Circling Back Around
March 2, 2018
Inspirational Art
With its prevalence in Hindu and Buddhist symbolism and decorative elements, the circle and symmetrical designs like mandalas are probably a natural thing to gravitate to when you live in India. Jaishree Choudhary of JudaMani, is a Delhi-based artist creating contemporary east Indian jewelry with metal, stones, and polymer clay.
I’ve been watching her Instagram posts with interest as the designs feel both familiar and refreshing. There is an abundance of pattern and lively color in her work, as demonstrated by the earrings here. The busy surface design and contrast in color and shapes makes the symmetry of its circular design dynamic.
For more on Jaishree’s work, check out her website, Instagram or Facebook pages.
A Bevy of Bezels
December 8, 2017
Inspirational Art
The other thing about looking beyond the standard bezel for stones is that you are opened up to using stones and shiny bits of all kinds of shapes and sizes. It is one of the reasons we love polymer clay so much! It is so amazingly flexible.
You can see just how wonderfully it can hold onto and embellish already very interesting stones and crystals in this array of examples from Canada’s Martina Gutfreund. Not only can you get really creative with the bezels and caps, you can combine all kinds of stones, even with wildly disparate forms.
Some visual relationship between the stones should be present in deciding what stones to pair up, such as similar or complementary colors or textures. (Do you see how the most satisfying designs here are the ones with a very evident relationship between the stones?) After you have that, the clay can help you bring them together physically with all kinds of room for creative design work.
See more of Martina’s stone (and shell) setting designs in her Etsy shop and on Instagram.
Detail Rich Reflections
December 6, 2017
Inspirational Art
Still exploring the idea of setting stones in unusual ways, I have another stone setting here that rivals the stones themselves for attention.
Daniela D’Uva creates wonderfully complex and dreamlike settings for her stones and, as shown in this piece, doesn’t stop at showcasing just one bright and shiny focal point but uses several at once. However, the crystals are hard to focus on with such colorful translucent leaves and petals surrounding them. The classic combination of purple and green is so rich and vibrant that the stones only show well because of their reflective quality. The multitude of detail, from the translucent canes to the winding tendrils to the tiny microbeads, add to a feeling of richness. The flow of the tendrils and the way the leaves point over and across the crystals keeps the eye moving.
The approach and the effect are not so different from yesterday’s piece but this one does stick with a stone-centered composition. It’s the asymmetry of the cane placement along with the tendrils and pointing leaves that give it so much energy and life.
Enjoy more of Daniela’s work on Flickr and on her Facebook page.
A Swirl of Set Stones
December 4, 2017
Inspirational Art
So, still with my mind on what unusual gifts we can create, I tried to come up with some ideas for jewelry that might be a bit unexpected but could be readily appreciated by a wide variety of giftees. Then I started stumbling upon a lot of semi-precious stone and crystal pendants and other jewelry. Stones seem to be very popular this year and although that is not a new thing for jewelry at all, some of the presentations I found are really exciting.
It was this piece by Mila of Mila’s Heart Art on Etsy that got me thinking about moving away from basic bezels and playing around with that centered position that stones tend to be given in jewelry. I mean, yes, the stones are usually the focal point but they don’t have to be front and center. They can be part of a lovely composition like this swirling pendulum-like pendant, with the largest stone in the place of importance at the tip of the pendulum shape. The beauty of the stone doesn’t dominate here as many stone settings would, and the second stone rather blends in but this gives all parts of the piece nearly equal attention while the tendrils-and-swirl shape keeps pushing the eye to make the rounds across the varied details. It makes for a great balance in the piece as well as making it a bit difficult to stop investigating it.
I don’t know that this piece is actually polymer clay. She only mentions a “durable clay” so there is a possibility that this is epoxy clay, but nonetheless, it is a great example of where you can push the design when setting a stone in clay.
For additional inspiration of this kind see Mila’s Etsy shop, which has numerous examples.
With its prevalence in Hindu and Buddhist symbolism and decorative elements, the circle and symmetrical designs like mandalas are probably a natural thing to gravitate to when you live in India. Jaishree Choudhary of JudaMani, is a Delhi-based artist creating contemporary east Indian jewelry with metal, stones, and polymer clay.
I’ve been watching her Instagram posts with interest as the designs feel both familiar and refreshing. There is an abundance of pattern and lively color in her work, as demonstrated by the earrings here. The busy surface design and contrast in color and shapes makes the symmetry of its circular design dynamic.
For more on Jaishree’s work, check out her website, Instagram or Facebook pages.
Read More
The other thing about looking beyond the standard bezel for stones is that you are opened up to using stones and shiny bits of all kinds of shapes and sizes. It is one of the reasons we love polymer clay so much! It is so amazingly flexible.
You can see just how wonderfully it can hold onto and embellish already very interesting stones and crystals in this array of examples from Canada’s Martina Gutfreund. Not only can you get really creative with the bezels and caps, you can combine all kinds of stones, even with wildly disparate forms.
Some visual relationship between the stones should be present in deciding what stones to pair up, such as similar or complementary colors or textures. (Do you see how the most satisfying designs here are the ones with a very evident relationship between the stones?) After you have that, the clay can help you bring them together physically with all kinds of room for creative design work.
See more of Martina’s stone (and shell) setting designs in her Etsy shop and on Instagram.
Read More
Still exploring the idea of setting stones in unusual ways, I have another stone setting here that rivals the stones themselves for attention.
Daniela D’Uva creates wonderfully complex and dreamlike settings for her stones and, as shown in this piece, doesn’t stop at showcasing just one bright and shiny focal point but uses several at once. However, the crystals are hard to focus on with such colorful translucent leaves and petals surrounding them. The classic combination of purple and green is so rich and vibrant that the stones only show well because of their reflective quality. The multitude of detail, from the translucent canes to the winding tendrils to the tiny microbeads, add to a feeling of richness. The flow of the tendrils and the way the leaves point over and across the crystals keeps the eye moving.
The approach and the effect are not so different from yesterday’s piece but this one does stick with a stone-centered composition. It’s the asymmetry of the cane placement along with the tendrils and pointing leaves that give it so much energy and life.
Enjoy more of Daniela’s work on Flickr and on her Facebook page.
Read More
So, still with my mind on what unusual gifts we can create, I tried to come up with some ideas for jewelry that might be a bit unexpected but could be readily appreciated by a wide variety of giftees. Then I started stumbling upon a lot of semi-precious stone and crystal pendants and other jewelry. Stones seem to be very popular this year and although that is not a new thing for jewelry at all, some of the presentations I found are really exciting.
It was this piece by Mila of Mila’s Heart Art on Etsy that got me thinking about moving away from basic bezels and playing around with that centered position that stones tend to be given in jewelry. I mean, yes, the stones are usually the focal point but they don’t have to be front and center. They can be part of a lovely composition like this swirling pendulum-like pendant, with the largest stone in the place of importance at the tip of the pendulum shape. The beauty of the stone doesn’t dominate here as many stone settings would, and the second stone rather blends in but this gives all parts of the piece nearly equal attention while the tendrils-and-swirl shape keeps pushing the eye to make the rounds across the varied details. It makes for a great balance in the piece as well as making it a bit difficult to stop investigating it.
I don’t know that this piece is actually polymer clay. She only mentions a “durable clay” so there is a possibility that this is epoxy clay, but nonetheless, it is a great example of where you can push the design when setting a stone in clay.
For additional inspiration of this kind see Mila’s Etsy shop, which has numerous examples.
Read More