My August ABS Entry - Japanese Seascape

I am a huge fan of Japanese woodcuts, and I am privileged to have a few in my collection, and so I was thrilled to see that the theme for the challenge this month at ArtBeadScene is one of my personal favorites, "Kanagawa oki nami ura" (Great Wave off of Kanagawa) by Hokusai Katsushiki, one of a series of woodcuts known as "The Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji" created by Katsushiki around 1826.

It didn't take much for me to be inspired, in fact, I had this image sitting in my "must do" stack for months! Here is my creation. Everyone who has seen it in person says it is very soothing and calming. One lady even told me it was perfect Feng Shui. I kind of like this one myself.



The polymer clay pendant was created using my favorite image transfer technique. I added Ranger Bottle and Stream and Weathered Wood embossing powder to a Pearl Premo base, for texture and depth. It also adds a vintage look and feel to the piece. I made the transfer of the woodblock and then embossed the top and bottom and reverse with a Lotus and Chrysanthemum stamp. I also created a smaller transfer of an Asian ship book illustration (probably not Katsushiki, however) in the same color palette and embossed the back of it, too.

I added gorgeous carved Pink Agate Ammonite beads which I purchased last month from GemmeTresor's designer collection at Etsy; Fossil Agate ovals, which have a definite Asian feel; Impression/Aqua Terra Jasper rounds and beautiful Kyanite dagger beads, which I purchased at LimaBeads.com; Bali spacers and an embossed, Sterling Silver hook clasp.

There are some really stunning entries in this month's challenge. I hope you will visit ABS's photo pool at Flickr and see for yourself. There isn't any voting involved in ABS's challenges, the winner is pulled from a hat, or the equivalent thereof. It is just a lot of fun. The ladies at ABS do a fantastic job and their blog is always inspiring.