Messages and Metaphor

Definition of Metaphor

A metaphor is an expression used to describe an object as a something else such as a symbol or representation that possesses similar characteristics (Lexico Dictionaries 2019). The metaphor is also used in jewellery design as a vehicle to transmit a complex idea through simple imagery (Astfalck, Broadhead and Derrez, 2005) and due to the close relationship between the metal and the metalsmith (Rabinovitch, 2002), jewellery has gained the ability to be used for expression. I looked at using nature as a metaphor to create contemporary jewellery to describe my personal experiences.

Pictured below is a sculptural piece that I created. It consists of five gooseberry pods in copper that have been placed on a sterling silver branch. The pods have become symbols that I use to create contemporary pieces that reflect personal metaphors

van der Linden, A., (2019)  Sculptural Piece,
Copper and Sterling Silver

PlatAfrica Free Writing

This was the third year that I had the opportunity to work with platinum and each year I end up loving the process. At first it is always daunting working with platinum because its physical properties are vastly different to those of silver or copper it is much harder than other metals making it difficult to bend and polish as it requires sanding in much higher grades than silver and gold. . It is also much more valuable  and one always has to be extra cautious not to lose  scraps, bits and filings as your loss cannot be greater than 5% of the total metal weight. Because platinum having such a high melting point, It is also very difficult to remelt the metal so you cannot afford to have wrong calculations regarding the metal preparation.  Because of these two factors, a jeweller learns to respect this metal.  

Apart from these fearsome properties, platinum also has many amazing properties that the other metals do not have. I used these properties to my advantage in the creation of my PlatAfrica 2019 Brooch. Platinum has the ability to fuse, which helped me to create a strong branch without having any solder joints to weaken the structure. The twigs and branches were fully fused onto the main branch to create one solid brooch. Platinum also stays shiny after being exposed to heat and this property saved me quite a few steps in the polishing process, I was able to pre-polish each part and assemble each shiny part individually. Platinum's great strength also allowed me to make a brooch pin that does not lose it's tension and I could roll my sheet metal paper thin so that I could cut out my templates using a regular pair of scissors. No filings. 

Regular scissors being used to cut out templates on a 0.15mm sheet

It felt very wrong to use a pair of scissors to cut out my templates, it also felt terrible to roll-mill the surface of the platinum as opposed to having a shiny polished surface, It felt like I was disrespecting Platinum, Almost like wearing takkies to go and see the queen. I also realize that the stereotype in my mind and in the minds of others, must be broken. Platinum or Gold is mostly associated with Shiny BLING BLING, no It does not necessarily have to shine, as I am making contemporary jewellery, I can use contemporary methods in my creation to break away from the norm. 

Personal Meaning of PlatAfrica 2019 Piece

On a personal level, I decided to use the Gooseberry as my source of inspiration because over the past few weeks, gooseberry pods have become a sort of metaphor of my thoughts and feelings. I have noticed that I tend to hide my emotions away in fear of peoples' reactions or hurting their feelings. I have started working on this problem by making a point of sharing my inner feelings and thoughts to others. Sometimes it helps to share a good thought and it is an important skill to have in personal relationships.

On my final design, I have placed three platinum pods ascending from small to large, with the large one that is open exposing a magnificent pearl and a gold plated inside. The three closed pods represent my mind or my thoughts that are concealed to the world and the three different sized pods represent me as a person (growing). The large pod containing the pearl represent the expression of my emotions, feelings or thoughts. When viewing one of my previous posts, titled Holiday Jewellery,  I give a meaning to the use of pearls:"The pearl represents suffering, as a pearl is grown inside an oyster’s flesh. It starts off as a piece of sand or debris that the oyster coats in nacre to smooth out the grain’s sharp and painful edges."  The pod exposing the pearl represents my release of suffering or internal debate experienced when emotions or feelings are kept inside. The gold plating brings with a sense of warmth , joy or relief that is experienced when the internal turmoil is expelled. 

Customer Items

Dragonfly Pendant

A customer of mine, Chrissie,  gave me Carte Blanche to design and make a dragonfly pendant for her. The dragonfly represents her late mother who passed away two months ago, right after her death, a dragonfly hovered into the room. Every now and then, when Chrissie longs for her mother, she seems to attract dragonflies, This pendant will serve as a reminder of her late mother.

After making this piece, I thought about what a dragonfly represents in my own life. When I look at a dragonfly, a sense of calamity comes over me and the wings of a dragonfly always remind me of my childhood (I used to collect the wings of insects as I believed that fairies were real, My mother would tell me that fairies used the wings of dragonflies, butterflies and beetles as their own to fly around when human's weren't watching) I also feel a sense of fantasy and nostalgia when I see them in nature. They always seem to hover with so much poise over bodies of water and break the surface to lay their eggs, with so much courage (who knows what's lurking in the waters below) . Perhaps the wings of dragonflies can become a metaphor of self assurance and self awareness.

Storm in a Teapot

I have always been a very self-satisfied person growing up as the ‘only child’ to a mum and dad who were twice as old as the average parents. No, I was not born as the only child, my parents had four boys before they had me, I was born twenty two years after my youngest brother as the cure to my parents’ empty nest syndrome. My mum and dad were always very busy people, so growing up; I kept myself entertained with arts and crafts, dolls and playing in the ‘jungle’ with my dogs. I learned to be emotionally independent by internalizing my thoughts and ideas. I guess this has stuck around as I have grown into a self-satisfied adult with a group of friends that I can count on my left hand. Be self-sufficient is both a good and a bad quality and although I love being by myself in my own creative realm conjuring up some great ideas and works of art, sometimes my thoughts can become bitter as negativity may sometimes seep in, rendering me with self-doubt. My mother always asks me why I never tell her when I am angry, sad or upset, but then I realize that I don’t feel the need to express my emotions externally, I try and deal with them on the inside and let me tell you, I have an amazing ability to conceal my emotions, sometimes when my pots of anger and frustration have steeped for too long, and the thoughts brewing in my mind turn into strong bitter black tea, the emotions start bubbling out. I just wish I was one of those teapots that whistle when the steam gets too much…..

Joey, Once Feral, Now Tame, a self satisfied creature

Autumn Harvest

Autumn as a metaphor of the past two weeks

 “The spirits of the air live on the smells
Of fruit; and joy, with pinions light, roves round
The gardens, or sits singing in the trees."
Thus sang the jolly Autumn as he sat,
Then rose, girded himself, and o'er the bleak
Hills fled from our sight; but left his golden load.”

The above segment is a section of William Blake’s poem, Ode to Autumn where he almost personifies Autumn as a spirit, that comes bringing joy, light, late harvest fruit and before leaving again, blessing the earth with ‘his golden load’. I remember studying this poem in my grade 11 year and this segment of the poem resembles the past couple of weeks, not just the way that nature was blooming all around, but also in the way that my business flourished in the past two weeks, even more so than in December. It was literally as if the spirit of Autumn left a golden load (having completed fifteen orders in two weeks including 100 stud earrings). I will be putting my business on hold for the next couple of months so that I can concentrate on my Btech work but at least I now have a load of savings that will sustain me through the winter months up until spring time when I have completed my studies.

Enjoying the Coolness in the air

Two Birds Ash vial. One of my favorite orders

Helen Shirk

Helen Shirk

Helen Shirk’s work focusses on personal, joyous and painful aspects of life in metaphoric parallel with the processes present in the natural world. “Observation of the inevitable change in the natural world makes me feel calmer about what is happening to me.” Helen states that she uses the growth patterns found in nature to represent the personal challenges that she faces in life. She then combines these images of nature with the work that she produces to create jewellery pieces that are metaphors to the aspects of her life. Some of the metaphors of life that she portrays in her work are that of new growth, strength, fragility, beauty and death.

Helen Shirk, Sustaining Spirit VI, 1993, brass, copper, patina,