Intention Revised...

My intention is to manufacture ‘Green’ jewellery: By

1. Using environmentally sustainable practices and techniques.

 Which means working Eco-consciously with awareness of the negative impact my practice may have on the                environment. 

       and.....

 2.- Using narrative imagery associated with ‘Green’ and the social issues that surround the topic, to comment on or create an awareness. The imagery will come from subject matter/issues that i consider to be meaningful and/or personally important.

Jewellery for Sustainability

My intention is to manufacture jewellery using sustainable practices and techniques. I'm not really sure how to go about this just yet. I think a good place to start would be to look into primitive and ancient techniques and tools. By default they made jewellery in a "sustainable" way because they had fewer resources and no mass production abilities. I also want my jewellery to have the narrative message of what being 'green' means to me. I am passionate about sustainability through lifestyle awareness and conscious choices, so as a jeweller I'd like to do the same.

I think Jewellery's environmental footprint is made up of two factors:

1. The trade. By this i mean the process of jewellery manufacture (this has relatively small scale negative impact).
2. The raw material. Traditional jewellery generally is made from metal and stones. These are extracted from our earth through mining,(which has a significant negative environmental impact).

By breaking Jewellery's environmental impact down to two, i can focus my personal strategy for making sustainable jewellery . I can reduce my footprint by

1. Consciously choosing manufacturing processes(possibly primitive ones) and materials that are better for the environment, and
2. Sourcing low-footprint raw materials. Using recycled silver and ethically sourced stones. I am using recycled silver that has been extracted from old x-rays (a process i am keen to find out more about).

I think i may finally understand what it is that Im trying to do, hope so :) and having some fun.

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.

Looking forward..... Where i see my work heading.

Looking forward my focus is on manufacturing jewellery in an Eco friendly way, leaving behind as little an impact as possible. By manufacturing in this way it will no doubt influence the appearance and feel of my work as i will have to cut out certain techniques and common practices (e.g kiln firing for enameling, using the ultra sonic, investment casting, maybe even down to the stardard sandpaper that us jewellers tend to go through like crazy).

My only problem here is that i actually don't yet know much about what makes all these practices "unsustainable". There is a lot of finding out that i have to do, to separate the techniques that leave a negative impact from those which are neutral.

I will continue to make leaves, as they are appropriate imagery to my theme and they make me happy. I am in the process of making a set ( necklace, bracelet, and a few variations of earrings) for the KZNSA Gallery. I am making this set as i would normally make a piece of jewelley, kiln and all. I am documenting this process in full.

Then i think a good place to start is to remake this set using different, more sustainable methods eg replacing enamelled colour leaf elements for that of green PET, and then making another set replacing those elements with found natural objects, then maybe maybe making the same piece again going back to silver but trying a technique such as repousse for the elements. All the while documenting these processes and establishing some sort of a personal method to creating Eco jewellery.

The challenge is to create beautiful therefore desirable jewellery using techniques and materials which may conventionally be seen as neither beautiful nor desirable.

AWARENESS piece. A wearable piece, stand alone, brand

I really enjoyed the whole process of designing and manufacturing this piece, mostly because I didn’t have any specifics to follow - I threw the vernier out and just manufactured as I went. I find this a very rewarding way to work as nothing is too planned and in the end you come out with something that seems like a surprise.

Following in toe with my leafy earrings I wanted to continue with the organic theme. I kept my design and metal surface relatively plain and simple as I thought it would take away from the plant if I didn’t, the plant is the main focus of this piece.

This pot plant makes me really happy, and although it is not fully wearable, if it was to be worn, the wearer would have to be ever conscious of the fact that there is a plant with soil on their finger.

This makes the ring a mindful piece of jewellery, I like this idea. I would maybe like to make a sister to this piece that would be even more mindful, by creating a big pot with three finger holes.

Wearing this ring would be restrictive to the hand - a taste of our own medicine and reminder of how we feel we have the right to cut down trees and plants and then restrict them to grow only where suits us e.g. parks and nature reserves. Making the rest a concrete jungle.

From this piece I would definitely like to create an entire range of more wearable items.

I have received positive feedback, now just to leave it on the windowsill to get sun and love, and hope that my plant (and concept) grows.

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.