We all know crocodile tears, but I call this new pendant "Tears for the crocodile" for a reason.
Since I had been a kid, the "Great White One" (you can find a picture of him from the local newspaper here) at the Wilhelma, the Zoological-Botanical Garden in Stuttgart, had been one of my favorites. No, he was not a shark, he was a saltwater crocodile who lived at the zoo from 1967 until his too early death in 2000. He was an absolute magnificent beast.
I never caught his feeding time, but I saw him jump out of the water once, maybe because a visitor looked too yummy, and I'll never forget that incredible power that literally made me gasp.
While I loved to see him, it also made me sad (zoos do that to me or rather did, I haven't been to one in years).
The tiger eye was another rock from my stash. Because of its slightly weird shape, I had never had an idea for it, but I loved the color.
Once again, bead embroidery came to the rescue. Only when I had beaded the bezel, I got this vibe of an eye. The eye of a crocodile ...
Then I remembered the Picasso Tila beads that had been in one of my bead orders. Sometimes the bead shop I buy from offers surprise packs with leftovers at a sale price. It takes me back to the "Wundertüten" (literally: Miracle bags) of my childhood. I love surprises, but I also love the challenge of unknown beads. Sometimes I get a color or a shape or a size I would never have thought of buying. Honestly, who can keep up with all of those beads?
Now the time for the Tilas had come because the color reminded me of the "Great White One". I used them at a slant around the bezel for depth and added another flat row all around. I know crocodiles rarely wear gold ;-) but it fit both the tiger eye and the Tilas so well, and so do the "tears" which also happened to be from the surprise pack, by the way.
I did contemplate adding a pupil to the eye for a bit, but decided against it in the end.
You may see something else in this pendant, but for me it was a real trip in the past although that hadn't been planned at all from the beginning.
Absolutely gorgeous! I love this. It really does look like an eye. And what a beautiful tribute to the Wilhelma. Like you, while I love seeing the animals, I really kind of hate zoos, although I know many of are trying to preserve endangered animals. When I was a kid, I dreamed of going on a Safari in Africa to see the big animals.
ReplyDeleteMichelle
Thank you so much, Michelle!
DeleteIt was great fun for me to figure this one out.
The Wilhelma has always been special to me. Knowing it as a visitor since I was a child, I have seen how much they have improved. Knowing the other side of zoos from working at ours and having been able to visit the hidden parts of the Wilhelma as well, I also know that it's very easy for some people to judge things without knowing the whole story.
So it's always walking the line between being sad about locked up animals - not just in zoos, by the way, just think of all the farm animals who often have even less space - and knowing that many zoos do their best.