Thoughts

I have started explorng a new way of designing, I find that I often struggle to explain the context of my work and put it into words so I thought this process may help.

I have been putting together collages or 'concept pages' and have been writing poetry and trying to do other forms of art that come naturally to me as forms of expression. I will then draw from these as reference to my pieces of jewellery and ideally come up with a little collection of pieces per collage. I think this will also be a nice outcome for display purposes, but we shall see how it works!

Here are some shots of my first collage:

Dance of the ribbon

A surge from behind and tumbling forward a ribbon unfolds the black. uncovering the sinking and propelling it on no motion of turning back. It flies ahead a dance of red and delight. Moon-lit skies and death-empty nights consumed with the pain that soils another heart and washes my hands clean with guilt. a hole Time decaying in motion erroding into a beauty not seen but felt.

Collage board

I found this inspiration board on all*over*print which I thought was fantastic! It's a hanging of plastic sleaves that has just been filled with bits and pieces. What a fabulous mosaic of memories and inspiration! Not to mention the layers!

There is a room in My mind

There is a room in my mind;empty and full deserted room of chaos. Intimidating walls with no exit cross in lurking dark corners and peel off layers of everything that ever was shedding the raw Complexities in piles of timeless turmoil. A soft heart burried under rubble, waiting at endless doorways. empty and silent it Screams

emotive references

At the moment I am busy sourcing up references that will lead me to my next phase of manufacture. There is a lot building up that I am excited for, I'm just struggling to find the energy to put the motivation into action....

I found a flicker page today by confusedvision with photo's that really tugged at something inside me! I think they are so beautiful in the way they have such an immense emotive quality! I am no photographer or expert in the field in any way, but the use of composition, colour, and textures in the scenes are captivating! I also feel like the pictures have a 'painted' quality about them.

Here are just a few, but I recommend checking out the site!

I'V SEEN THE HOME INSIDE YOUR HEAD




































CRUCIFIED

Little trinket treasures

While scrolling through Modish today I found a lovely collection of jewellery by Foundandmade
All their pieces are made from found vintage objects, and bits and pieces found at second hand stores, and they have been transformed into delightful little treasures that can be worn and used. I love this concept and the quirky outcomes! *

Inspiring work

I'm very excited! On one of my journeys through the net I found some beautiful work by the artist Anna Lorich.

Here work examplifies the strength of evokation and the emotive quality which I am striving for, yet her peices retain an air of simplicity and peace. I love the use of different mediums and have been inspired by her work to go back to my experimenting that I was doing last year with the use of pictues and resin and enamel in my work. I think the choice and use of different mediums can enhance the endearing warmth that I feel is lacking in my jewellery.

Here are some brooches of hers:

To See The World in a Grain of Sand....

" To see the world in a grain of sand
and heaven in a wild flower,
hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour."

William Blake

This is probably one of my all time favourite quotes and is it not so true?
The mundane specks of sand in one's everyday desert, may seem like the bud of inspiration in another person's field of blossoms!

Our lives are our inspiration, and we need to open our eyes and draw from it because it is a continuous source of creativity... We will never be able to grow a bud in a desert! How important is it then, to plant that field of blossoms and nurture the field continuously. Like a sponge, we need to suck up and absorb what surrounds us, and the more there is to soak in, the less we have to squeeze for something to drip out.

Let our lives be our inspiration, fueled by our hearts and minds, and let our hands be the tools that make tangible what we feel inside.

I read a quote by Julia Cameron the other day that springs to mind;

"The artist brain cannot be reached -or triggered- effectively by words alone. The artist brain is the sensory brain -sight and sound, smell and taste, touch."

Ref: Marilyn Zelinsky, The Inspired Workspace , Designs for Creativity and Productivity, Rockport Publishers, 2002

Evoking the senses

While looking through one of my inspirational sites this morning, webforjewelers.blogspot.com
I came across the following pieces by Aliyah Gold
Their echoing sense of nostalgia really appeals to me and the way they evoke a sense that there is strong emotion and history behind them is very inspirational to my own work.

Inspiration!

Recently I was at a braai at my friends place and saw this garden furniture which I found so inspirational! At first it was just the high detail of patterning and texture that I loved, but when I started taking photographs of it and shot them at different angles, I realised I could use the shadows of one pattern to create a layer against another, and these photographs became very inspiring for my work!

Not just a cup of tea! ......

Sitting in my kitchen this morning I was in a daze of thought as my eyes brushed over my tea cup that was on the table. Almost subconsciously they focused on a reflection in the tea of the lacey curtain that shades the window above, and then the different reflections of light bouncing off the surface. Immediately I thought of a discussion I had yesterday with Chris about if our eyes consciously focus on something, they often miss everything else that is around that thing, or all the factors in the atmosphere around it that contribute to what that thing actually is. If we 'look' at something, however, but make our eye aware of the surroundings- we get a vague understanding of other layers that play a part in the context of that which we are looking at. So this morning when I was not purposefully 'looking' at my tea cup, my eyes were focusing on and picking up other things which normally would not have been noticed.

The reflection of the lace licking the surface of the tea while shapes of reflections, shadows and light bounced off and sunk into it had such a beautiful effect with all the different layers it created. What seemed to just be tea, turned into a collage of elements abstracted from my surroundings. This was such a delightful connection for me to my work at the moment, layers of elements that ignite recognition....

Contextual photography

Thinking about how to photograph my jewellery has got me noticing things about photos and pictures lately. While reading through a book on Tiffany jewellery, I came across the picture below and really liked the way that the layout and set-up of the photograph creates such a dense context for the pieces that are actually being viewed. I think I need to try this! I do however, think that one needs to be carefull with a set up like this because it could very easily become too much and detract completely from the pieces that are the focus.

Layers

Layers.... could they be described as many different elements combined to make one entity? The dictionary describes a layer as a depth or level, I like that! Layers create depth...or I'm not so sure if they 'create' it as such, but rather assure that there is depth, that there is something beneath.

I like to relate this concept to people, and life in general really...we all know onions have layers! but have you actually sat and pealed away at all those layers to find what lies in the centre? Eventually you arrive at nothing! So in reality it's the layers that actually make up the onion! Is this not true with people and cercumstances? We try so hard to peal off all the layers in our lives and in situations to look 'deeper' for what's in the core and 'find ourselves' but is it not all those influences and characteristics that are the very things that define us and represent who we are?

According to the thesaurus, a synonym for layer is story. I think it is a very apt word and think it could lead me in some form of direction with my jewellery....layered jewelery as a representation of my story perhaps?

Patterned Pot

I happened upon a delightful little antique shop the other day that was filled with a wonderful array of the most beautiful things! It was very inspiring and I could have spent hours in there!
I ended up coming away with this ceramic pot with such a lovely pattern embossed onto it.

Clay Pieces

This is just a bit of fun I had with oxiding the patterns left into the clay pieces I used. I think it has such a nice effect.

Inspiration

What a beautiful set up! I just love this image! It's simplicity really enhances the focus. I found it on decorati.com - check out the site on my 'Inspirational Links' its great

















This painted and carved wooden frame mirror is also form decorati.com The atmosphere in this picture really inspires me...the old world, worn, warm feeling you get, a sense of extravagance and beauty with a simplistic air.

I tend to draw a lot of inspiration from a large variety of things in life, not always tangible, often its just a feeling that a certain atmosphere ignites in me, and I'm growing more aware of what kind of settings source my creativity. Recently i have been consciously making an effort to recognize and contemplate my response to my surroundings in terms of how it affects my creativity, and actually am trying to 'create' space for myself that is filled with inspirational things. I have been pleasantly surprised at how much enjoyment I am getting from doing this and it has opened my eyes to a lot of different things that seed ideas 8)

Patterned Tiles

I've been looking at a lot of different patterning lately and how they link up into each other and repeat themselves, and I found these great tiles on www.anchorbaytile.com

Memories

I recently happened apon a beautiful silver teaspoon that had belonged to my late grandmother. Immediatedly it brought back wonderful memories of my younger days spent at my Grandparents' ; old large Rhodesian houses with beautiful wooden furnature and ornamentaions of all sorts influenced by a covetted British upbringing. A mixture of beautiful porcelain china and silverware, with rustic lampshades and dusty Zimbabwean landscapes.....all this from a little teaspoon .

I was very drawn to a beautiful motif imbedded into the spoon and have been inspired by it considerabley in terms of designs for my jewellery, and my journey in exploring different ways of ornamentation in jewellery.