Enamel earrings

Here’s some result from my efforts at enamelling; a few pairs of earrings. At a showday I had recently it was these earrings that received the most attention of all my jewellery but interestingly, every person that ordered them wanted them in silver…I’m not too sure what to think of that?

Paper embossing

I was shown how to emboss the other day and I am so pleased with the result. I have a bunch of ideas to use it for jewellery tags and logos…

Enamel motifs

A while back I wanted to try out using enamel to encorperate colour in my jewellery but didnt take the idea much further. Well now I am finally doing it and really enjoying the result. I think it has a very effective soft, lace-like look that works well with the wallpaper motifs I use. Here’s a test piece…

Method in my madness

In an effort to identify the method with which I work, I printed out all my blog posts labelled ‘design & work process’. In laying them out in order I saw a pattern starting to form which looked something like this:

I often have an idea that I want to explore and end up making a couple of prototypes or test pieces. These are made with no intention of becoming a final piece of jewellery, but rather for the satisfaction of turning an idea into something workable and making something with an unknown outcome, and seeing where it leads.

More often than not, the unfinished pieces get placed somewhere on my bench or wall as I start working with another idea. What I have come to realise however, is that the threads of the ideas behind all these little test pieces feed other ideas and designs later down the line, linking up in a network of interwoven threads, slowly weaving a pattern.

For example; my idea of wanting to incorporate colour with ribbon earlier this year lead to a bunch of test pieces for interchangeable jewellery, then I carried on working with my metal lace concept for a while. After a few months, I found a test piece that seemed to link up with some sketches I had done and I ended up making ‘lace’ rings with coloured ribbon.

I guess what I am trying to illustrate here, is that for me the making of jewellery is an indulgence where I can explore the thoughts in my mind and tangibly work with and make sense of many of the influences and ideas in my mind. It is this making process that gives the pieces of jewellery I make value to me. Many of my little test pieces of metal I cannot bring myself to get rid of, yet somehow it is easy to sell a piece of jewellery. Where is the sense in that? Surely a piece of jewellery is more valuable…or is it?

Red Eye

Well, what an enjoyable evening! The Red Eye event in Durban was a great night of art, dance, music, fashion and performance. Congratulations to everyone involved, and to the models who did such a great job displaying our jewellery. Im looking forward to the next one!

Here are some shots of my piece on the night…

Red Eye Ruffles

I’ve finished my RedEye piece and have to say that I’m quite excited to see how it’s going to look on the night. I think the layers of material, lace and metal are rather effective.

I used the wire pattern I experimented with for my platinum piece earlier as a trimming at the top. This was made by bending the wire around nails that I had hammered into a wooden block.

I decided to make an earring to be worn on the opposite side, this I made with enamelled silver…

Watch this space for photos of the piece at the event…see you there!

Lace Ruffles

I am hoping to take part in the next Red Eye event happening in Durban in September. I will be making a bold ramp piece of jewellery which I am intending to make with layers of metal, lace and paper.

The ideas I have come up with take reference from the flamboyant lace ruffs, collars and cuffs that were part of the court costumes in the 17th Century. Needlepoint lace was worn as a display of luxury and elegance by both men and women to demonstrate their high class and wealth.

References:

http://www.marlamallett.com/l-needle.htm

The Greenwood Encyclopedia of clothing through world history, Volume 2, by Jill Condra

Judgments of Beauty

What is beauty? There is no absolute truth when it comes to beauty because it is a perception, a subjective opinion that we make of something. So what makes something beautiful to one person and ugly to another? ‘Judgments of beauty’ is a topic that has been philosophised about for many years.

In the 18th century there were two contradicting views on aesthetics, the first being that the judgment of beauty is non cognitive, and is an expression based on emotions and feelings. This view was supported by philosophers such as Hume and Hutcheson. The other view was a more rationalistic one in which the judgment of beauty was a cognitive response to the objective properties of something.

Kant aposed both these theories and claimed that one’s judgment of beauty is influenced by our aesthetic experience of it as well as our intellectual response to it. The intellectual response, however, was one of disinterest and free from concept. This allows pure beauty to pleasure the mind and hold its attention without the need and desire for the object, for it is not the object itself that is being contemplated. He stated that a judgment of beauty has a universality to it therefore being a judgement that is universaly agreed upon.

I agree with Kant’s sentiments that when we judge something to be beautiful it is due to our aesthetic experience of it as well as an intellectual response. I do however, disagree that beauty can only be judged free of concept. I think that the understanding and appreciation of an object in its entirety enhances our perception of the object’s beauty. I aslo disagree on the universality of such a judgment. I think one’s judgment is influenced so much so by factors such as their experiences, upbringing, culture, beliefs and values that it is unlikely for there to be such a universal judgment of beauty.

Other references:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-aesthetics/#2.1 (28/08/09)

Heather Smith Jones

I cant think of a better way to start a morning of creativity than by finding something inspiring, and today is my lucky day! I am delighted to share with you my new find, the work of Heather Smith Jones….

Heather Smith Jones is a paper artist. She uses loads of wonderful techniques but it was her pinhole project that caught my eye immediately! It has such a fresh and delicate lace-like appeal to it and embodies the kind of spirit I hope to capture in my jewellery. It seemed to remind me of my ‘White Lace’ range…

I think the pinhole technique also reminds me of the intricate and time consuming process of lace weaving and how a dense amount of small, insignificant elements (holes or knots) can create something beautiful.

Thinking out of my box…

The time of the year has come for the Plat Africa competition. We have to base our piece on the courting traditions of a South African culture group. Coming from KwaZulu Natal it is apt that our pieces are based on the Zulu culture.

I have to admit that I am struggling to design something that captures our theme but still lies within my personal style. It has been a big challenge for me because my work generally has a very organic flow to it and I have worked through numerous designs and prototypes to try and incorperate it somehow into the structured geometric designs of the Zulu culture.

The above sketches show me working through ideas to integrate what I’m doing with my personal work and our Zulu symbol that my group chose. I had an idea of using wire elements woven together to look like lace, but it did not fit with our concept and metal restrictions well. I do however, want to take it further to use in my personal work…

My next attempt was to incorperate ribbon to bring in the colour combination and the Zulu symbol we chose, but this was quite a disaster I think, the ribbon was too wide and the symbol got lost between all the weaving in and out…

So now I am onto my next prototype, third time lucky I hope!

Flavours Exhibition

The Flavours Exhibition opened on Monday evening and I think it came out rather successfully. I think I speak for everyone when I say that puting together an exhibition takes a lot of planning and preparation, and I certainly learnt a lot from this experience.

I was fairly happy with my display and although it could have been improved on I think I managed to obtain the ‘look’ I was going for. I wanted it very simple but elegant, and to have a sophisticated appeal to it. I also wanted to capture the interest in different surface textures and patterns that my jewellery is often influenced by.

Many thanks to everyone who helped in any way with the exhibition, and to all those who supported us*

Working with Pewter

In preparing for my exhibition I have been trying to decide what to do on the wall behind my stands. I originally wanted to cover the tops of my stands with patterned pewter but my jewellery seemed to get lost when I put it on top. I have therefore decided to use the pewter on the back wall rather because I think it enhances the effect of my jewellery with its rich surface texture and patterning.

I’ve never worked with pewter before so I am winging it really and just picking up tips from books and people. I’m enjoying playing around with a new metal and getting different finishes on it. Here are some test pieces…

Stands for my jewellery

I’ve been busy working on the presentation of my jewellery for the FLAVOURS Exhibition. I’ve been making stands to display it on which I originally wanted to make detachable by making a little box under the tops to slip the base into like so…

It proved to be a bit unstable and messy looking so I decided to rather screw the bases and tops together…

I want to create a clean white effect but not stark white so I painted them with a wash to allow the wood to show through a bit which came out really well, and I covered the tops with some embossed paper to give them a nice, sophisticated finish. Now I just need to figure out how the jewellery is going to be displayed on the tops. I think I’m going to use clear perspex to create different levels. I’ve been setting up mock layouts at home to try figure everything out, it’s all a lot more time consuming than one would think!

Ribbon Rings

Here’s the next step in my ribbon rings! These were designed in Rhino and cast which allowed me to cut the flowers out accurately in a uniform manner. I millgrained the edges because I thought it would soften the look but I still feel the rings could look softer….

I like the colour and contrast of the ribbon integrated with the silver.

Hi everyone! I’m trying out a new ‘look’ for my jewellery logo, as you’ve probably noticed by the change in the header of my page. Let me know what you think…

Ribbon ring

I’ve been throwing around ideas for a ring that looks like lace or material wrapped around the finger…

After doing a few sketches I moved on to other things, then after a few weeks I came acoss a prototype I made a couple of months ago which seemed to run with the same concept of material tied around the finger. Fancy that!

A few days later I saw this lace and it prompted me to expand onto my ideas and make another prototype

I like the idea of incorperating ribbon to bring in colour and another layer and texture. I think the contrast to the silver works well. I am busy cutting some out in Rhino and would like to add some millgrain to the edges.

Hot-glue lace

I have been messing around with hot glue to try and create a lacey-crochet effect. I’m not really sure where I’m going with it but I’ve enjoyed experimenting with something out of my ordinary. I love the translucency of it when the light shines on the glue and I think mixed with some silver elements it could evolve into an interesting pair of earrings.

FLAVOURS Exhibition

If you live in Durban and are interested in an evening infused with different flavours, styles, cultures and inspiration, come along to the FLAVOURS Exhibition by Durban emerging jewellers! It’s at artSpace Durban, opening 13 July 18:00 and runs until 1 August.

I will be showcasing my work and will have pieces for sale by order.

See you there!

Tzu-Ju Chen

I have come across what I think is such beautiful work, made by Tzu – Ju Chen. The above pictures are from her ‘Lace’ range; I think they capture the qualities of lace so well and invite your eyes to look closer and your hands to explore the surfaces of the pieces to experience them completely.

Chen has done a number of ranges exploring different mediums, some of which include enamel, laminated photos, organic space, foam, electroforming and wire construction.

Above is a piece from her ‘Laminated Photo’ range.

Silhouette Earrings

I have just finished these earrings and am quite happy with the way they turned out. They were inspired by the curves of a womam’s body and I wanted to create something with a strong simple line and form, and add a soft edge and detailed surface to contrast.

When wearing the earrings I noticed that the sun shines through the pierced pattern, creating a silhouette effect.