Beginnings of an Ode

I started on this this morning (about 5 hours, since I went to bed very early last night and got up very early this morning). It is going to be the centerpiece of a necklace.

This piece has been waiting too long and was by request of a very dear friend back in January. Or was it December? Not only have I been feeling somewhat guilty of neglecting my dearest friends for the recent goings on, but I also needed a bit of levity myself.

On one hand there is the beauty of gold and ivory. I have been lost in that for quite a while now with Little Jimmy Brown then with the tiara. Another matter entirely is the beauty of nature, which is where I have decided to get lost now. I already decided on a name for this piece with the butterfly, which will also be its theme.

The name will be simply "Ode".


It is still very early, but I think if I can make it nicer than the black and white you see here, then by the time I add color to it, it should be even better. At this moment, as little as I've thought about it, I intend to make it available in a multitude of colors because I think colors will be an obvious highlight.

I have some butterfly collections in frames I got from an oddities shop. I layed one down under my worktable and made the worktable semi-transparant so I can have a constant reminder of the anatomy of a butterfly while I work. That is the shadow you see in the background. As you can see I may or may not follow it, but it's nice to have there anyway just because.

A technique I am using in this, which I've used before but haven't seen anywhere else, is inlay. One prim is cut the exact size as the opening in another prim and used to fill the gap. In a simple sample of inlay, each of the ovals you see here are actually two or more - one inlaid in a cut in another. I kind of like the way it can be used to create highlights, as in the more complex "spiral tails" of this butterfly. As the piece progresses (it is nowhere near done) I will take advantage of that and create some much more detailed inlays than I have in this first pass. For a long time I have wanted to see what could be done with the technique in the SL building engine. That is where my mind will be for a little while - and also lost in some beautiful music that will be telling me how to lay out every next prim.

One thought I am grappling with is whether or not to leave the butterfly at two dimensions (flat) or if I should raise its wings. I trust I will know when I need to know.

Some may ask if it will be limited or unlimited. Generally, almost always, if a piece is inspired by a person then that piece is limited. Little Jimmy Brown and Trapeze were the exceptions. This one is inspired by Nature and therefore will be Unlimited.

It will probably end up unpurchasable. That is to say "earned not by money", as is another set I have out there somewhere. I will let time reveal what I mean by that, or you can ask one of the scholars of my work what it must mean.