Cliff Swain-Salomon - The Lovers

The Lovers

This piece features two lightning bugs that are situated in a field of trumpet flowers.  The head and bodies are constructed using Preciosa pearls and Japanese seed beads—including precious metal-plated beads—which are all strung together using a combination of tubular peyote and netting.  The glowing butt is created using a custom-made Murano glass lampwork bead.  The bead is formed using Effetre glass cane, famous for its color and quality. They are hand-made using traditions and techniques that have been passed down over centuries from one Venetian glassworker to another. (Some sources say that the techniques started in Venice as early as the 8th century though Murano techniques became popular in the 15th and 16th centuries.) The pattern on the Murano beads is designed to reflect the millefiori style flowers in Klimt’s painting “The Kiss” which was originally titled, “The Lovers” (Liebespaar) when it premiered in 1908. Around the…