Shining Lights

This is my design for the De Beers Shining Lights competition. The theme this year is Enduring Bonds. My design idea came from looking at a lotus flower and the idea of something so beautiful emerging from muddy waters.

Arsi

Here i was thinking that not many people use mirrors in there jewellery...Mirror Rings have been used for over 300 years. They were originally worn by Muslim women but over the years they have been accepted by the Hindu women. They are called Arsi in Northern India.

One of the most richest periods of the development of traditional jewellery in India took place during the Mughal Dynasty(16th-19th century). Niccolao Manucci, a Venetian traveler who spent 60 years India, was lucky enough to be allowed into the private quarters of the mughal courts...he was a part time physician and soldier so he was allowed into the women's courts as well.

In his records he wrote" I have not relied on the knowledge of others;and i have not spoken of nothing which i have not seen." He gives a vivid description of court women's jewellery, "On fingers there are rings, and on the right thumb there is always a ring,where, in place of a stone, there is mounted a little mirror,having pearls around it. This mirror they use to look at themselves,an act which they are very fond, at any and every moment"

I'm not upset anymore...I'm actually glad it existed way before i was born and in a way i am continuing with something that is part of the history of Indian jewellery.

Reference: Traditional Jewellery Of India- Oppi Untracht

Splash Page

What do you think of my splash page? I tried to keep it as simple as possible!

cloudy days

Yesterday was such a beautiful day...The sun didn't show up so it was a perfect day to experiment with the camera. Cloudy days are great for taking pictures of jewellery. I was trying to take pictures of my ring on a mirror using the effects on my camera...i quite like these pics....if it wasn't for the rain, I'm sure i would have got the perfect shot!

I used a mirror and the clouds as my background...trying to create some sort of context for this reflective piece.

design ideas

These are some of my design ideas...This happens before i start manufacturing my ring of course!

I wish making jewellery was as easy as drawing and coming up with designs. Drawing is my way of thinking and visualising how a design is going to work technically. I often come across a few bumps in my manufacturing process because my imagination goes beyond my technical capabilities!

reflections

I've become so comfortable with keeping a journal that i often just end up blogging about the final piece and forget about the process that it took to get to that final stage.

Getting back to my mirror ring...I'm still playing with the notion of the reflection of the wearer being the value of the piece.

Mirror Ring

Ive been trying to put this ring together and finally i feel like I'm getting somewhere...i think Ive come to a stage where i cant finish a piece of jewellery just for the sake of having a completed piece...it has to look like everything is exactly where its meant to be.

Ive being trying out a few shanks today and I'm fairly happy with this leaf shank, feels as though it belongs there....

Reflections

This is a project that I am working on...trying to create a piece of jewellery that still involves piercing but also incorporates another material.

I 've never really been interested in working with precious stones...so recently I have been working with the idea of setting mirrors in my jewellery. The idea started when I took a look at Indian jewellery and realised that Kruger coins are very often used and this adds to the value of the piece. I decided to replace the coin with mirror because the reflection that you would see when you look at it is your own...in a way trying to make the wearer see the value in themselves.

My Intentions

I want to create a set of bridal jewellery based on traditional indian bridal jewellery. My intention is to hire out the set for weddings. Ive been using henna patterns(mehndi) as a reference to my work so far...But i recently rediscovered this bracelet which was given to me about ten years ago by my gran, its a piece from a bridal set with belonged to my great granmother.. my mission now is to gather the other pieces from the set and try use them as a reference for my own work. The aspects that i will probably use is the techniques such as piercing and chasing, i going to try to find out if the motif is symbolic...it could be an aspect that use in my work as well.