Heart Black As Night

"Heart Black As Night", by Melody Gardot

This is a partial video clip (thank you, Sophie Lise) of my vampire duet with Michael Serecsko in the Don't Quit Your Day Job Dancers' performance of Vamp at Stage Dor Dance and Performance Space, Sausalito, CA. Choreography by Doree Clark, Ingrid Serenne. Very bad vampires having a delightful time being bad. A wonderful experience, which tested me to no end, but thankfully resulted in a total immersion in the sparkle and magic and heat of dance. My special thanks to Doree, Ingrid, and Michael for this experience. Love you all!

Oriel Pendant Challenge -- Week 3: Vamp Lifeblood

Vamp Lifeblood Oriel (Front)

I am resuming my (definitely) sporadic Weekly Oriel Pendant Challenge, but in truth I created more than 30 new pendants for my street faire last month (and will be posting some of them as the days go by) so this could actually be Week 33. But that would be cheating, wouldn't it?This pendant was inspired by this year's Don't Quit Your Day Job Dancers production, Vamp. The graphic image was taken off the net -- I couldn't find a credit, but if I run across it again I will give the artist his or her due for this strong, feminine image. (I suppose I picked her because she looks a bit like me in my vampire costume :).) She is backed with a black silk ribbon and a cool white embroidered ribbon (like her so so pale skin) embellished with a maroon ironwork scroll design. A blood red Swavorski crystal rhinestone dots the base of her neck -- like a drop of blood. She has the power to take, or to give, lifeblood. Swavorski crystal beads in jet and red hang from an appropriately Gothic pendant.

A Crystalline Love -- Pendant Challenge: Week 1

This my first pendant for my Pendant a Week Challenge. This is a personal art challenge of creating a minimum of one oriel pendant a week. I created this Twilight-inspired piece in an hour. What is the fascination with vampires? I don't really know, but it has been a literary and movie subject that I have been engaged in for many years. Wierd, yes. But I am someone who was raised on Thriller, Outer Limits, and The Twilight Zone. So vampiric lore is not so out of the oridnary for one such as I. And it seems to have come back full circle with the arrival of the True Blood and Twilight series. Crystalline Love is a 3-D oriel. It features Bella and Edward sharing a moment together -- the moment just after he reveals to her his sun-reflecting, crystalline skin. He thought she'd be horrified -- instead she thought he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The 3-D layers give the oriel a shadow box effect: the image of the lovers is merged with a redwood-edged green hill. The bottom layer is a foggy woods, sprinkled with golden strands that seem to reflect light. The glass front is bevaled. The oriel is embellished with a Swavorski crystal pendant, a small pewter heart, and diamond AB crystal beads.