Color Challenge - Analogous Complementary

How to create a color scheme for a neckstrap for this gorgeous lampworked focal? I determined that the main colors in the bead are the complementary pair, purple and yellow green. The artist took advantage of a broad spectrum of the color wheel to include analogous colors from fuchsia to aqua. There was already plenty of excitement and lots of hue contrast in the focal itself. Literally thousands of possibilities!

If I were wrapping this around my own conservative neck, I would have picked out the classic blues (I see blue violet, steel blue and tints of cerulean in the focal) but for this necklace, I wanted to challenge myself to push beyond my personal inclinations, which trend towards the traditional and trustworthy.

So I chose two colors from the bead’s background swirls that I don’t normally work with, vibrant red violet and deep aqua green to create the neckstrap. I kept the aquas to the muted, dark shades, achieving contrast by using different finishes and bead sizes. Red violet is seen in the kumihimo strip and as accents in the spans of aqua green.


I think it’s the perfect accessory for the middle of March – the not exactly winter, not quite yet spring necklace.