Deconstruction

Using the photographs for more than their colours 

while researching other artists that have similar objectves as me, I found a  jeweller by the name of Marian Hosking, Her subject matter is the flora of Australia and in many pieces has used images or silhouettes of plants. instead of using the image as is, she layers images, deconstructs and reassembles images in order to create a new image all together. With this in mind, i wanted to use the photographs that i have been taking and use them not only for their colours but also for their potential to create interesting shapes.

Above is the original image. I took this image and made it black and which a swapped negative and positive.

This is the result. The aim was to them pierce out sections of this image and enamel the positive areas. 

These are some of the test pieces and cut outs. i am in the process of manufacturing a statement neck piece that will be claw set with silver. 

Enamel half tubes

Enameling on something different

I have found that when i get bored of something, its best for me to try something new or try a new technique to get out of a rut. I felt as though i was in a rut when it came to enameling flat pieces of copper so decided to see if enameling on tubes or half tubes would work. 

One of the challenges with the half tubes was how I would attach them to a piece of jewellery and found the easiest and most effective way was to drill a hole through which I'd thread them on to a wire. Above are two of my first test pieces. 

This pendant was the end result. I love this piece and will definitely revisit this direction. It also allowed me to practice firing pieces that weren't flat which a tad more tricky as the enamel often doesn't stick well to all sides. I also like how some of the metal is still exposed, allows for a very organic look which is contrasted by the polish and simple/geometric frame on which they hang. 

Kiln Fired

Enamel testing 

Up until now, I had been using my bench torch to fire my enamel pieces and i wasn't getting a constant look. This week I started firing my enamels in the kiln and I am really excited with the results. I found that there was more room to play around with different colour and colour combinations because it more controlled. Here are some of my test pieces. 

Hoops!

Exploring the hoop 

While designing for anglo plat, I started designing hoops and I want to carry on exploring this style of earrings. there is so much room for experimentation. 

These are a variation of my AngloPlat earrings

Sterling silver hoops with a textured detail 

Sterling silver hoops with a textured detail

Anglo Plat designing

Anglo Platinum Earring Designs 

The theme for this years anglo plat competition is Bold minimalism. 

I have decided to make statement earrings which use simple minimalist lines combined with contrasting textured metal. 

Here are some process photos.

Using paper to visualise where the textured plate is going and how I'm going to attach it.

colours!

Some morning colour inspiration

The mornings are when I exercise. I have to stop myself from taking pictures every 5 minutes because the colours are simply breathtaking. Here are two pictures I took on my morning runs at the beach. 

Yellow?

Testing Yellows 

Looking at the pictures from Krantzkloof, I wanted to try recreate the yellow colours from the yellow flowers I observed there. My test pieces (while I like the result of a few of them) weren't exactly yellow. More playing will be done. 

It might be that the yellow enamels work better on silver instead of copper.

Colours I was trying to achieve

 Test  pieces: 

Krantzkloof Colours

Krantzkloof Colours 

Here are Some Pictures taken at Kranzkloof Nature Reserve in Kloof. I found these colour combinations really interesting. 

Enamel Testing- Sasol New Signatures

Enamel Test Pieces

I have decided to enter the Sasol New Signatures Art competition. For this piece I want to make a “painting” made up of small pieces of enamelled copper.  These are some of my first test pieces. For the purpose of my initial “playing” I have focused, or tried to, on the colours in the following picture:

I think that by doing this completion, and by doing all these little pieces, I will be able to learn and understand enamels and the colours/ textures that im wanting to achieve in my jewellery.

Colours on my street

Bubble Gum Colours 

Just some sunset colour inspiration.

Colours on my Street

The littlest flowers 

Spotted these little flowers on my way home from the shop today. Orange seems to be a colour that i keep getting drawn to. Honestly its one of the colours I'd normally steer away from but since taking note of the colours around me in nature and by the ocean, it keeps popping out as one of the ones that i think are most effective. 

New Colours

New Colours 

I have started working with a new colour combination using the following photograph as inspiration:

These are the test pieces I have done so far. I'm not ecstatic about them.  

First Piece

First Piece 

I chose the test piece that I think was most effective and made this ring with it. I want to make a range of these rings drawing inspiration from the colour combinations in nature. I want the focal point to be the enamel so I have chosen to make the ring itself quite simple. I like the clean lines of the silver as a contrast to the organic feel of the enamel.

Playing with Enamels

Playing with Enamels 

These are some of the test pieces I have done so far. I was just finding my feet as i havent done enamels in a while. There are so many variables that its difficult to know (well for me at this point) whats really going on. But I like some of the results and I feel like going forward with it will be fun and that I'll get my desired look with some practice (and maybe a bit of luck). 

Colours in Pringle Bay

Colour inspiration in Pringle Bay

                                      

Hidden Details

When designing this pendant I first looked at one of my favourite books as a child, Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book.  I was (and probably still am) obsessed with fairies and pixies and anything mystical, and this book contained it all. What I love most about this particular book is that the fairies aren’t the stereotypical ones you usually picture; they are distorted, vulgar and almost a little bit ugly. But it’s these details that make them beautiful in a different way.
 I wanted to combine the look and feel of its rough beauty and sense of hidden, secret details into a pendant that one day could be passed on as an heirloom. I wanted it to be a piece of jewellery that could be something that I passed on to my children one day. It was to be a piece that represented a happy memory from my childhood that would give them, or whoever wore it, the same sense of happiness and bliss that Lady Cottingtons diary gave me as a child.  

This is one of the images from the book and one of my favourite. I used this image to get my general shape for the wing shape of my pendant. Like I stated before, these Fairies are not perfect or pretty in the usual way, but its their imperfections that give them their beauty.

I played around with texturing metal in order to try get the feel of a broken wing that was both delicate and beautiful but that also had a rough, "squashed" feel about it. After trying a few different techniques, this is the one that i liked the most. I used a combination of roll milling (to get the veins)  and folding the metal and then rolling it flat to get the ridges. I eventually used a section of this piece of metal in my final design.

I wanted a layered pendant that at first glance looked like a locket and when it was opened or swiveled, revealed the wing and the bottom patterned plate. this was my prototype. After more thought I realized that it needed to much smaller so made a smaller one that made it feel much more delicate and fairy like.

Playing with Pattern 

After choosing my Shweshwe material, I played with pattern and took elements from the fabric and made my own designs. From these designs I isolated an element that I thought would translate well in a piece of jewellery. From this element I create 2D and 3D versions out of clay in order to play around with arrangement, repetition and layering. 

These are the ones that I felt were the most successful.

This is the drawing/doodle that I chose to create my single element from. 

I think that this arrangement works well because of the different heights and how it is almost the start of a mandala. It reminds me a lot of the doodles that I experimented with when exploring the Shweshwe patterns. 

I like the way that this arrangement comes together so well with the combination of the 2D and 3D elements. I think it works well and creates an attractive shape that Id like to explore further. 

What I like most about this arrangement is the negative space that it creates. I think that there is potential for the exploration of this negative space in the form of a new element created from it. 

Sketching the CBD

As a 3rd year class, we ventured into the markets just a few minutes walk from our campus. The aim of this walk was twofold. firstly to sketch and document different patterns that we observed on the way, and secondly to choose and buy a swatch of Shwe Shwe material. 

I always find the markets to be very interesting and you get to see things that you dont normally see on a daily basis. I find it strange that there is this whole other lifestyle so close to where I live and study that is so vastly different to the lifestyle that I lead.

I really enjoyed doing these sketches, as rough as they are, because it really did change the way I looked at everything. I started seeing beautiful patterns and shapes in the negative spaces and amazing surfaces details in places that I wouldn't usually look at. 

The material shop that we went to to purchase the fabric in was beautiful in its own way. full of vibrant colours and patterns that you dont find at other shops.

Pictured below are some photos of the sketches that I did along the way as well as a photograph of the Shwe Shwe fabric that I chose.