Thoughts in Flowers

For the past few months I have been burning to create more floral pieces that is similar to a prototype piece that I made last year that involves petals that move when manipulated. I thought that It would make an excellent concept for the PlatAfrica 2019 competition and I drew up an initial design sketch for this idea that I had for a daisy flower Brooch, that have moving petals. I wanted to create a flower jewellery piece that shows the growth and transition from bud, to blossom and then the wilting of the petals to symbolize the way that I experience an artistic Idea.

I have come up with a new concept idea that grew from the above design. It involves a series of five pieces that represent daisy flowers in different phases of growth.

The design sketch of my next series of pieces, Thoughts in Flowers. this piece will be made into metal. 

Movement chapter 2

Movement Chapter 2

Jaqueline Ryan

Jaqueline Ryan creates contemporary jewellery that is inspired by the movement that is found in nature. She uses colours, forms, textures and shapes found in her natural surroundings to create very intricate, organic, abstract pieces in gold and silver and that are coloured with vitreous enamel. Her work consists of multitudes of simple, free hanging elements that are arranged in an order and attached to the main piece in a way to create mesmerising and almost natural movement when the jewellery is worn. I want to develop a similar technique to what she uses to make her jewellery move for the jewellery that I make.

Jaqueline Ryan Kinetic necklace, 18ct gold and vitreous enamel

Jaqueline Ryan Kinetic Brooch, 18ct Gold and vitreous enamel

Victoria Walker

Victoria walker, a jeweller from Cornwall, creates Kinetic jewellery pieces inspired by flowers and seedpods growing in her environment. She makes beautiful flower pendants, earrings and rings out of sterling silver and gold and even though she uses traditional metals for her work, her style of work is organic as she mimics the forms and shapes of flowers in a realistic way, that specific type of flowers can be recognized. Many of her jewellery pieces are made to look, and move, like small scaled-down versions of the plants that she uses for her inspiration.

Peony Pendant by Victoria Walker

Peony Flower

Thistle Pendant by Victoria Walker

Thistle

Btech Heading

Btech Heading

For the past week or so, I have been thinking a lot about where I am in my first year of my Btech and where I came from. Looking back, I have seen some definite trends in my work and specific aspects that have inspired the work that I have made. I have come up with a very liquid title and sub title, but it will definitely become more solid as I progress into my second year. Contemporary Jewellery Inspired by Nature and Organic Contemporary Jewellery were the two headings that I have been thinking about and I have decided that the first title is more suitable for the work that I do. The second title sounds like I’m making jewellery out of organic substances and thus the first title hits the nail on the head because it is what it is. Jewellery. Inspired. By. Nature. Slightly longer but it gets the point across perfectly.

My subtitle is slightly more watery. So far I have looked at the key characteristics that are present in my work and from the beginning I have seen that these few components can be seen in my work, despite the natural component spoken about in the title: Arrangement of simple elements, texture, form and movement. Movement has been the most significant aspect to me as I feel that I want to show or express the metaphor of movement, growth or development using nature and expressing it through my contemporary jewellery designs. Thus I feel that the sub title should be something along the lines of: Expressing/Showing Movement, Development and Growth. Therefore the aspects of Arrangement, texture and form will be discussed not in the title or sub title but in the first or introductory paragraph.

Contemporary Jewellery Inspired By Nature
Expressing Movement, Development and Growth.

Blooming

Blooming.

'Blessings of Love' is the theme of the 2018 PlatAfrica competition and I chose the subordinate theme of 'Spirit of Nature' as the influence of my ring design. My design consists of a hammered texture, domed shank embellished with an arrangement of petals of different sizes to resemble a floral structure which makes up the eye-catching top of the ring. The shank and most of the petals are constructed out of platinum and three of the petals are made up of gold plated sterling silver. Each petal is connected to the shank with a hinge system (consisting of jump rings soldered to the shank) so they are able to gracefully move with the motion of the wearer. This allows my design to metaphorically represent the development of a baby girl into a woman through the growth of a flower from a bud into a blossom. 

During the design and manufacture process, I learned a number of new things that I feel have changed the way that I design. For me, the most significant aspect of my ring was the way that the petals were connected to the shank with a hinge system which brought forth a new notions or titles that I can explore, movement, development, growth. In previous designs, I felt that a static piece would not fully capture the metaphor of development which is why I was led into the exploration of kinetic or movement jewellery. This new concept is essential to me as a designer as I feel that incorporating movement into future designs can lead to exciting new outcomes