JEWELRY

2013
Blue Poeny

Esteemed as one of the most exquisite flowers, the peony is a symbol for nobility and value and earned the title of the “king of flowers”. 

However legend has it that the beautiful peony is in fact quite the rebel. As the story goes, during the Tang Dynasty, there lived a very powerful lady of the court who rose to become the only female Empress in Chinese history, Empress Wu Ze Tian. While strolling through the beautiful palace gardens one winter’s day, Empress Wu decided that she would like to see all the flowers in bloom. So powerful was the Empress that all the flowers bloomed overnight and the Empress was greeted with a riot of blossoms. All except one – the peony. In a fit of rage, she ordered the banishment of all peonies from the city and those remaining to be burned. The exiled peonies went to the outskirts of Mang Mountain in Luoyang and laid down their roots. When spring arrived, the mountain flourished in reds and greens and thus the famed Luoyang Peony.

One of the most sensual flowers with a delicious scent, the peony is often used in feng shui as a cure for love and romance. Today the peony is the flower for the 12th wedding anniversary. It is also the state flower of Indiana and the traditional flower symbol of China.

The Blue Peony is an exquisite necklace with a bead embroidered focal and a bead woven rope. The central blue and bronzy gold polymer clay cabochon carries the image of the beautiful peony. It is surrounded by vintage cupchain of pearls and montana colored crystals. A single glittering Swarovski drop crystal hangs at the end of the pendant. The beautiful peony cabochon hangs from a woven rope of fire polished beads and tiny bronze seed beads in a stylised flower petal shape.

2012
The Man On The Moon

Quirky and yet elegant and sophisticated. The cuff features a polymer clay cabochon featuring a moon face. Thousands of tiny seed beads in bronze, blue and nickel are embroidered in the faux soutache style encircling vintage Swarovski crystals and in round and oval cabochons.

2014
Cinnabar

In its original form, cinnabar is crystallized red mercuric sulphide, the main ore bearing mercury. And it is extremely poisonous.

Cinnabar has been used for thousands of years as a coloring agent because of its intense red-orange color and is commonly referred to as vermillion or Chinese red. One of the most popularly known use of cinnabar is in Chinese carved lacquerware, a technique that has its origins during the Song Dynasty. 

In the modern jewelry industry, the toxic pigment is replaced by a resin-based polymer that approximates the appearance of pigmented lacquer.

A beautiful vermillion cinnabar is carved with the stylised Chinese character for happiness. It is framed by Japanese Delica beads in a simple bezel. A richly embellished silky tassel hangs from the focal cinnabar to swing gracefully and gently with every movement.

The pendant is hung from a pentagonal right angle weave rope woven from hundreds of black beads. The clasp is a small cinnabar bead carved with a traditional lotus motif.

2013
O Shibori! Cuff

Beautiful hand dyed silk shibori ribbons and divine little O beads set off the beautiful blue of the lampwork flowers. A marriage of beautiful medium left as unadorned as possible to allow the beauty of each medium to shine through.

Lampwork flowers from Kim Fields of North Fire Designs.

2012
In The Eye Of The Beholder
Battle Of The Beadsmith Entry

Beautiful? Eerie? Scary? Surreal?
In The Eye of the Beholder is exactly that. Everyone will have a different take on it.

For me ...
In The Eye Of The Beholder is the piece that features all my current favorite materials; a piece that is dramatic yet surreal; the piece I had always wanted to make but never found a reason to until now ...

I was honored recently with an invitation to participate in The Battle Of The Beadsmith. We were tasked with creating a piece of jewelry to do combat in the Battle Royale along with 80 other artistes from 22 countries. A very scary and daunting venture considering that many of the artistes I am now doing battle with are the same ones I have admired for many years.

In creating this piece I wanted the eye to be central in the design. I wanted the piece to immediately stop one in his/her tracks. Take a second look. Then a third, then a fourth, .... After all you don't often have an eye looking at you from someone's chest.

Real beetle wings fan out below the eye almost like a peacock showing off its glorious tail. You must admit that the colors of these wonderful beetle is really quite peacock like. Shimmery, flowing, luminescent, luxurious, rich - adjectives that come to mind easily when describing these gorgeous creations of Gaia.

Glittering Swarovski Tabac crystals provide the perfect counterfoil to the colors of the wings. To continue with the "unreality" of the ensemble, the necklace that the eye hangs from is made with baby Czech spikes and embellished with daggers. The colors of these beautiful beads are as close as Man can approximate to Gaia's undoubted masterpiece with the wings.

You have an eye looking out for you from the front. It is only apropos that you have another looking out for you from behind. Hence a second eye guards your back hiding a seamless double toggle that fastens the entire necklace.

2012
First Place
Crystal Category
The 2012 British Bead Awards

Inspired by the decorated and beautifully embellished jewelry of Indian royalty, Maharani is a necklace done in the style of soutache jewelry.

The central pendant is embroidered with tiny gold plated and high quality glass beads around a central glittering crystal. Suspending the pendant are tiny crystals in 3 rows, ending in embroidered crystal components. The double clasps flows from these elements to cleverly become part of the design camouflaging the clasps.

Luxurious grosgrain ribbon forms the back portion of the necklace. Another embroidered crystal component sits atop a simple bow at the back of the necklace as a counter-balance to the front pendant.

Luxurious, decorated, glamorous and royal - a necklace befitting a beautiful Maharani.

2013
The Phoenix Collar
Battle Of The Beadsmith 2013 Entry

The Peranakan Chinese people are descendants of late 15^th and 16^th century Chinese traders attracted by the riches of South East Asia. Although many do not settle down in this foreign land, many also marry local women and making South East Asia their home. They bring with them their culture, traditions and dress. Over time, it evolved to a hybrid of the Chinese culture with the local culture.

 In particular, the Peranakan people are well known for their cuisine and their dedication to beautiful embroidery and beadwork. They incorporate many of the symbols and motives from China such as dragon, phoenix, peony and lotus.

The wedding day is one of the most important day for any young Peranakan lady. She will wear a traditional Chinese wedding gown that has been painstaking embroidered by her and other female members of the household for her big day.

The phoenix has always been a symbol of feminine power in the Peranakan society. And on her wedding day, over her wedding gown, she wears a Phoenix collar. And on this her wedding day, she is the phoenix. The collar has many movable layers representing the beautiful feathers of a phoenix.

It is this collar that has inspired me to create my version of the Phoenix collar. The collar is in 2 layers incorporating several styles of a modern take on traditional techniques.

The largest layer incorporates soutache work in luxurious golds and opal crystals. Embracing the soutache motive are sparking crystals rising like a phoenix. The elements are layered over luxurious Thai silk in peacock blue and edged with gold.

On top of this layer is a layer of bead embroidered “feathers”. Opal crystals in a feather motive is surrounded by opal beads and crystals in a cloud like muted pattern to represent the phoenix taking flight.

A crystal encrusted collar surrounding a central soutache motive forms the collar that holds all the “feathered” layers in place.