Pili-pala the Welsh word for butterfly, had me flutttering my fingers in front of my eyes. It has a gentle, soft feel to it. I wanted to make a piece that encompassed both that soft feeling, and that fluttering in front of the eyes feel. This was one of the more straight-forward in terms of visualising the finished piece. I briefly considered a ring with moving parts that could be held up, but after making a test piece decided to make a head piece. I’d make it with prongs to suspend something in front of the eyes. The headpiece has a chain at the rear that is adjustable by the means of two hooks.  It could also be reversed and worn around the neck with the 'pili-palas' coming down the wearer's back.

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I needed something light enough to move in a breeze. I considered using beaten, very thin metal, but it wasn’t right. I ended up using paper clay I shaped into thin, petal like forms. I painted the backs of them pastel colours, and the underside with a mirror paint. They are suspended on nylon so they can move freely. The silver of the headpiece is oxidised to make clear it is not the focus, the pastels illustrate the softness of the word, and the mirroring catches the eye with any motion.