Tiffany Free

Space

The way space is used in jewelry making is how close or far apart the beads and components are from each other. Depending on the distances used, this can affect how we look at the object. There are two types of space. Positive space and negative space.

Positive Space
Positive space is the space that is taken up by the beads and components. When you have a necklace or bracelet that is composed of square and circle beads, then the positive space is the places the square and circle beads are in the composition.

Negative Space
On the other hand, negative space is the complete opposite of positive space. Rather than the places the beads are, the negative space is where the beads are not. For example, if you have a double strand necklace where one of the strands is longer than the other, a crescent shape is formed. The crescent shape is the negative space.

One of the cool things about space, is that sometimes the negative space, which is what is not there, is sometimes just as interesting as what is there (positive space.)

Texture

The texture of an object or project is also very important. Texture is how the object feels on the surface; smooth, rough, silky, bumpy, soft, hard, etc. It is also possible to find beads that look like they are textured, but they really are just printed or covered by another layer of clear material. Many jewelry artists draw texture combinations from nature, because there are many of them. There are also quite a few artists that use texture as their main element of design in their works.

Texture also helps when you are trying to get a piece to feel right. Sometimes when a certain medium lies on your skin, it feels weird by itself. When you add other textures to it, that helps it lay better! It is not very difficult to use texture in jewelry making. One example of this is to use many, many different sizes and shapes of beads to create a design. The combination of several beads will:

1. Give your piece texture and

2. Make your piece fun and inspiring

A few more words about texture… decide upon how much texture to use by what you want the piece to be like. If you are expecting the piece to turn out clean and crisp, maybe don’t use a lot of texture. But, then again, if you want your piece to look old and worn, a lot of texture will give you this effect in connection with the correct colors.