Tiamat beaded talon fingertips

In the midst of trying to wrap my head around just how I was going to manage adding all those beads and stones to the Tiamat dress, I decided to start working on the accessories. I wanted to do something repetitive that I wouldn't have to think too much about. That way, my subconscious could work out how to line up all the beads and I could still work on the project. It's win-win.

The result is this: the beaded talon fingertip. I wanted to give Tiamat claws, for while the Enuma Elish doesn't describe her as a dragon, she does give birth to dragons and monsters, so I imagine her to have claws... and horns. I'm looking for excuses to use my onyx talons, I admit it.


Vanessa Walilko
Beaded dragons, beaded armor, chainmaille jewelry, and chainmaille classes

In progress - The Tiamat Dress

I was much too obsessed with my chainmaille jacket when I was working on it to actually to the in progress photos I had originally planned on doing. However, I decided to take photos of the dress while it was in progress, since this is the most epic project I've ever worked on.

Of course, when I say progress, I really mean, "fussily obsessing about where things are going to go next." I'm working, right now, on placing the cuneiform characters. I managed to find a PDF of the transliteration of the first 100 lines of the Enuma Elish, and the original cuneiform characters. After some editing, I sized the characters in relation to the width of seed beads and came up with a good scale for the characters in relation to the dress.

in any case, that was months ago. Today I was only concerned with the position of the characters--how they would flow with the dress. I came to this formation--the vertical formation is the characters for Mummu Tiamat.

For anyone interested in reading the Enuma Elish, you can find the full text here. These are the first four lines of the epic, taken from the site listed:

When on high the heaven had not been named,
Firm ground below had not been called by name,
When primordial Apsu, their begetter,
And Mummu-Tiamat, she who bore them all

Here's how they look in relation to the whole dress:

Back to work!

Vanessa Walilko
Handcrafted beaded jewelry, chainmaille jewelry, beaded armor, and beaded sculpture

Dreams of the Fallen

Thanks to a trip to Milwaukee on Friday and some last minute scheduling, I got my big collar/capelet photographed by Larry Sanders. I just sent it off to the Bead Dreams competition. Wish me luck!



Vanessa Walilko
Chainmaille, beadwork, art

February Classes

When I wore my dragonscale bracelet to class, I knew that I was teaching it somewhere soon. Well, here is the list of all the classes I'll be teaching in February:

Dragonscale - February 7
Briolette Beads, Forest Park

Chainmaille Earrings - February 8
Discovery Center, Chicago

Japanese Cascade - February 12
Caravan Beads, Chicago

I will also be subbing for Rebeca on weeks two and three for her Vikings and Dragons class at Lill Street starting February 11, and I'll be running the open studio at Blue Buddha Boutique on February 9.

As always, contact information for all of these locations can be found on my Resources - Classes page.

Vanessa Walilko
Gianessa Designs - Handcrafted Beaded and Chainmaille Jewelry

New Etsy Items

I figured that as I got sucked into the online auctions for Battlestar Galactica (I love the show, but seriously, the Tighs as Cylons annoy me) I would update the website and the blog.

I posted some new items on Etsy. The first design people have seen before, either on my wrist or at the Cornelia Holiday Show. It's the Shaggy Scales bracelet, which also has it's own page on the website.

The second piece is the Shaggy Scales Bib Necklace. I'm a huge fan of these scales. Black on one side, gunmetal on the other, the colors create an amazing texture. Did I mention that they jangle? I like things that make noise and I love huge pieces of jewelry. This necklace has quickly become one of my favorites.



Vanessa Walilko
Kali Butterfly: Eclectic Chainmaille and Beadwork

Custom Fly Ring

I imagine other artists feel this way: they make something that turns out even better than they imagined and then walk around the rest of the day/week/month thinking, "I'm a genius." At least, I like to think that other people do it, since I am self-conscious about my narcissistic megalomania. Or maybe that's megalomaniacal narcissism?

In any case, I did something yesterday that has sparked the "I'm a genius!" chant in my head. I made a housefly ring. It's a custom order, and it's just the prototype, but I totally fell in love with it. The garnet eyes are my favorite part, but the legs have a lot of personality too, and that makes me happy.

The finished piece will have a 14K band and the silver will be treated with liver of sulfur to make it black, but this little prototype ring makes me stupidly happy.



Remember, if you have any custom desires, just drop me a line.


Handcrafted Unique Beaded Jewelry, Chainmaille and Beaded Sculpture

January Classes

Oh, the horrors of the sinus infection. I've been out of commission for essentially two weeks, first battling a cold, now a wicked sinus infection. In fact, I've forgotten to put up information about upcoming classes until now. However, I have made some serious progress on the chainmaille jacket, so all is well in the end.

January class list:

Lill Street Gallery:
5-week chainmaille class, January 7-February 4

Briolette Beads:
Beg. Maille
X-Lock Byzantine
January 17

Ayla's Originals (my first official classes there!)
Beginning
Spiral I
January 24

Contact information for stores can be found on my classes page. Class descriptions can be found on the Blue Buddha Boutique class page.

Vanessa Walilko
Gianessa Designs, Handcrafted Beaded Jewelry, Chainmaille and Art