Big Frog in a little pond

As usual I just start playing with the metal clay and see what comes. Well, it isn't as easy as it would seem. Often, it takes more time than is necessary and there are times when it appears that nothing is going to work. (Although I only have one piece in my scrap jar that I gave up on.)

Big Frog in a Little Pond is one of those pieces. It started out as a circular disk for a demonstration on rolling, texturing and cutting out the clay. Now I don't even remember what my original intent was. The piece sat on my work table for weeks while I waited to hear what it wanted to be. There was a frog that was fired also sitting nearby and I decided to use it with the piece. Originally the frog was going to sit on the rippled water surrounded by a variety of leaves. But, the piece was too small and needed to be enlarged, so another textured piece was made to put on the back to enlarge it. Since this reminded me of water, I used the texture with the Koi fish on the back. (So I guess it could be said that this was also a big fish in a little pond.)

The leaf punches that I had just looked too plain so I used a leaf mold that I got from one of my Tennessee friends. It worked great but was rather large and hung over the edge. So again the design took another direction as I designed a bail on the back to mimic the overhang.

The next step was to move the pendant up a notch by making the clasp, rather than using a ready-made one. The clasp is simple, just a toggle and bar done in the same Koi texture.

The turquoise beads add an earthy feel and the crystals represent water. (For some reason I've been on a water kick lately. Maybe I can sound very artistic and say it's part of my water series.)