Just having some fun with a ring I made. Photoshop made it easy for me to make a video (coming soon) of my work.

Wedding!

This me actually wearing something I have made and feeling comfortable in it. What do you suppose that means about me or my jewellery?

So I'm OFF...

I'm off to Cape Town!! Hopefully I'll find some inspiration. I desperately need some. I will be stocking the KZNSA with some of my Gud.enuff range pictured in my last post. It it's about to rain and thunder and I'm boarding a plane to Cape Town... should I be worried?

The softer side

I've been making these cushy hearts out of fabric that I had around from my serious sewing days. I enjoy making these. I would like to find other shapes though and other fabrics. It could be cool for my Gud.enuff range of jewellery.

Funny Faces

On a rainy Saturday we found some funny faces. I had fun doing this!!!

Gud.enuff.to.wear!!!

I came up with this name Gud.enuff. to. wear for a line of jewellery that is made easy with everyday things. I know this is not a novel idea but I want to try it and see what I see. So I just saw a post on the Studio Violet blog that gave me inspiration. The post is called Faces we meet along the way. That looks so cool and fun. And Girls just wanna have fun you know!. So I'm going to try it too this weekend and see what comes up. Maybe it will inspire my Gud.enuff.to.wear range. Yey exciting!!!

Bonda Women

I found this picture on one of the blogs I follow called fashionphile. I have only a few blogs I follow and fashion is a weakness and I want to know whats going on in that industry even though I would like to think I'm "above" all that "materialistic stuff". Well I'm not. I think these ladies from East India in the Orissa region are beautiful. The colourful beads are held together by what looks to me like hair pins(guess they would fall out). The use of colour makes me want to cut all my hair off( I think not). The silver neck pieces look used and handmade. The imperfections make them look real or authentic (they are). I particularly like the clasps. They just look easy and form a feature in the piece.

I think I have to make myself some head gear. I have been frustrated with my hair now I have some think to look forward to. YAY!!!!!

Story so far!!!

Watch this.

Art Smith... Made me over!

I become interested in Art Smith's jewellery because he used forging techniques in his work. It was described as Linear Undulations and I related to those words. Linear meaning created by lines and undulations meaning wave like in form and motion. I think these work explain the look of my work and this ring. It creates a wave like motion formed from soft rounded shapes. There is the illusion of movement to go with the movement of the body.

The setting really intrigued me. The rounded shapes also serve a function of setting a stone. Form follows function. I liked the cleverness of the design. It still keeps that rythmic flow flow yet serving a function.

Love my shoes!!!!

I really like my shoes. I'm sure there are many people who have the same pair, but I like to think they were made just for me. Don't know why that matters to me. Even though thousands of pair of these exact shoe exist, they look different on my feet. But there is some thing about having a special edition item. Is it we want to know so badly how "special" we are that we need "things" to show it. By we I mean me by the way.

But there are somethings (like my shoes) where I don't even care if the next girl walks past wearing the same shoes. I happy that this one is one my feet. But that hasn't happened yet so I can not promise not t freak out an give said girl a serious beat down for wearing MY SHOES!!!!

Urban Grounds Coffee Emporium!!!!!

So I haven't mentioned that in addition to studying I co-own and manage a coffee shop in Durban South Africa. It's pretty much the coolest place ever. Urban Grounds Coffee Emporium is the name an we serve the best coffee in Durban. Really I mean it!!!! You should try it out!!! The cappuccinos are fantastic and we have a selection of specialty coffees that will blow you over. I mean with names like Bar One Mocha, Mint Condish (what I'm having in the picture), Ginger Snap Latte, it's all good. Kristy(in the picture with me) and I are absolutely passionate about offer the best to our customer and providing Durban with a place to chill, work and play(we have board games). So look out for us at the corner of Frere and Ayott in Glenwood Durban.

We have a promotion on right now. If you blog about Urban Grounds and send a link to our blog then you get a free coffee. And if you join our Facebook group and upload a picture of yourself at Urban Grounds, you get a free coffee. That sounds good to me!!!!

Embracing my inner Lace

I felt drawn to lace fabric for years and always tried to aviod it. I have this perception that it's girly and frilly and one thing I not is girly and frilly......or so I thought. So I secretly collected all these lacy things and images of lace like fabrics. Any fabric with cut outs, because of it's ability to hide and reveal. I think it's a little naughty. And naughty I am...

I like that you are able to look into the spaces too. Another pattern is created by the negetive space. The more open the pattern the better for me.

The patterns can bee too much for me sometimes so I like to look into the pattern for something simple. Translating that into jewellery is the real test for me. I want to try and keep the openess of the pattern in my work.

How I cut out!!

I found this picture in a South African House and Leisure Magazine and that is how I found Tord Boontje. I started talking alot about his a found that it seemed as though I was thonly one who didn't know about him. I was a little annoyed coz I like to think I know stuff!!


Anyway I think Tord's work is wonderful and decided I wanted to be him when I grow up. The curtain is my favourite. I makes me feel like being in a forrest of fairies and only good things would happen there. It is delicate and simple. Floral motifs remind me of lace. I love colours. Since there is no way to afford his cirtain I will wait till the day i can get my hands on one of his creations. Tord is originally from the Netherlands. That just makes want to go there even more. I think the designers in the Netherlands are fabulous.

Where in the World am I? ( Between Bizana and Brooksnek)

Hey I was pleasently surprised when I took a trip home to the Eastern Cape.......SNOW!!!!! In the usually dry and dead Eastern Cape there was snow. I could not believe my eyes. My sister and cousin where in the car with me and I convinced them to stop and have me take a picture on my cell phone and send it to everyone I could. Stark white looked so beautiful again the colours of the houses. The houses are usually painted in very bright colours (blue, yellow, pink, orange). Seeing that all the time again the usual background (green and brown) of the landscape was beautiful but I was not appreciating colour enough. The white background just did for me. The simplicity it brings to the picture makes you pay attention to the details. The houses look unreal from a distance. Almost like toys. I loved the drive down.

A look back!

Silver Leaf earrings


Silver leaf ring


Enamel brooch


Silver Floral cutout earrings with red enamel


Silver Floral cutouts earrings with blue enamel



Floral cut out studs


Forged Two finger leaf ring


Lady knuckleduster ring


Flower finger hugger


I looked back at the work that I produced over the last two years and realised that I have concentrated on forged rings that are sculptered around the hand and floral patterns inspired by lace or fabric, pierced out of silver. Above are a few of my favourite things( to borrow from the Sound of Music).

Sherbert!!(thats only because I don't want someone else to make me swear)

Have you ever felt so frustrated that you could just explode!!!! Well that is how I feel this very moment. Today I got a taste of the real world and that people are not nice all the time. When they are just mean it can really get you unexpectedly. I didn't see that coming at all. Some people want look out for themselves and to hell with the rest. I can imagine that be a lonely place to live in. But lonely as it be right now I am totally pissed off at said people. And before I punch the keys of this computer right through the desk. I'll just stop right here. Hoping that i can put all this in a cyber bubble and blow it away.

Transkei Sunsets

So Maybe you are wondering what the Transkei is. Transkei is where I'm from. Yes I know it's called the Eastern Cape now but I'm from the Transkei. The original if you know what I mean. Some people will know what I mean. The pre-Democracy government formed what they called the "homelands" or the TBVC states made of the former Transkei, Bophutatwana, Venda and Ciskei. That is where I was born and spent many years. I have started to remember what I love about home and all the colours came back. The family holidays at the coast and the sunsets and sunrises at home are like no other. The colours, red, orange, yellows,purples, blues, violets all melt into each other against the green background of the hills.

So I have began my experimenting with enamels to see if I can recreate the sky of the Transkei. This is my first attempt at layering colour. The reds are tough to work on because they burn so easily. And the colours change everytime I fire in the kiln. I'm hoping to add more colours with out over doing it. I don't want that thick look in the enamels. I'm still experimenting so watch this space

Bare Exhibition

I was invited, along with some of my classmates to exhibit at Bare in Morningside Durban. I said yes but didn't know how I was going to manage doing everything(work and exhibition). I think it was a good thing because I had to push myself and came up with some interesting things. Lets not forget that I became a zombi afterwards but that is a story for
another day.

I found paper in my journal that I had stuck in and forgotten about. I drew on the patterns on the embossed paper and found a shape which became the bases for some of my new jewellery. The obvious leaf shape, I found interesting because of it's simplicity and yet organic connetations. The simplified lines of the shape which still have strong reference to a leaf lead me to forging earrings and rings. I also found myself returning to the old mussle like shape that I used last year and using enamel(in the picture above). The multiple finger rings seem to have stuck with me. I would like develope the one in the picture above by adding to it colour by using stones, enamel or other media.