Adding colour....

Deciding and experimenting with ways to add colour. Adding colour isn't a necessity in enabling my aloes to be recognized, but I am drawn to bright colours, it also makes it more interesting and funky.. I love the orange of their flowers and the way the thorned edges of the green leaves are outlined in an orangey tone.

outline colour along the edges, and on the thorns.

 

I still need to take some close up photos of the flowers, the long tubular shape of the petals.

Looking at ways i can use glass seed beads...... i can melt, then squash them to be a similar shape to the flowers (second one from left in the first pic.

Wearable plants.

Pot Plant Ring. 2009. 925, soil, rock rose.

 I made this piece at the end of  3rd yr. The concept - a conscious piece of jewellery. To successfully wear this ring you would have to remain aware(hand flat,palm facing down) at all times. If you forgot and moved  your hand (the way we do in everyday life)-the soil and plant would fall out. A practice in conscious awareness.

I came across a British jeweller and full time lecturer-  Jo Pond. This piece below "Windmill neckpiece" is part of her narrative collection. I haven't been able to find any writing on what this piece is about, but I love the concept of a hanging flower basket. It gave me the idea of turning a pot plant into a neck-piece. If i had to explain the feeling of this piece in one word id use "delicate" , but that is not my aim at all when i manufacture. I relate to this piece only as an idea. The jewellery i make is often quite chunky. 

Jo Pond, "windmill neckpiece".

My flower pot necklace in progress.Experimenting with a simple way to impressionize the flower, possibly through the use of colour.

Working backwards...

The aloe excitement is still up..... I'm designing around the silhouette aloe earrings- I started with the simplest interpretation of the plant, and then realized i should have started by trying to reproduce the real deal first, and then simplify/stylize. So I've put these earrings (temporarily) on hold .

I've started by making a couple of miniature fine silver aloes, They've got a fun feel i think. Because they're sharp and spiky- they're not so well suited for jewellery, but they're a perfect fit for the pot plant concept. Since i made my first "pot plant ring" , I've wanted to make a series to go with it. So now finally, thanks to our "flourish" exhibition in 2 weeks time... my next one is in the making.

a quick sketch before i had decided go go with aloes.

my aloe in the making....

One of my flower boxes at home.

 My own flower box, work in progress.

I love Aloes & Succulents

 Indigenous plants are an important factor to the sustainability of a habitat. Native plants attract birds bugs and wildlife and often feed off them either direct or indirectly. Continued human propagation of indigenous trees and plants will help to insure sustainable eco systems. I've decided to do an Aloe and Succulents range, starting with Aloes. There are about 120 different species of aloe in South Africa. Most are indigenous to the Cape, including my favorite- Aloe Africana. Took some photos of a few of the aloes in our garden.....

My favorite. a special friend gave it to me.

my favorite again.... Aloe Africana

Also mad about Rock Roses

Looking at how I'm going to construct recognizable ones. 

Support Local & Indigenous.

For a long time I've considered using indigenous plants as reference to my work. Last year I  got excited (briefly) about the Large Leaf Rock Fig & Coral tree (2 of my favorites). I took some photos of them, attempted repoussing a leaf and made a wax mold and a few ceramic ones, but never turning anything into a piece of jewellery and then blew off the idea.

 From there I've continued to used made up stylized leaf shapes. Now its become apparent to me how much more meaningful and "sustainable" ( from a narrative perspective) it is to use indigenous plant reference. I think It will also give my work a naturally more contemporary feel.

Another trip to Botanical Gardens

This time, instead of taking a million pictures of a million different plants that i don't know and usually don't end up using. I went for a more structured approach and went strait to the indigenous trees section and gathered and photographed the leaves of the trees i would most like to use as a reference to my Jewellery. I also picked up a variety of dry leaves off the floor, i find these so beautiful the way they decompose, slowly -starting by curling inwards to eventually withering away where there is only a vein skeleton left, reminds me somewhat of rust.

Indigenous Plant Market at botanical gardens

A very useful and interesting outing. Unfortunately i only got there on sunday afternoon and lots of the plants were sold out, and almost ALL the aloes, which is what i intended to buy most of. I still managed to get photos of a wide variety of saplings. Amongst them i have a few favorites. One of them being the Large-Leaved Rock fig which has significance to me as i have memories of it from when i lived in Mozambique. Been thinking about that one for a while but wasnt sure what it was, finally i found the name of it :). Am going to use this one as a reference for my next piece.

My design and manufacture process.

I think that probably most designers across all fields have an area of their design or manufacture process that is most relevant or important to them, their work or their message/point. I think the area that is most relevant and important to me at this point is my manufacturing process. My designs also hold some relevance to my topic as i see the leaf as sort of a symbol for anything eco related, but without a sustainable eco manufacturing process my message is nothing, just an image of a leaf. I aim to get to a point where the manufacturing process of my jewellery leaves as little an environmental impact as possible, and one day hopefully none :).

I also find that as the manufacture of my jewellery becomes more sustainable, i want my designs to have more of a purpose as well. For this reason i have slightly changed my design approach, instead of just using an image of a stylized leaf shape (which started to get a little boring). I'm starting by using the leaves of indigenous trees as a referance.

B-tech intentions

This year i aim to use the concept of my jewellery to create an awareness around my topic, "sustainability" (expressing my concern), using my jewellery as a tool to convey this (narrative) message.

I intend (somehow) manufacturing jewellery that conveys the vulnerability/fragililty of nature. Whilst doing this i would like to investigate---- then incorporate where possible , sustainable ways to make jewellery more environmentally friendly.

I also plan to do more research on indigenous trees/plants and using these as reference to illustrate both the positive and the negative aspect of sustainability(fauna and flora as indicators). I also intend on finding and looking into jewellers and artist who use the environment as subject matter(in any meaningful way, not necessarily visual).eg Hamish Cambell , Sharon Church.