From the chunky bangle I last posted, I decided to cut it up and turned it into 2 separate bracelets. Each one with one central focal point (the leaf), simpler and far more comfortable.  As the bangle there was too much going on, and eye wasn’t drawn to any specific area; it was too heavy, both literally and visually.  Now as a movable bracelet, the weight of the leaf is juxtaposed by the flow of its shape. And then again by the delicateness of the chain which completes it. I have used belcher chain, but now that the piece is finished I think I would like to make a more decorative chain. Possibly something that matches the curly curves of the leafs edges’.  I’ll post the pic of the other bracelet as soon as it’s finished.

I used no acids for the cleaning of this piece.Only scrubbed it with a glass brush. And did the repousse using an old piece of pine rather than the pitch.

Manufacturing without a design

I wanted to make a bangle. I had different thicknesses of wire and fine plate, so thats what i used. I didn't feel like drawing so i just started manufacturing - with no plan and not much of a vision. I'm not sure what to do with it from here. Its uncomfortable and appears to clash with itself. Its really hard to just make something without any designing. I'm going to sketch out some ideas from here and see if i can maybe save some elements of this piece to make into something new and different.

Its good to be reminded how important the drawing and designing process really is.

Chapter 4 - Found Objects

Found Objects: Odds and Ends -Speaks for itself really. Manheim talks about 'magpie syndrome' this process comes about by collecting random everyday objects (eg stamps, ornaments,nuts and bolts, buttons etc) possibly with strong visual appeal, and then transforming them into wearable jewellery.

Gold Necklace, Emma Palmer, 2008. Antique buttons, crochet thread.

If i were to incorporate found objects into a piece of jewellery i would use seed pods or seeds i think.

Gardening Tools

Then there's growing a few of your own organic veggies. The fun part. Eating less meat is also a small positive that can help (livestock farming is one of the greatest contributing factors to deforestation). Meat-Free Mondays is a campaign to create awareness.... easy start, dedicate at least one day a week to no meat (i intend on making a Meat-Free Monday piece of jewellery).  I have made a few 'Garden Tool' pieces which represent "green" to me. I would like to make more, and to have a recycling range as well as an animal awareness range. I would also like to start working with other imagery that is associated with being 'green' maybe also positive and negative indicators of 'sustainability'. 

My Happy Gardening range. Dig It. Earrings. 925

Happy Gardening range. Shower with love. pendant. 925

Choices

 Over and above the fact that i aim to manufacture my jewellery in a sustainable way, i also want to portray and promote environmental sustainability, and simple ways in which it can be achieved. Sometimes i cant help but feel my efforts (in my jewellery practice) are so insignificant and that the negative effects of the jewellery industry are minuscule compared to some of the massive industries that are really destroying (e.g. deforestation due to animal farming and paper manufacture and the plastic manufacturing corporations). By chatting to people i am reminded that every small step counts(as cliche as that may sound), its how anything starts.

What if these guys where separating their rubbish for recycling? 

How angry does this make you? Frightening! 

With the huge hype around recycling, everyone knows we should all be doing it but how many people really are? In our home we make some simple conscious choices that help. Separating rubbish is the perfect start, a little more effort in the beginning until it becomes second nature. Glass, paper and plastics, tin, then organic waste to the worm farm - the rubbish we put out on the street to be collected by the municipality and transported to landfill sites is a very minimal, if everyone was doing this simple task? How can i make narrative jewellery to depict this. Pieces that the wearer or viewer can engage with in a mindful manner.

Why?

 I had a convo with someone the other day about my jewellery, he asked me why I'm interested on focusing on sustainability, with every answer I gave him, he came back with the rather irritating repeated question but why? From this i realized that i need to state (the obvious to me) the reason that this is important to me is simple, i really love animals and nature and feel strongly that it is our duty as fellow earth dwellers to respect them and our environment.

Morning cuddles with my 5 babies :)

Chapter3 - Ephemeral Jewellery

'Ephemeral Jewellery- Something and nothing - This requires little or no physical materials, by using marks on the skin, light,dust or images projected onto the body'.

Lace Collar,Millie Cullivan,2004.Talc

This chapter boils down to Manheim and other artists pushing boundaries on what defines jewellery as jewellery and peoples perceptions of it. Although clever, not really suited to my personal definition of sustainable jewellery.

Find from an Urban Jewellery Expedition,Claire Jeffs,2007. Gold spiral-twist earring.

i hEaRt MaRKet 3.03.12

March...hmmm our 10th stand at the market. Although this month was quite a quiet one, it was still a fruitful one. A photographer was there and seemed to think our jewellery would be suited to a bikini photo shoot they're doing on a beautiful exotic beach up in Mozambique. We were sent a mail with all details and portfolio links, they're some really talented and creative people and the models are hot hot hot. Each shoot is going to have its own theme, it sounds fantastic, and i am sooo thrilled by the offer. They want mainly bracelets and neckpieces,the bolder and chunkier the better...i may try whip out a new piece or 2 to send extra. They leave next week, for a week.When they're done we'll have access to the photos.win win all round! Ill then publish the links. So as soon as they come in will post them up :)

My earring display at the market

Chapter 2 - Waste Not, Want Not.

Sprungli Collar, Verena Sieber-fuchs, 2000. Sprungli chocolate wrappers, Inox crocheted.

1. 2. *Waste Not, Want Not - looks into how jewellery can be made from materials that would usually be thrown away. Generally re- shaping or re-inventing things from materials that would usually be discarded without second thought.  The concept stems from a time during The Second World War when times were tough and innovative ways to re-use old materials became essential.eg. coats made from old blankets. The generation to follow grew up understanding 'waste not, want not'. Then came a time of affluence, and this concept was thrown out the window. Manufactured goods were favored over home-made /hand-made as they were seen as part of a more impoverished lifestyle. This has contributed  to where we currently find ourselves, the supermarket and fast-food culture, the age of plastic.Mountains of rubbish. 

1. People are becoming increasingly aware of the 'unsustainability' of this. Although sustainable  jewellery is in no going to save the world, it can only help by spreading awareness. 

1. I find, most jewellery made with this concept in mind, to be either generally quiet ugly or impractical/unwearable. This crocheted chocolate wrapper neck piece is a great example as it is both beautiful and wearable, which is an important requirement for me to fulfill through my jewellery if i am to work with this concept. I have some ideas and would like to make 1 or 2 pieces.

Order done :)

So i made this simple(quiet minimal) pendant towards the end of last yr to add to my I Heart Market stock, because i was short of necklaces. Around the same time i was contacted by a women who buys and sells a variety of jewellery. A week before the market she took most of my stock to display at an open day, the necklace amongst other pieces sold. I quickly made another to fill my once again empty gap. Last week she contacted me for more stock at another open day, the necklace sold again, and 4 more were ordered :) .

For me the interesting thing is that our customers are completely different, although my market at I Heart is quiet a broad range of people all ages. Her market is more upmarket. And i suppose people generally don't go to a flea market with too much cash on them, although i am sometimes surprised.

Generally when I remake a piece I alter it in some slight way to make it better, this one has stayed mostly the same because that's what people want i guess. I'm not a huge fan of these,  but apparently some people are, so great!

A post a chapter - 1 Old for New

I have read through most of Julia Manheims' book Sustainable Jewellery.  This research will fall into my first factor- The Trade- manufacturing process and materials used(other than metals, which will fall into 2. raw materials). Manheim talks about the different aspects of what makes jewellery sustainable.

 I have summarized her basic sub catagories which are explained in detail in each chapter, although some of  which have little relevance to my intention. Its still seems important that i look into what other people see as sustainable jewellery. I will look deeper into the relevant ones, and find other examples outside of the book to back it up further.

1. Old for New - Recycling existing jewellery, altering it, wearing it differently, melting it down and re working it,cutting it up, adding to it or covering it up. This chapter considers ways in which the jewellery can be reinvented even by simply changing the sentiment or idea behind it.

Siblings,necklace, Lin Cheung,2003. Silver,gold.

What does sustainable mean......... & In terms of jewellery.

I have found a few simple definitions of Sustainable that i find most relevant.

• Sustainability the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources and thereby supporting long term ecological balance.
• Sustainable a system that maintains its own viability by using techniques that allow for continued re-use. - able to be maintained or kept going, as an action or process.

The UN took a look into global environment problems in 1983 and came up with this effective definition - That which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In relation to jewellery i would put 'needs', because there is no real need for jewellery. In Bruce Metcalfs' paper On The Nature of Jewellery he talks about the five functions of jewellery:

1. Attachment to the body
2. Personal decoration
3. Social identity/status
4. Portable wealth
5. Spiritual

 I see my jewellery predominately fitting under Personal decoration- visually stimulating in terms of colour, contrast and texture. As well as social identity/status- social perceptions- The type or style of jewellery a wearer chooses often speaks for them within a social grouping or stereo type. i think Narrative jewellery would also fall under this 'function', some of my work is narrative. From this I suppose i need to create my own jewellery specific definition of sustainability.......   ah in time, it will come :)

Eg This simple pierced pendant of mine not only serves as decoration but would also say something about the wearer who chooses it, most likely a nature lover. 

Julia Manheim "Sustainable Jewellery"

Now that Ive established the two main factors i need to tackle to make my jewellery more "sustainable", I need to find other jewellers who are doing similar things and see how they go about it. I am finding it quiet difficult to find jewellers working with this concept. Luckily there is Julia Manheims book "Sustainable Jewellery". I am going to start with Manheims book, And look at her different concepts of sustainable jewellery, what it means to other artists and how they go about it. Looking at it from a broader perspective first and then by process of elimination rule out and then bring in what i mean by sustainable jewellery. From there i'll work out how im going to execute my practices.

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.

"Autumn" - Bangle.

A page from my design book; some ideas for the bangle  Im working on. I don't draw all that much, so i use my sketches only as a starting point for an idea, then just make the piece as I go, I feel more comfortable working that way. Sometimes it evolves drastically, and sometimes slight. I would like it to look somewhat like a bed of leaves on the ground in autumn. Layered, with all different types of leaves. Some leaves will be 925 and some in fine silver, different techniques used to create the different leaves as well, for contrast.  I imagine the final piece to have a rough look to it. I've decided Im going to start naming my pieces, like art , as i like to think of my work as                  Jewellery Art. This piece will be called "autumn".

Getting set up at home....

OK, so my bench at home is all set up and ready to go. I have made loads of bracelets but never really made a bangle, a big bangle...(surprising coz i love to wear them) Im going to pierce and chase different leaves and branches from plate and solder them layered together to form a bangle. I am using the leaf designs carved on the ceramic pots i made ( last yr sometime), as a sort of reference guide. Lets see how it goes, not sure if i have any expectations of how it may turn out. Just reckon for now i just want to get warmed up and manufacture a finished piece of jewellery, something I've never made before. KEEN!

5 months of JoY*

Shoooooooo... have been out of it for a long while. I have a beautiful little girl to show for it though :) My daughters name is Graciela Joy, (aka gracie or boepsie) with her fathers surname Greene. Have spent the last 5 months enjoying being a mama full-time, but think i am now ready to get back into my groove a little and be once more, a maker of things; among them a jeweller. So I'm back on it!

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.