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. 

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.

Passion Flower

Susan Mcleary is a florist and jewellery designer who challenges the perception that jewellery always has to be mad entirely of precious metals.

With her knowledge of fauna, Susan creates beautiful necklaces, rings, tiaras and bracelets made from a mixture of succulents, flowers, brass and copper.

These pieces are known as living jewellery as they continue to live and grow while you wear them. after a few weeks, you can remove and plant the succulents.

I really love Susan's work as not only is it beautiful but it is an example of how jewellery doesn't has to be as straight forward as the usual gold, silver, platinum and precious gem stones.

 

Succulent Bracelet



Succulent Necklace

This piece is more of a statement/ fashion photograph piece, but it is so beautiful and shows so wonderfully how vast the  possibilities are of making jewellery with different materials.

 

 

Tattoo Queen

 Using the circus, and specifically the tattooed women of the side shows, I designed this pendent which I have named Tattoo Queen. 

This pendant was a fun one to design and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the different aspects of the circus and being exposed to all is magic and powerful imagery. I was drawn to the tattooed ladies as tattoos are now such a popular and common thing, and I like to think that they were the starting point in making them less of a taboo subject. I don't have a tattoo, but do plan on getting one in the future and these ladies have inspired me to be even bolder with my decisions in this regard. 

While I enjoyed the design process, the manufacturing was a bit more challenging. This is the most intricate piece of jewellery that I have made with the most details and layers. This, coupled with the fact that I generally battle with soldering, meant that the manufacturing process was very difficult for me. But it did give me the practice that I need and has made me a little more confident with soldering delicate pieces.

Overall I really enjoyed this project and am proud of the piece that I have made.

Tattoo Queen
Sterling Silver 

Manufacturing the Pendant 

 Because the design I had decided on was very organic, most of the final design decisions were made during the manufacturing process.

Pictured below are some images of the individual pieces that I made that would eventually be put together to form the pendant. 

Designing the Pendant 

In order to design my pendant I looked at images of tattoos both on the women from the circus and flash cards of traditional tattoos. I was torn between creating a design that either represented the tattoos literally, and a design that used different elements of pattern and motifs and that stood as a figurative visual representation.

Pictured below are some of the images that I explored and some of the drawings that I did in response to them.

I particularly was drawn to the floral tattoos as tattoos are usually masculine and these tattoos brought another aspect to them entirely. 

I then came across this image which brought all my designing together and is where I found my inspiration for my final design. 

A Night at the Circus

At the moment I am busy designing a pendant which is inspired by the circus and which utilises the technique of cannetille. 

The circus's of the 1880's (and for a few decades) had side shows which show cased "freaks" and unusual people, as well as tattooed woman, which I have chosen to use as my inspiration. 

Their entire bodies were covered in intricate traditional tattoos. People found this fascinating. Not only were tattoos uncommon (even more so on women) but in this very conservative time, seeing woman baring flesh was risky and controversial. 

I love these images because they show how people, and in particular woman, have always tried to challenge society and their views of how we should look and how only certain people can do certain things. I think these women were very brave for doing what they did. 

I also particularly love the intricacy and immense detail that their tattoos had. 

My aim is to make a beautiful piece of jewellery which brings one of these intricate tattoos to life.

   

A poster for a Circus side show attraction, La Bella Angora.
This image was found on a blog, which doesn't have much information. This site, however,  has more information about the history of these side shows.
  

After looking at many different traditional tattoos, I chose this one as my main reference and my point of departure to start designing my pendant.