by

Petals

For the ‘Memories’ exhibition at ARTISAN Gallery I wanted to draw from positive experiential memories in my own life, but translate them in a way that they would trigger a similar experience in the viewer’s memory. This evolved from memories of certain stimuli to different senses that I thought people might relate to such as…’the sun on my skin and life in the air’ or ‘it was then I found peace’…I chose to use wording to create a picture, ambiguous enough to simply start a thought or memory process.

My choice to use the form of flower petals relates back to memories I have of being in the garden, a place of joy for me. The petal I use as a metaphor to life’s experiences; just as one or two petals seem purposeless on their own, when composed together they are something extraordinary and beautiful. In life, small meaningless experiences when seen later in a bigger picture, can become a very special and integral part of who we are. It is these small, maybe simple but special moments that I chose to capture as petals of my life flower.

The chips of ceramic were from broken tea cups- also relating back to memories of my Grandmothers.

by

House and Leisure magazine’s ‘item of the day’

House and Leisure magazine have picked one of my patina jewellery pieces as their ‘item of the day’ today – how exciting!

They’ve written a lovely article to go along with it so have a look…

http://www.houseandleisure.co.za/item-of-the-day-christy-anne-bestwick-copper-jewellery/

by

Shades of green

If you live in Durban, pop in to Artisan Contemporary Gallery from 8 June and check out the jewellery on exhibition.

The theme is “Shades of green” for which we were encouraged to take a ‘going green’ approach to our jewellery that we made for the exhibition. Initially I thought this would be quite difficult, but soon realised that it’s the small things that make a difference too. I used some ceramic pieces from broken vases in a sense of recycling, and designed in a way that would use minimal soldering which in turn uses less gasses and chemical acids. I also made a concerted effort throughout my working process to use as little water and electricity as possible. These are all new habits I am hoping to keep from now on…

For something that started out rather tentatively, I have to say I enjoyed this new approach and the nudge to think outside my box was like a breath of fresh air…I recomend you try it!

by

CHIC Magazine Launch

Saturday was the launch of Durban’s new magazine CHIC (Current, Hip, Inspired, Creatives) at cocktail lounge Fetish. Thanks to CHIC editor Sumaiya Wilson and creative director Phillisha Paridesi, the evening was quite an event! Check out what ‘devour‘ had to say…

Durbanites, keep an eye out for the free magazine in shopping malls…you’ll find a little insight into Christy-Anne jewellery on page 25.

Showcasing my work

Fashion show by Bianca Kim Clothing

Many thanks to Samantha Legg Photography for capturing the event.

by

Re-collect

I have been thinking of an appropriate name I can call this new collection of mine and I’m almost sold on the name Re-collect. I like the idea that it synthesises two different words and concepts that actually, arn’t too different or far apart when you take a deeper look at them. The pieces of jewellery I made were about me re-collecting my bits and pieces, and at the same time recollecting memories that were sparked by the momentos or ‘little treasures’. These little momentos were kept to remind me of something; be it a feeling, a quality or a memory that I wanted to capture and recollect again, and in doing so I re-collected.

…What do you think?

by

Play time…

I’m sure I have mentioned before that I have always been a bit of a ‘collector’ as I like to call it. I have a huge box of ribbons and lace that has slowly grown over the years, old coins with different shades of patina, old writing paper and photographs, jewellery and little boxes and old vintage books with their stained pages and musty smells …I’ve held onto and kept these things and for some reason and because of this, whether I can identify the reason or not, it gives them worth.

I had a moment of slight epiphany the other day when I realised that a lot of the things are held onto because I felt I could use them to make something ‘special’ or they had a quality I wanted to use or capture…and so the decision was made to do just that!

Here are some playful pieces that were the result of a morning of rummaging through all my little collections and boxes and just creating with no plan really:

by

Picturesque paper

Well, after a long break in my blogging I thought it was about time to start again, and with a little inspiration…

Here is beautifully textured work by Noriko Ambe that excites the senses of sight and touch quite effectively. The use of layering to  create depth is explored dramatically with stacks of white paper made in Japan called Yupo.

“I found that I am concerned less about the end, and more about the ‘doing’. The process of creating is equally as important as the finished work”.

Noriko Ambe (Daily Art Muse article)

… Now doesn’t that sound familiar?

by

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…

Red Eye Piece 2009 014

by

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:

Scan010

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?