Today I wanted to share with you some of the beautiful paua (abalone to the rest of the world) pieces I'm working with this week - literally the paua pieces not pieces I am making with paua if you get what I mean!
On a recent trip to the South Island, my friend Joy and her husband went on a paua sourcing mission for me (you gotta love creative friends who understand how important it is to get just the right materials!!), they scoured a couple of paua suppliers and hand-picked some truly beautiful pieces.
As I have mentioned before, South Island paua colours differ significantly from North Island paua (all to do with the colder, deeper water of the south), and the pic below highlights just what I mean - the top row are some of the South Island paua from Joy and Peter - you'll notice the rich blues, emerald greens and deep purples , the bottom row is from the North - lighter grassy greens and shimmery pinks - different huh? I love 'em both but it is wonderful to have the choice and variety with a mixture :)
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| Top Row - South Island Paua, Bottom Row - North Island Paua |
I've been busy drilling and buffing and matching crystals, freshwater pearls, seed beads and more to the various shells and have 11 pendants currently on the go - embellishing my little heart out!
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| finding colourways to suit each individual shells - time consuming but oh so fun! |
I love the hues from the South Island Paua Mel......now I'm inspired to make some glass beads in those colours :)
ReplyDeleteI'm with Bobbie - I like the colours in the South Island paua. They'll make gorgeous pendants.
ReplyDeleteWho knew they'd be so different?
Beautiful colors, I love Paua, I remember one year I made all these Paua shell cards. cheers Marie
ReplyDeleteOooh - Bobbie, make sure you have some leftovers after you've used what you need and I'll buy them... seriously.
ReplyDeleteI know Gill, and it's such a definite difference, once you know it you find yourself pointing them out all over the place!!
I bet they were beautiful Marie :)
How interesting Mel - I had no idea... I'm looking forward to seeing your finished pendants. :))
ReplyDeletewow I never knew there was a difference, and there is quite a difference when you look at them together like that.
ReplyDeleteI am soooo pleased to see them together! Its awfully hard to tell when you are choosing just the one type whether the colour is right. Glad you like them. Joy
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