Leaf cluster earrings

Leaf cluster earrings with flower links
Silver, resin

I can’t help but feel a little frustrated when I think of this earrings. They happened at the end of a week, where everything I was trying to make, just wasn’t working out. However through all of that, came these earrings which I had no design on paper for, but the idea didn’t materialize out of nothing. It is an amalgamation of several pieces I’d done over the years. All in all, they are the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

Another necklace...:)

I spent a lot more time making this piece than I initially anticipated but in the end I’m pleased with the way it turned out. It has an ‘Indianess’ to it, even if it is through obvious images of the lotus flower. I was planning on using only ‘warmer’ reds, oranges and yellows, with the resin, but changed my mind when I actually did it, and I’m thankful I did, as I think the brighter and more varied colours stand out against the stark black. Surprisingly I enjoyed adding beads to this piece, so I’m planning to do more necklaces in the near future. It’s a chance to add a different feature to the piece, and to play a bit more with colour.

Lotus patterned necklace
Silver, resin, glass, coral,turquoise beads

Yes, it’s another necklace. This one has common elements with the one for the ‘Local is Lekker’ exhibition, but has a completely different feel to it. I was asked to make a piece, for possible selection to be part of a collection of work that include artists from Kwa Zulu-Natal. It is being put together by the Tatham Gallery in Pietermaritzburg, and as far as I know this necklace is going to be included in the exhibition that runs in June next year. I will put up more details as soon as I know.

Resin rings, pattern

Resin pattern rings
silver, resin

Slowly but surely, imagery, colours, shapes/forms of ‘old’ started to creep bank into my work. These rings are where I started to bring back more of the culturally inspired imagery and colours. Whether or not it was a completely conscious effort, I’m not entirely sure, but the initial ‘test pieces’ were a far cry from these. These pieces were also somewhat experimental, I hadn’t ,used resin in this way before, so I was ecstatic when it worked out. Working with resin on a ring, or a more curved surface, is tricky and messy because the liquid resin runs everywhere, and if you’re not careful, can go horribly wrong. I think these have become a favourite to make )for now anyhow) even though the several stages of applying the resin, is time consuming.

Lotus bloom

Lotus patterned, acrylic on canvas

This was a small painting I did a few years ago, while still studying Jewellery Deisgn at tech. i painted it after continuously working for weeks at the bench, and writing my thesis, I wanted a different creative outlet that didn’t involve making, or talking about making, jewellery.

I keep going on about the jewellery that I’ve been producing lately, in that it is a lot simpler than pieces I usually tend to make. I was slowly starting to feel unfulfilled churning out ‘mass’ amounts of the same simpler pieces. Sometimes the ritual of repeatedly making the same element can be therapeutic, but eventually that that much repetition becomes tedious. The simpler pieces didn’t seem to show any connection to my cultural background, which excluding this phase, has almost always been a part of my work.

I think the pieces I did for the ‘Local is Lekker’ exhibition triggered a need to return to making jewellery that I was more familiar with. So I dug through the cupboards and found a few old sketchbooks a few paintings I had forgotten about.

Still recapping

Silver and resin circle earrings with pierced detail

After spending, more or less, a year indulging in making squares, I think I finally got really tired of doing using them…so bring on the circles :)

Alice

Resin square rings, with pierced detail
silver, resin

Alice and Queen brooches
silver, resin

Silver and resin figure silhouette brooches and pendants,

branched off from the ‘Alice’ group of jewellery

These were part of the ‘Alice’ collection of pieces that I did for a ‘Fiction and Fairytales’ exhibition at Artisan Contemporary Gallery, in July 2008 (I’m still recapping here). These pieces still reflect my need to create simpler pieces, at the time, to try to deviate from more complicated pieces I usually make.

Let's recap

pierced squares
resin, silver

Resin step-square ring
resin, silver

resin square earrings
resin, silver

resin square rings
resin, silver

Okay, now we’re stepping back in time (bare with me, I’m trying to play catch up here). I made these rings and earrings in early 2008. They were part of my exhibition at the Cape Town Design Indaba. This is where I started moving away from the more organic, irregular forms/ shapes, and opted for less elaborate pieces. Partly due to a time constraint, and because I generally tend to agonize over details of the piece, and sometimes over the tiniest decision, making these offered instant gratification. Once I’d made these, I couldn’t stop using the ‘soft square’ in the pieces that followed. I’ve never really used squares or straight lines in my work, so I quickly began to indulge in using ‘the square’. These pieces were the start of simpler, maybe ‘quirkier’ pieces. It just feels a lot less formal than my previous work.