Martha's Moth

Martha's moth is a design that began life as a question... 'Can you make me a moth?'

sketches for the Martha's Moth Brooch

Not one who finds 'No' the easiest word, however busy, I said yes.
So that question led to a heap more questions... how long do I have, who's it for, how big, what colours, how am I going to do this???
On a train journey back from a bead show, I doodled in the sketch pad. wobbly biro is my preferred way of thinking out loud on a page! I know, beautifully crafted sketch book pages would be lovely too,  but the notes are just so I don't forget what I thought.
I kind of knew about the structure from having made dragonflies, butterflies and beetles with wings in various beading techniques. I spent a summer evening watching the moths to check out body shapes and proportions. In our neighbourhood we have hawk moths and hummingbird moths and it's a bit of a tradition to go down with a glass of something nice and sit and watch them fluttering at dusk.

The finished design

Next was the lovely time of choosing out beads, and my ongoing love of clear cabochons came into play. After a few sessions at the beading board, Martha's moth came out pretty near to the original doodle and is now a brooch winging her way to her new owner.
I had fun trying our some new ideas, so next I have a re-make and tweeking session ahead, to see if I can get the instructions written and workable for my tester to have a play with.