I recently came across this website that advertises bracelets inspired by opera. And while some of them show only one aspect of the story, some of the others tell the whole story altogether just using beads. What it all adds up to is basically a form of abstract art and storytelling.
How does it work? Well at first glance, this bracelet telling the story of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin doesn't look like much. And it is a little hard figuring it out without a guide. Here is how this kind of storytelling works.
Notice how the beads are used to represent a character, emotion, or action. Here, a green bead stands for jealousy. Charms stand in for a specific event or feeling. Dark colors usually indicate something is seriously wrong.
Now let's take a look at this bracelet representing the deranged Lucia in Donizetti's tragic horror story Lucia di Lammermoor. This one is simpler because it describes just one aspect of the story. Here, clear, pearly white, and blood-red beads indicate Lucia's blood-stained wedding dress (or nightgown depending on the production). There is a Celtic knot charm for the Scottish setting, and a heart charm for Lucia's love for Edgardo. The dagger charm shows the knife with Lucia murders her new husband Arturo, after she has been abused into marrying him in order to save her family's failing fortunes.
So now you see how this works. And you can use a bracelet to tell stories from plays, novels, and maybe even films. For example, how would someone use a bracelet to tell the story of Casablanca? Would they use red hearts for the love between the two main characters? A fez charm for the Moroccan setting? A dark blue bead for Rick's despair after Ilsa leaves him a Dear John letter with no explanation? Granted there's only so far you can go with this form of storytelling, but it's a very interesting concept, and would love to attempt it myself.
I would like to directly quote the pastor's sermon from this evening:
Buddha's last words were, "Strive without ceasing,"
Jesus last words were, "It it finished,".
