Agapanthus Project (2024)

 For my mother's 70th birthday last year, I wanted to make something special for her. She is an amazing human and a wonderful mom. I put her through a lot, and she has always been there for me.

In 2019, my mom visited Oakland in the summer, and that's when she told me that she loves the blossoming flowers all over town. That flower was the agapanthus! 

Agapanthus

Isn't it gorgeous?

It's originally from southern Africa, also commonly known as the lily of the Nile. I've noticed that it blooms in the summer months in the Bay Area.

I decided to make a sculptural representation of the flower.

The first challenge was that my favorite local bead store had just closed, and I didn't know where else to get the supplies. However, I had just gotten acquainted with a delightful bead store in Melbourne, FL, called Beads and Bloom (formerly known as Karen & Friends Bead Store), while I was in town for a wedding. The beads were less expensive than what I could get locally, and they shipped! One day, I called Iris who was the owner and designer of the shop then, and she helped me brainstorm about how to make this flower come to life. She shipped perfect little sparkly beads and wire, and I started working on the project. 

It was a challenging process, as I had no tutorial to follow or fall back on, and I was working entirely on my own.

Below are the first couple iterations of the flower:

Each bud is made up of a small sparkly bead at the center with a flower bead on a light green (sea form) 22-gauge wire. The wires are fastened to a brooch base disc.

After having iterated, I could tell something was missing, but couldn't point to exactly what. So I consulted with my ever-so-creative mother-in-law, Mama T, and she helped diagnose the issue. The stems of the buds were too long and sparse. 

making the stems fuller and less sparse

The final product!

I am so pleased with the final iteration, and I couldn't wait for my mom to hold it in her hands. I even shipped the package a month in advance to ensure it arrived on time. 

Alas, there was a shipping snafu, and the gift got caught in customs, and then returned to me six months later. I will hand-deliver the flower pin to her when I see her in December 2025.