I am not your typical jeweller who plans their collection well in advance, knows how many pieces there will be, manufactures, advertises and sells them with a strategy. Being a free spirit, I tend to follow my heart, and am not a stranger to dropping all that was on my work table, to materialise a vision that just popped into my head. And sometimes the themes weave in my work , new ideas are added, and a collection is born.
Amsterdam Inspiration
This idea for the first piece came about with a jewellery contest. The topic was Holland and this immediately took me back to one of the most iconic cities in the world – Amsterdam. There is something irresistible about these rows and rows of houses with large windows bikes parked by the canal barriers. (And I do love Dutch biking, it is so leisurely and noncompetitive compared to British biking, where every bike you see in the street is brand new and cost a fortune and you,, do not go out on your bike without padded lycra.)
I decided to translate this into the language of beads. Here’s the result:
Having finished the brooch (which received an honourable mention in the competition) I thought – why not go more ambitious? Why not make a cuff? Naturally, it took a bit longer to make it!
Van Gogh Inspires
Pieces from this collection are often described as “van Gogh-ish” and remind people about this painter’s Starry Night. Revolving around the Dutch inspiration, this happened probably subconsciously, but Van Gogh is one of my favourite painters. So if Van Gogh, then why not Paris? Of course, you can see cats on roofs in every city possible, but I had envisaged Paris when making this bracelet and brooch with traditional Parisian street café.
Other cities in the collection
Russian necklace – Moscow and St Basil’s Cathedral were also started with a jewellery competition in mind. This necklace won this competition and had its own card in published calendar, very fittingly becoming the face of December. I really enjoyed playing with different types of beads here trying to do justice to those wonderful domes. Moscow is a city I have never been to, and one of those that I would very much like to visit.
This collection is by no means limited or finished, I keep coming back to my starry night whenever inspiration comes to mind. Currently working on a more Middle Eastern piece, and I keep being nudged to make something closer to home, like London for example. Who knows? Keep your eyes open for new pieces 😉
