clay smoke fired beads

This necklace was made using green wooden beads and clay beads that I made the same way as the previous post's terra sig beads. The only difference is that instead of coating the clay beads with the terra sigillata, I burnished (rubbed with a smooth metal tool) each bead by hand, which gives the same effect without the colour. The colour subtleties are created by the smoke in the firing process. Each bead takes a good 15 minutes to create (if you add up all the working time). The smoke firing must be done out of the city (we did it at a friend's country house) far from any residential areas... because of all the smoke that is created. So it's a long and messy process... but I plan on doing it again in the Spring... I love the results!