The Medal – ‘The Hand of Darwin’
16/01/2010
For this piece the brief was to design and produce a medal cast in either silver or bronze. The medal was to be two sided, each side complimenting each other to construct a meaning or intent. The medal had to be first carved in wax, and then cast so that it could be easily reproduced. The surface could be decorated and patinated to give contrast and highlight text and detail.
My medal was designed to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s controversial book ‘On the Origin of Species’. Most religions including Christianity state that earth and its inhabitants were created by God. In his book, Darwin stated “from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and wonderful have been, and are being, evolved”. Despite 150 years of evidence supporting this theory, and being accepted by scientists, many people today still remain sceptical. In 2009 The Church of England and The Vatican finally acknowledged Darwin’s theory saying “the idea of evolution has a place in Christian theology”. ‘The Hand of God’ is pointing to the other side of the medal, which is shaped like a crucifix with this quote from Darwin’s book. My medal celebrates this momentous union of science and religion.
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- Front of Medal
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- Back of Medal
Jewellery Workshop in London
13/11/2009
This week I went down to London to carry out a jewellery workshop for the Textile department at West Hatch High School in Chigwell. I worked with the Gifted and Talents students to create brooches and various fascinators. The students were shown samples of my work and images from my website, and then designed their own piece of jewellery. This piece had to be made from various materials from the department. The students’ creativity was very impressive and photos of their final products are on the project work page.
The 18ct Gold Project
07/10/2009
Currently I am designing a pendant made from 18ct white and yellow gold with a pave diamond setting. My inspiration came from various art movements such as Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Arts & Crafts and De Stijl. Once complete, details and photographs will be on the bespoke gallery page. This piece will be exhibited at the Final Year Exhibition in June 2010 at the School of Jewellery.
New Publicity
16/08/2009
I recently got my jewellery story published on another jewellery artist’s website.
You can read my story at this link…
More commissions ahead
17/07/2009
I have been commissioned for more pieces. Once complete, information about these will be up on the ‘commissions‘ page.
Deepam (Light)
25/05/2009
The piece I have just completed is an ornamental lamp. The brief was to design and make a spoon like object by the process of forging.
The inspiration for this piece came from my recent trip to India. I was inspired by the art, culture, food and religion. After visiting many temples, I decided to base my design on an Indian oil lamp. In Hinduism, an oil lamp is lit to symbolise hope. Hindus pray that God will bring light into their lives.
I researched different types of ornamental spoons, and found the Welsh Love Spoon. Even though carved in wood, I loved the shapes produced, especially the intertwining handles. I wanted to incorporate the intertwining handle into my eastern design. This could be achieved by drawing the wire down to a smaller diameter, then manipulating it to give the curvature and twists as seen in the Welsh Love Spoons. I also looked at the lines formed in Indian architecture, henna designs, and sari prints.
For the head of the spoon, I wanted to look at different shapes and not have the circular or oval designs regularly seen. For these I got my inspiration from the henna and kolam designs. I chose an abstract version of Ganesh’s (Elephant God) head; I thought this was apt as this piece was meant for a religious purpose.
Instead of using ghee (Indian oil) and a wick, fibre optic lighting could be placed in the head. A lightsource or lamp would need to be used to illuminate these fibres. The head of the piece can also fit a small candle or camphor.
The design can be miniaturised to produce a piece of jewellery such as a pendant or a brooch.
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- Temple
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- Temple Sculpture
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- Deepam
Pebble Ring
04/05/2009
For this piece, the brief was to incorporate pressing in the design.
I chose to design and make a ring based on natural form. I looked at rocks, boulders, stones and pebbles. When I started looking deeper into the shapes and forms, I decided to look into the erosion of rocks. I liked the appearance of the patterns formed during the process of erosion, and wanted to reflect this in my design. The pattern looked like miniature craters. The ring was made from sterling silver sheet metal. I decided to set a 3mm blue topaz cabouchon in the ring to represent the water eroding the stone.
Hollow Geometric Pin
04/03/2009
For this piece I chose to concentrate my design on Memphis, and after researching different Memphis designs and designers, I decided to base my piece on glass works designed by Ettore Sottass. I liked the vibrant colour as well as the way each of the hollow shapes stack on top of each other to give a whole new form. Some of the hollow forms were random, which encouraged me to look at dissecting whole geometric hollow shapes such as a cube, cone and sphere into more abstract shapes.
I decided to make a pin which can be worn on a tie or lapel for both men and women. The piece was made from sterling silver sheet metal and the pin is made from sterling silver wire.
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- Pin
Street Scene
28/02/2009
The project brief was to design a piece of jewellery based on the architecture around Birmingham city centre or the Jewellery Quarter. The city of Birmingham boasts architecture from the 18th-21st century. My brooch was inspired from features of buildings as well as outdoor furniture. This piece can also be made as a pendant. The piece photographed is made out of gilding sheet metal and wire, however, it can be made in sterling silver.
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- Brooch
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- Burlington Hotel Entrance
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- Feature top of window
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- Bars of chair
Germinating Bracelet
23/02/2009
The Germinating Bracelet is made from sterling silver.
The project brief was to design a bracelet on the natural form. Being a scientist, I chose to base it on the different stages during seed germination. If you take a closer look at the photographs, the bracelet is made up of several repeating units all linked together without using the common jump ring. I wanted to move away from the usual and design a contempory link and clasp which when put together formed a continuous piece.
This piece can also be made as a necklace or set of long earrings.
