Well I made some progress today, building this butterfly tiara. I would have liked to have finished soldering it today, but it just doesn’t look quite right to me, sometimes it’s best to just walk away from things and view it with fresh eyes tomorrow.
It seems these days that I’ve got so much going on, freelance work, family, maintaining the house and so on, that my creative endeavors have not been the focus they should be. As of today I am challenging myself to make something each day for the next twelve weeks. I’m not going to pressure myself, in fact my goal is to relieve myself of the anxiety I’ve been feeling for not expressing myself creatively.
Of course, it’s always hard to know where to begin, so today I’m going with what’s familiar. I’ve done a simple single crystal butterfly as a brooch in the past, but now I think I’ll expand on this and do something big with multiple butterflies. Stay tuned!
I’ve been asked to participate in a group gallery show, and since I’ve grown a bit tired of making production jewelry, this seems to be the perfect opportunity to let loose and create some more sculptural pieces. So, here we go.
The first is a concept piece I call “Husbandry”
I have two thoughts going on with this piece.
One is in how I find the idea of bodily adornment in relation to self-image, and as a mark of intent, goal, or achievement to be so curious. Whether it be to enhance one’s beauty, self-confidence, or status, the pursuit of wearable objects to achieve these goals are how the title of this piece came about.
The other is the symbolism involved with the romanticized heart representing love and all that it encompasses verses the literal heart as a body organ. The romantic heart associated with living happily ever after, and the anatomical heart associated with just living.
As with many of my pieces there is some wordplay and visual puns going on here. I invite the viewer to ponder the idea of a crystal heart-shaped cage, containing an anatomical representation of a heart, flanked by sprays of jeweled flowers, and the significance of its wearability.
The first time my work was shown in an art gallery, it was in a Venetian carnival mask show at the Museum Of Fine Arts Boston, in which I took first place. This is that mask…
So, out of nostalgia, and as an expression of my creative journey, I thought it fitting to do another mask and see how far I have come as a designer and fabricator.
I call this piece Camouflage,
I have an ongoing fascination with the imitation of nature by the use of man-made materials, and the idea of improving on nature by the same means.
In this piece I’ve used the format of a mask, something typically used to hide or disguise one’s identity. In creating an elaborate network of representations from nature, I then gilded and bejeweled it so as to create a conspicuous object of opulence. Much of my work involves puns and wordplay which is how the title of this piece came about.
And finally, if anyone reading this is going to be in the Providence area within the next month, well, here’s your invitation…
I loaned some pieces to Cosmic Unicornz, for a fashion show called Pop Allston’s Pride Party over the weekend and what a time they must have had…
Now here’s a girl who really knows how to rock a tiara!
As a designer and maker of such bold sparkly objects, it’s such a treat to see them worn in the spirit for which they were created. Just look at my Mermaid Queen necklace and tiara on this lovely young model…
And remember, these items and so many more are available in my shop.
In honor of the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, and to celebrate the return of the mighty little hummingbirds from their long journey home to New England, I present a new line of hummingbird necklaces.
I call this series “The Birds And The Bees” because if you look closely you’ll see the chain is attached to two tiny bumble bees, and there’s a slightly larger bee hanging at the top of the bead cluster.
Each one of these necklaces are one of a kind, and have my signature on the back. I’ll be posting them on my etsy shop over the next few days, so have a look. CLICK
I’ve been very busy these days, since my invitation to take part in the ArtProv Gallery “Girls Night Out” event. I plan to come up with a lot of new styles just for this very special evening.
I’ll be posting many of the new pieces as I produce them so follow closely. Meanwhile, why not have a look at my shop? CLICK
So, if you have a chance, have a look. click
I’m kind of new to this so any advise is most welcome. And, if you follow me, It will give me a chance to see what you’ve been up to as well.
You might remember, a while ago, I did a post on a commission I was working on? Well, the set is completed! I’d love to know what you think, so feel free to leave a comment.
Here’s a link to the original post CLICK .
I’m very excited about this latest project, a lovely etsy customer saw this necklace and earrings on my web shop.
Now they’d like a matching tiara. So, I thought this would be a great opportunity to share with my followers my approach to the design process, and the steps I take in creating such a piece.
The first, and most important, detail is communication. I find visual aids, in addition to written communication, most helpful. So here is my proposal…
To begin with, let’s take a look at the necklace.
It’s a very detailed piece and has lots of movement, but I think to create an inverted version of it should do the trick.
Now, it’s important to use your imagination here, these are just raw stones in un-plated settings, laid out on a piece of paper. This is just to get an idea of size and shape, got it?
Okay, now I need you to imagine the square and pear shape emeralds to be surrounded by crystals as shown in the following pictures.
The stones that surround these parts have been ordered and should arrive any day now. When they are added, this piece will have a fuller more blinding effect.
Also, in the necklace there are some emerald glass beads, these beads are no longer available and I’m having a hard time finding any that match. I’m not sure they would add much to the tiara anyway, but I’ll see what I can come up with.
So, here’s an overview of what the set will most likely look like at this point, and please use your imagination, as I mentioned before, this is a very raw interpretation of the finished project.
Stay tuned for future posts on this project, I’ll do updates when I get feedback from this client. Meanwhile, why not have a look at my shop CLICK.
Update:
Well the customer feels that they need something with more presence to it, in other words LARGER. They like the “Roberta” tiara (click Costumes, Tiaras, and Masks at the top of this page) and would like me to make a similar one but taller.
Of course I’m always happy to make big and bold pieces , “less is a bore” as they say, so here’s the plan. Since the design of the proposed tiara is somewhat different from the existing necklace, and might over power it, I’ll create a second necklace and earrings and let them choose what works best for them. These two photos are just quick snapshots of various pieces laid out to indicate what I propose the finished items will look like.
Thanks for following my blog, and I’ll have another update on this project very soon!
Update:
Okay, the set is complete! What do you think?
And, as you can imagine, I failed to resist the temptation of trying on these beautiful jewels myself.
Well it seems that winter is upon us and although I prefer the warmer weather, I’m looking forward to a creative hibernation in my much neglected studio. In preparing for this I realize that a good cleaning is in order. So as part of my organizational effort, and to raise funds for future projects, I’ve decided to sell off some of my design portfolio from the 1980’s, and at some very good prices too.
If you see anything here that interests you, then please visit my online shop by clicking HERE. If you see something you like in the “Vintage collectable” section, and it exceeds your budget, feel free to make me an offer, but please be reasonable.
Thanks for checking out my rosy little world,
~Richard
My Pink Planet 