I’ve created quite a little pile of ancient styled beads now but have been finding myself torn between leaving them looking shiny and new or trying to give them a more aged appearance.
Here are some, bright and shiny from the kiln – these designs are typical of Viking age beads.
Trailed and Raked
I decided to try and ‘age’ some during the actual torching process -
Glass beads distressed during creation
I do like this effect very much, these have turned out looking pitted and slightly dull, much more like their real counterparts.
Here again, are some shiny beads, this time with black and white twisted or latticino glass decoration.
Beads before etching
See the difference when these beads have been etched?
Beads with twisted glass decorations
The beads have a softer look to them and no glare. I think it makes them look ‘older’.
One more picture – a pile of etched beads!
Etched mixture
So what do you think?
I like the etched and distressed look, I like the fact that it does give the appearance of age to the beads. BUT I can understand that some people might prefer to see what ancient beads would have looked like back when they were first created, before they had lost their shine.
It’s also not my intent to mislead anyone into thinking these beads are older than they are, but something in my brain much prefers the aged look to the new ones. It’s funny, but ancient beads are supposed to look OLD!! To my mind at least – what about yours?
