Saturday, April 27, 2013

Patterns, Repetition, & MayDay Open Studio!




I love making big complicated one-of-a-kind brooches and pendants.  Above is my newest Crystalline Collaborative brooch.  I'm pleased with how it turned out.  However, one-of-a-kind pieces are very time consuming, and I sometimes find myself overwhelmed with one piece of jewellery when I know I should be making more efficient use of my time.  So I've also been looking for inspiration in repeated patterns.  My thought is that if I can find inspiring shapes that would translate well into repeated elements, then I might find some efficiencies in my process, and still come up with an end product that has an involved and complex appearance that draws people in to look a little closer.  So, no surprise, I'm turning to nature to find these patterns.  Here are some images that I've collected out and about recently, as well as some experiments with arranging metal into different collectives of shape and form.







I will be working on these at my open studio event next weekend as part of the broader May Day Craft Weekend.  I'm planning some wire earrings in patterns that might find themselves enameled at a later date.  I hope you'll drop by Saturday or Sunday, 11am - 6pm and say hello.  I'll also have a raffle to win a pair of my bronze-with-copper-rivet earrings.  The rivets vary on each pair, and the winner can choose from my selection the pair that they wish.