Shhh...

It's all so quiet, the frost is deep and the shortest day of the year is close at hand...

Countryside Inspiration for Jewellery Designs - June 2017

Spring has begun its gentle slide into summer and whenever I'm out and about I've tried to snap photos as much as I can. All the photos in this post were taken on my camera phone as I've been trusting it far more lately to capture a good image for me. I've also been increasingly aware that the shapes and features that attract my eye in the landscape also feed into my approach to the jewellery I design and create.



The photo above of a green wheat field, backed with a wall, then a further field, and then the sky beyond made me consider the importance of both pattern and uniformity in jewellery design as well as aspects that break one or both of those qualities. Yes, the lines of the features in the photo run parallel to each other, but the spaces between those lines are all different - wide, narrow, narrow, wide and so they add interest and break expectations of a uniform pattern.

Creating differences through contrast in design is often pleasing - we naturally recognise rhythm and anything that alters or interupts it. The texture of the wheat itself, being pushed by the breeze, within the overall stripe it forms, shows how effective angles can be when set against horizonal patterns and shapes. And the clouds in the skyscape provide a rounded texture in contrast with all the lines in the photo, serving as a reminder how texture can be used as a subtle contrast.



This photo was taken late into bluebell time, when I nearly missed the best of the blooms through a rather weighty migraine that kept me hidden away instead of experiencing the flowers at their most blue. But even here in this image, the carpet effect is still in evidence and the trees, as ever, provide a protective canopy against the harshness of direct sunshine and beautiful spots of light falling on the flowers.

If you imagine the scene without the blue hues then it becomes a little drab, something a little plain - the bluebells add interest and texture and show how detail can lift a design which, while still attractive, may also be a little flat without it.



The contrast between the sunlight falling on the wooden gate and fence and the gentler dappled shade in the woodland prompted me to take this photograph. Contrast adds interest in jewellery design, as do angles, like the one that the gate and fence are on which helps draw the eye through the image, and prevent a one-dimensional quality by adding depth. In jewellery, the fact it is three-dimensional and tactile is one of its great strengths and allows freedom in design to create that sense of movement within each piece.

I'm really enjoying examining the photos I take a little more closely, choosing a few of my favourites and thinking about why I took them and like them so much and how certain elements of design manifests in my jewellery designs as well.

Do share anything you've noted in these images, or in any others you yourself may have taken, and leave a comment below. And if you fancy seeing my earlier posts on photographic inspiration they are here (on the seaside) and here (on flowers).

Seaside Inspiration for Jewellery Designs - May 2017

Earlier last month the sun was shining in its hazy early-spring way and I went down to the sea. The water was calm and gentle, the beach mostly empty except for a few fishermen. We sat on some rocks exposed by the low tide, and I took some photos of the colours and shapes we saw.



The curl of the beach, where the sea was slowly moving the shingle, was a nice reminder of the curves I like to put in silver wire. The rhythm of the water moving along the shoreline was hypnotic and quite beautiful.



The rocks we sat on to bask in the sunshine were, on closer examination, half covered with tiny limpets, waiting for the sea to return. The texture, and strength, of these tiny creatures was easily felt under my careful fingers. I'm pretty sure I didn't squash any although I only discovered them after we sat down...



Simple shapes in jewellery often work the best, as in nature. The cone-shape of the limpets is both strong and elegant. The colours of the shells blended in with the rocks and seemed almost a part of them until we looked closer.

Simplicity equals strength seemed to be the design message from the seaside. Gentle curves and natural movements. Jewellery, like nature, doesn't need to shout to be noticed.

Do you find inspiration in simple shapes or do more complex ones challenge you? Do leave a comment if you like, I'd love to hear what you think.

Floral Inspiration for Jewellery Designs - April 2017

Whilst I don't make 'flower jewellery' as such (in other words, direct silver representations of flowers) at present I do find the shapes, textures and colours of flowers in particular inspiring in terms of design. I also find leaves and even bark equally fascinating in these terms but less noticeable, something you have to look past the more obvious flowers for. And flowers are extra obvious at this time of year, as nature throws off dull winter clothing and plants regrow with vigour and vibrancy.



Pictured above is Glory of the Snow (or Chiondoxa), flowering a little late for its name really (I'm kind of hoping we're not getting snowfall this April...) but it is glorious, especially up close. The petals are vivid blue - yes, you can imagine how even more vibrant they'd be against snow - and the stamens are rich daffodil-yellow. The blue makes me think of porcelain, China-blue hues on delicate pottery, perhaps something that could be recreated with polymer clay or enamel colours. The frills and subtle twists of the petals would be a challenge to represent in metal, but if done well would look organic and natural.



After some extensive searching online - and much scratching of head in frustration - I managed to find the name of the flower in the photo above - it's Brunnera Macrophylla Starry Eyes. The plant is small and the leaves fairly unimpressive, but the tiny flowers shine brightly white and, up close, the outer edges look hand-painted in blue. Again, I think of porcelain and delicacy, and yet also strength in the robustness of the flower shape and structure itself - they are found on the floor after they fall, nearly as sturdy as when they are in place on the plant.

Looking closely at these images and considering why they inspire me has allowed me think more about how to translate that inspiration into designs of all kinds. My earlier Vantage Point blog post was part of this current train of thought and I'm hoping it will continue to be valuable and helpful.

Do share in the comments below any floral (or generally botanic) inspirations you've found lately.

Half a moon and a whole Pearl

The moon often seems a little bigger in the winter months... when it's not obscured by clouds or fog, that is. I suspect this has much to do with leafless trees and the coldness that descends on clear, dark nights. It's inspired me. The big moon, either full or waxing or waning, and my sooper dooper ever-increasing mandrel selection, got me thinking and experimenting, and this is one of the items that I came up with...

The pearl is such a lunar colour, and it also reminds me of those evenings when the moon has just risen and so has Venus, small but bright on the horizon. It can look a little like the moon also has its own satellite and so is a little less lonely in the massive evening sky...

This necklace is now, with a little regret, in my Folksy shop.

August Break - Farewell...

August Harvest...

Okay. So the August Break theory of posting a photo a day, or near enough, hasn't been that much of a rip-roaring success, on this blog at least.

Mitigating circumstances - house guests, twice in one month = general exhaustion Some days, by the evening, it's been all I could do to just stay awake, let alone turn the computer on... and setting time aside to take photographs seemed equally impossible much of the time.

But that doesn't mean I haven't found the 'break' interesting and inspiring. For one, I got to find some wonderful new blogs via the August Break Flickr group.

And for two, I kind of figured out that a short blog post can be just as interesting, informative and 'readable' as a longer one. Now I have been guilty in the past of making my posts too long. I know this, even as I've been writing them, but have still ploughed on, saying what I wanted/needed to, thinking that because I could find the words then it was okay to write them. But this month has taught me that, at least sometimes, a few words, perhaps with a photo, is just enough...

For three, it's got me using Flickr again.

Oh, and for four. Not all my photos have to be close-ups of plant-life...

August Break - Day 19

Sometimes I go out and I have my camera and I'm somewhere interesting and yet I still find that by the time I get home again I've taken no photographs at all and am wondering just how that happened...

This has been a common theme lately, rather ironically when I am taking part in a photo blog situation...

However I am saved by a slightly earlier photo from last month today...

... I am also noticing a distinct, if unintentional, theme in my photo choices for the August Break... Nature...

August Break - Day 8

The days are creeping by and I'm not posting, nor taking, as many photos as I hoped I would. But I'm trying to relax into the month and just do what I can. Today may be a selfie but with wet hair and having just consumed, rather rapidly, a supermarket ice-cream cornet, I'm going to skip that prompt...

Here's some more nature instead...

Folksy Friday - Autumn Leaves

It's come. The time of year when we have to stop trying to kid ourselves that it's still the end of summer. It is now the start of autumn, and the leaves, just a few, are starting to turn and fall.

I chose this selection of jewellery, inspired by nature in general and autumn leaves in particular, in the hope that the bright autumn colours and wonderful textures make the lengthening evenings a little more tolerable.

1 - An embroidered pendant, by Love in Idleness

2 - Five sterling silver leaves necklace, by Magic in the Grass

3 - Etched glass and silver bracelet, by Luce Di Luna

4 - A pendant in resin containing a real leaf, made by Wishes on the Wind Jewelry

5 - Made from individual organza leaves, this free-machine embroidered wrist cuff is created by Sally

6 - Oak leaf earrings in sterling silver, made by Jewellery Designs by Sarah Birt

7 - Copper enamelled earrings, made by Maggie Jones Enamels

8 - Made from recycled silver, this tree pendant is created by Ali Bali Jewellery

9 - Images of autumn leaves set in glass make a pendant, by Emily Made Me

Hope you enjoy a bright, colourful autumn.