Sunday, May 3, 2009

Flight of Fancy


Eugenia always held her breath when the pressure started to build; although Bronwyn laughed at her, she really did need to silence her own respiration in order to hear the steam from the tiny boiler fill the pipes. She knew every pop, ping and wheeze; the engine told her when it was ready. All she had to do was keep the fire going, and listen.

Time. She needed more time; she wasn't going to have enough time. Very, very gently she fanned the fire, urging the water to boil. The grounded ones were nearly upon her; she could hear them in the middle distance, the cadence of their engines indicating speed, the song of their steam mocking her own efforts. They didn't know how to make flights of fancy, and she wasn't going to be the one who gave up her steam to change that.

Bronwyn would give her grief for not filing a flight plan; but truly, she did not have time to plan this flight, let alone time to let anyone know she was going. She grinned; heck, even she didn't know where, or when, she was going. She would have to take her chances with space and time and work out the details of getting back when she got wherever, or whenever, it was she went. If she had enough time to leave, that is; she was hopeful, but not at all certain. She listened carefully, resisting the impulse to drum her fingers against the boiler to make some noise. At last it began to build: steam, steam; beautiful steam; pop, ping, wheeze.

Eugenia held her breath, set the dials, and vanished.

© 2009 Cynthia Newcomer Daniel

Seed beads, brass, Swarovski crystals, vintage watch parts. Hand fabricated.

13 comments:

The Beader's Muse said...

Am I allowed to say that I like this piece even MORE than the winner of the contest? Is that terrible of me? I totally love the assemtry of it, the swan, the white matte beads, the swirls and coils. Did you put some sort of wire support within the coils? The piece is just incredible. And I am excited to see the grand prize is already in use!

Cynthia Newcomer Daniel said...

Thanks, Scarlett! Nope, no wires, except for the rivets holding the crystals and swan to the watch case, and the brass stamping to the bottom of the piece.

The beads are tightly woven together, and connected in enough places to keep the collar shape; but it is totally soft and flexible. It's a surprisingly comfortable piece to wear.

The Beader's Muse said...

I've blogged it! http://www.thebeadersmuse.com/journal/2009/5/3/what-our-use-the-muse-contest-winner-created-with-some-of-he.html

Marylo said...

Wonderful jewelry.

You are my "hero" of the day... and I have written a presentation of your blog. I hope you don't mind if I had taken a photo of one of your bracelet to illustrate it?

If you want me to remove it. Just tell me and I'll do!

I really love your jewelry. specially "Flight of Fancy" : stunning!

LOL (Lots of love) from a french Jewelry_dreamer
Marylo

Jean Hutter said...

This is an amazing piece - I love the color combo and the contrast between the beads and the watch parts. This is a "work of art" for sure!

Cyndy said...

I agree with Scarlett. I love this one even more than the Use the Muse contest winner! The asymmetry, the clever use of watch parts and brass stampings, and your unique bead filagree technique makes this one of the most interesting beaded necklaces I've seen. I bet you could win another contest with this one.

Anonymous said...

Holy smokes!!!! I don't know if I have seen this yet, but WOW!!!!

Zoya Gutina said...

FABULOUS work, dear Cindy!

Heart's Desire Jewelry said...

I'm confused...I thought this was the Grand Prize winner of the contest. It is ah-mazing! and a winner in my book. Congrats!

Cynthia Newcomer Daniel said...

This is the piece I made with some of the items from my prize! The winning piece is Scarlett Sings

judith27k said...

I can't illustrate here how my face looked when I first saw this piece. In words, two eyes out of their holes and one mouth open in a square form ;-)
It is a wooooooooooowwww piece.
I enjoy so much visiting your blog, you always give me inspiration with your incredible talent.

Bravo!

Judith

stephanie.h.n. said...

I just found this (on Pinterest). This is so beautiful. It made my heart beat a little faster. You are very talented.

AWJewelry said...

Wonderful!