Steel grey brooch

Finally, the first post about an Australian piece, by the very talented Julie Blyfield! Botanical influences have always played a big role in her work, and in her most recent pieces that influence has become more relevant due to the changing climate. In Australia, and South Australia in particular, there has been a drought for the last couple of years, which is taking its toll on trees and other plants. Julie Blyfield took a trip into the desert and noticed the adaptations to drought and bush fires of the desert plants. Their forms and colors were an inspiration for her new collection and this Steel grey brooch. I can imagine how drought makes natural materials curve like the bend in this brooch. Also, bush fires would blacken everything on its path.

In addition to observing environmental changes, Julie Blyfield also studied the body ornaments made by Aboriginal people. They use natural materials with great care leading to exquisite designs which are striking in the repetition of pattern, shape and form. In her new designs she started experimenting with a variety of materials instead of using mainly metal. This resulted in the beautiful red string used in this brooch. The contrast with the steel grey and black makes the red more vibrant. On one hand that alarming red color seems like a warning sign. On the other hand the botanical feel of the brooch makes the string look like flower buds protruding on their branch, as if spring has arrived and things are looking up.

Julie Blyfiled made this amazing ‘Steel grey brooch’ in 2009 as part of the collection Natural Selection, currently exhibited (until April 4th) at Gallery Funaki in Melbourne, Australia.

Photograph by Grant Hancock.

Fidelity, The Golden Fleece ring

Because I really like this piece, an update on the previous Furry ring-post, since The Golden Fleece ring will be exhibited from tomorrow! It al started when Giovanni Corvaja went on a journey to make the mythological Golden Fleece, instead of searching for it. A journey which required kilometers of hand-made gold wire, took 12 years of precise labour and resulted in great jewelry along the way (as to be seen in the Furry ring). Not an easy task as you can imagine. The Golden Fleece is sought after because it is said to bring good luck to kings and guarantees that their kingdom will endure forever.
This Ring was made in 2008 and consists of 104,272 single wires (2.085 km of wire in total). The tiny wires must be almost microscopicaly thin to create such length and still fit around a finger! This means the gold fur is super soft to touch. The ring symbolizes fidelity, something a lot of rings do, but the combination with the Golden Fleece makes this ring the symbol of a lucky, everything enduring love. This ring combines the aesthetic with the tactile and the conceptual, which I love.

Giovanni Corvaja has made a whole Golden Fleece collection and the jewelry pieces have all been chosen to represent eternal symbols: first there is fecundity (the egg pendant), then prosperity (the round brooch),fidelity (the ring) is the third piece of this collection, commitment (the bracelet) the fourth and finally strength and perpetuity of power (the headpiece). All of these have many other meanings as well. Of course these amazing pieces will be exhibited tomorrow as well.

The exhibition is part of the International Trade Fair,in Munich, Germany, in the frame of a special exhibition “Modern Masters”, Hall 1A, 11-17.03.2009. (Exhibiting the new collection in Munich is very meaningful for the artist, who celebrates 20 years since his first exhibition in the same place, in 1989.)

An extensive explanation of the whole Golden Fleece collection is to be found on Gionvanni Corvaja's website.

Glow in the dark Hand Necklace

When design agency Mo Ka decided to turn some of their new white virtual world into reality by means of jewelry, they contacted my former classmates over at Atelier 11. This resulted in an incredible Glow in the dark collection! Every jewel has the Mo Ka logo, 2 purple pyramids, near the lock. That is also where the glow in the dark octahedron-shaped pendant comes from, a three-dimensional expression of that pyramid. The glowing part of the jewel is not made of plastic, but of a glow in the dark powder coated metal. This is why it has a nice weight when hanging on a silver chain. All the symbols used in the jewelry are inspired by the creativity displayed by Mo Ka. Like the hand in the Hand Necklace, since designing is still eventually realized by hands. Atelier 11 always makes fashionable and up-to-date jewelry and this is no exception. I particularly like the idea of having an extra hand on stand by, especially one that’s easy to find, even in the dark.

Until March 12th the jewelry is sold at a special pop-up store that Mo Ka has opened in Brussels, 124 Rue de Flandre. It is also available trough their webshop.

Skeletal metal ring

We are only one day away from the biggest American orthopaedic convention (AAOS), which is held in Las Vegas this year. Also from Las Vegas is Skeletal Metal, a jewelry company that uses stainless steel reconstruction plates normally used in orthopaedic surgery. What a coincidence! It all started when orthopaedic surgeon dr Mike Crovetti bent a stainless steel reconstruction ("ReCon") plate into a ring and started wearing it. Many people who saw the ring were intrigued by the use of a surgical steel plate in jewelry. So he teamed up with Marty Cordova and Anthony Bonifazio to form 'Skeletal Metal'.

The surgical metal is simply bent into shape to make the ring. It is often also necessary to bend the plate to fit the plate to the bone in surgery, so it is exactly the same when worn outside the body, as it is when surgically placed inside the body! In surgery this type of plate is commonly used to fix the broken bones of the forearm, elbow, pelvis and collarbone. The holes are filled by surgical screws to piece the broken bone together.

To me, it seems like a fun way for people that had surgery to display what is inside their body on the outside!
It didn't stay with just rings, now a whole series of jewelry is available with or without screw holes.

Many thanks to The Carrotbox Jewelry Blog - rings, rings, rings!

Boules

The other day I went to a restaurant that served two gold-covered hazelnuts on top of the chocolate dessert. We laughed! I kind of forgot about gold being used with chocolates and it got me thinking about choclate being used in jewelry. So after a bit of web-surfing, these 'Boules' by Barbara Uderzo are what caught my eye! In 2004, she made a few different kinds of chocolate jewels, but the Boules stand out. Not just because they are covered with goldleaf, which makes a beautiful color combination with the dark, earthy chocolate and shiny bright gold, but also by their design. The balls of choc look like enormous wearable pralines but the gold might make you think more of jewelry. I'm sure once the chocolate starts to melt on your skin and you can really smell it, the only thing you'll be thinking is: get in my tummy!

The chocolate jewels are meant to be enjoyed by couples together, so let's hope both partners are able to hold the urge to start eating, untill they can do this together!