottom of the sea.

This piece was designed around a dichroic glass cabochon which I bought a few years ago from an American artist Donna Cason. Because of its colours, I'd always wanted to make it into something dark and eerie. When I saw the challenge theme, I immediately thought of it. Made all the skulls, seahorse and the man's face with silver clay. Also made two smaller cabochons using enamel and silver leaf on copper to try to match the dichroic cab. Added shell beads, pearls, Swarovski crystals and silver beads. The different components were wrapped with sterling silver wire, patinaed with liver of sulphur, polished then assembled using a combination of sterling silver and base metal chains, and beads. Despite the deep patina, it's actually quite sparkly in real life because of the crystals. This piece was awarded first prize in the wire work category of the 2008 Beading Extravaganza Competition in the Sydney Bead & Gem Show. It was also a finalist in the 2009 Bead Dreams Competition.