Glassy

I absolutely love glass, I can safely say that in all of my high school art projects I found a way to incoperate some kind of glass in my paintings. So I went to goole to see the different kinds of wauys other people used glass to craete some sort iof craftwork, and these pictures are what tickled my fancy.

I love these earings and the colour of glass they are made from, I locve the green shedes that blend so uniformly and naturally into eachother, and i love how the silver used doesn't underplay the colours btu rather brings them out very well, and I love the fact that the glass isn't shattered (ie that the colours are all from the one glass and notmade up by making a collage of diffrent couloured piecses of glass, a rather overdone and seem to be popular techniue).

Refernce:http://www.freyjasjewels.com/product_info.php?products_id=268

Then you get this artwork. I have always been a great fan of abstract art, but for some reason this piece didn't really "do it" for me. I think it's because I felt that it was too church like, it reminds me a lot of the stained glass windows in cathedrals. I felt that it wasn,t very creatuve and again the use of that overdone multicoloured glass technique. Don't get me wrong. i love mosaic, but this particular piece for is too dull and too abstract ro the technique. The colours are pretty, but perhas in a diffrent kind of composition for me.

Refernce:

www.freyjasjewels.com/product_info.php?produc...

Lets find inspiration at the isle...

I absolutely love head pieces, like adore them... which is why you would understand why I get so touched when people ruin them or overdo them, killing the beauty or point of the accesory. For example this hat, I mean, I'm all for making a statement at your weddinfg, making that memorable once in a life time appearence. But this...

This is a spring bridal hat with a touch of a soft pink colour , and a built in white veil, madfe complete with what are meant to be complimentary pink flowers. what i don't like about this hat is the the obvious fake flowers attcheched to, and the general box like style of the actual hat. The messy veil concept i like, although I don't think it goes very well with the uniform clean cut odf the hat. i think the pink is somewhat too much and the flowers appear to have just been placed in a manner that gives off the impression that the design was not pre- meditated.

Refernce:

www.shanzcreations.com.au/bridal-hats.html

No one likes to look terrible at their wedding, and I think this bride pulled it off. I love this gorgeous hair comb. It is a beaded comb that has three flowers that although they look as though they were spontaneuosly arranged, it still looks like the arrangement was well thought out.

I love the fact that they have a bit of colour in them (an uncommon bridal colour at that), which works with the design and also accentuates the flowers. What I also love about it is the fact that it is shimmery and 'glowy', almost like one has diamonds in their hair, but is more affordable than a diamond encrusted hair comb.

Refrence:

bridalfashions.ca/.../20/big-bridal-hair-combs/

I'm feeling so 'beaded'

This page was inspired by the beaded necklace I'm wearing today. Thing is, I found that ever since I satrted working with silver, I tend to think quite little of beads really, and I find myself thinking how borng is it to work with beads. Then, I wore my beaded necklace today wich gave me this idea of looking up beaded jewllery and here is what popped up.

I found these rather out of the range of my tates earings, they are made from oval, round, square like and somewhat rectangular beads, with colours of the green family. They are shandelier like earings which entail quite a lot of beads. I domn't particularly fancy these earings because of one the way the beads and the shades of coulours is being used here, I feel that the two components would work better in differnt designs, cause for me here the beads feel overcrowded and the coulour wasn't explored enough for such a flamboyant design.

reffernce for image: http://www.bd-i.co.za/

Having said that, I still love beads and beadwork, and the more I searched for beads and beadwork, I found these gorgeuos hand made wire and bead lamps. I love the creativity which went into the planning and making of these lamps, which is quite evident in the overall look of the two pieces. The colours used, they are not of the same 'family of reds or what not, but rather they still blend with eachother bacause they are all warm colurs which pretty much give off the same vibe/ feeling when one looks at the two pieces.

When you take a look at the green lamp, which is the same colour used for the earings, you see that even though it's a whole cluster of beads put togther, the artsist became bould with their use of beads and colours which fall within the same range, ie blue mixed with the greens (also seen in the use of purple with purple and yellow). These elements help aid my brain in unifying the beads and reading them as one body rather than a whole mesh of beads put together hoping for a good outcome, they also make the lamps look light and not too heavy for the function they're meant to perform. They have a neat finish to them and are easy on the eye.

reffernce for image: www.hoylelamps.com/Funky%20Lamps%20-%201.htm

Loving crafts

I was looking for chic versitile earings on the internet that could be my point of refernce for the previous paper jewellery project we did, when I came across these earrings. They are from the Murano Home Page which has displayed a range of glass earings. But what stood out the most for me, was this particular set of earings, and more specifically, the whole ‘zebra’ effect of the glass stone.

They are a hand made set of earrings which incorporate a gorgeous stone, sterling silver and a touch of shimmer. I love these earrings because for me, they give off a vibe of the good old traditional animal shades (zebra), which is accompanied by the modern feel of the shimmer in the metal, creating a unique pair of earrings fit for almost any occasion, be it casual or formal.

Then you get you get other 'African crafts', ones that I feel take the whole animal print thing oveboard. These Sawzi candles are a classic example of that. When one thinks of African crafts they tend to automatically picture animal print, whether it be on fabric or something as regular as a candle. Now like I said earlier, I have no set feelings against the use of animal print, hence why I like the earings. But there comes a point where they become a bit too much.

I don't particularly dislike the cynlindrical and rectangular candles, in fact i quite like them because of the fact that the print is not overdone and is broken up by the animal figures along the perimeters of the candles. However, the square candle is one that I don't like at all. It contains all the possible classic prints one could think of, it's so overwhelming and has become too much for one to actually absorb and indulge in the beauty of the prints displayed on the candle.

Refernce:

http://africagetaways.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/candle_burn.jpg

What makes these objects so different?

For my birthday last year, my presents were handed over to me in this, I think, rather charmingly beautiful paper bag. Naturally when one is proud of something they keep it, and even brag about it, which is what I did. The reaction/ reply I got..."Tseli you have old people's taste."

That statement really intrigued me. I find it amazing that certain floral objects are automatically classed as 'granny taste', while others receive completely different comments. Such as a certain pair of earrings I own. The bag contains the same beautiful floral characteristic as the paper bag (which is what drew me to them specifically), both objects somewhat have a bit of a vintage feel to them (colours used on the bag and the ‘worn out’ wood of the earrings), features I think are amazing and make the objects what they are. But, unlike the paper bag, people gush over the earrings.

This has really stunned me, so I want to know… What makes these objects so different?

Artist statement

I am a “Let’s go out so we can accessorise!” kind of girl. That’s the sole reason of why I chose to do jewellery design as my field of study; the manufacturing part is one that I like to think of as a bonus package I got when I decided to pursue my studies at Cape Peninsula University of Technology. I love jewellery and accessories in general, but I have a major soft spot for vintage jewellery and pieces which contain the element of vintage in them.