ta-finally-da!

i started this in november. it was developed from a nice sketch from a chef in malaysia. we had worked on something in the past... i was excited. then the holiday season hit. work was no longer possible to make this complete while it was madness for the end of the year marathon.

after taking months off, i dug out all the components again. i reviewed the notes and emails that led me to this point. i took nearly the whole thing apart to start more freshly... and to my client's liking. since time had passed, i wasn't as invested in the beginning piece as much anymore. now i wanted to make it so it worked for her and the dreams she sketched and wrote about.

here is the original sketch 

and the materials list

so i went at it as directed.
i culled vintage black flowers and some of my best flea market scored copper flowers.
i painted loads of components black.
i mixed and matched combinations of black and copper in matte and shiny finishes.
i riveted oodles of these together.
i dug through many boxes to find the black plastic beads to use as infill and tapering crystals and hopefully not add too much weight.
i added and subracted.
i multiplied and divided.
i moved and removed.
i primped and fussed.
i added rhinestone swarovski centers.
i made lotsandlotsandlots of little flowers and beads to place on the neck, or fill in between the larger flowers.

it was all for a cause.
the dream is to wear a black sexy dress. it is open from its neckline all the way to the belly button.
a J.Lo kind of expression.
surely there will be gobs of double-stick tape involved.
also there will be this very labor intensive construction of black colored and raw, unsealed copper flowers. within its structure there are many moving beads... tapered, faceted, round, matte, ovoid, crystal, etc.
this combination of elements will distract or cover the negative space of the dress. that outside of the lines to be colored in.
the area to the body of the dripping floral matt, is to be three inches wide.
it is to drop down in a full on 49 cm pitch.
i know i am mixing my metaphors. it is late and i am not all there right now.

so the journey started:

this is a progress point... the one where i stopped for the holidays. 

and i really like the unfinished version greatly. 

later i rebooted things. 

then after my hiatus was over, i went back and restarted the placement of the flowers.
i groaned all the way. i kept saying it served me right not to take things more seriously from the beginning.

i checked to see if i was on the right track. 

lucky for me, i was... but still needed to add little blooms at the neckline too. 

so i went back to the well and made floral charms for 3 days more. 

now it is time to add some of the gazillion flowers and beady infill items.

and post to facebook. 

for some sadly desired hand holding. 

this has been quite an outpouring of effort, time and materials. 

hoping that this makes the delightful izzy happy. 

time to say good night to this project and my own bleary eyed day. 

xoxo.

W.