Exihibt: The Iris

I've always envied the people who can prop up an easel and start painting what they see in front of them. It's a great way to capture a moment in time and whenever you see that photo you can reminisce about what occurred. Instead of painting, if I see something I like, I figure out a way to make it a piece of jewelry.

The iris, one of my favorite flowers, is a classic example. I have seen these in many gardens and flower arrangements and I always get excited if they are in a bouquet I receive because their color is so vivid. Naturally I would want to use it as inspiration for some pieces.

First, I analyzed the iris. Most of the petals stand upright but the outer 3 petals are key in that they fold outward. I like to use 3's so this concept worked out well. The purple petals in contrast with the green stems and leaves is something that I wanted to translate over to the jewelry as well.

Second, I had to figure out what could make the petals. After walking around bead stores for hours, I decided on purple Keishi pearls because they have an amazing resemblance to individual iris petals. I sifted through my current bead selection and settled on a combination of white freshwater pearls and green beads to represent the non-purple parts of the iris, like the white detailing and the green stems and leaves.

Third, I had to figure out a way to hold the beaded iris together for earrings. Its easier to make things using wire if you have a way to fasten it down. I sketched a few ideas and the best designs involved various silver hoops. You can read my other blog posting for why I like using circles!!

The hardest part is going from a sketch to figuring out the real layouts on the hoop. The pair of earrings with the pearls dangling below the "iris" was pretty straightforward to make. For the bigger hoop I had to make sure the final earring balanced properly. I wanted to place the iris off center and surround it with green and white beads, keeping with multiples of 3. Because the green were bigger I should have less of them to maintain balance. I wavered between 6, 9, and 12 white pearls, but 9 really looked and felt the best when I let gravity do its duty.

My recommendation to you if you are looking for inspiration is to carry a camera around and when you see something you like, take a photo. When you've collected enough photos start sifting through them and imagine different ways you could create each photo with certain beads. Go into a bead store with a few ideas in hand and buy up a selection of beads (you can't always get away with knowing exactly what you need unfortunately). Lay them out and start moving them around and trying different things or combinations. You'll know when you've got a good design!I can guarantee you something similar to the iris will be coming back in some future designs. Stay tuned!!

As usual many thanks to Jon Chan for taking the awesome photos of the earrings!

Exihibt: Circles and the Mon

Anyone who has spent a little bit of time browsing through my photos will notice that I really like to use circles. There is a reason behind the madness!

The first thing that comes to mind is my Japanese family Mon.

A Mon, in English terms, is a family crest and often consists of some kind of symbol surrounded by a circle. Ever since I was little I remember walking into my grandparents' house and seeing our Mon hanging on the wall. That image always stuck with me because it was a circle with a floral symbol in the middle. I often wanted a more intricate Mon, much like Imperial Mon, but I've grown really fond of my floral, simple one. It is unique to the Japanese side of me and something that can't be taken away. This was the Mon on my grandfather's side and although he has passed away, a part of him will always be passed on in the family.

Circles are simple yet extremely powerful and versatile. There are so many cool things you can do with a circle or ring, like use it as a clasp, use it in a lariat, hang things off of it, hang it off of something else, or just let it look pretty by itself. I like to take normal beads, in this case circular beads, and use them in an unexpected way. Many people have said this is what makes my jewelry interesting to look at.

The engineer in me likes the idea that a circle has a uniform radius with no jagged edges and is easy to utilize. The artist in me likes the idea that a circle has no beginning or end and just is. I could probably dive even deeper into the meaning of a circle but I'll spare the readers and end this train of thought.

Many of my pieces of jewelry were inspired because I simply liked the idea of using a circle but the two pieces at the bottom, the white mother of pearl circles filled with various collections of beads, were in fact designed with the idea of a Mon in the back of my head. Either way, I can guarantee you the circle won't be disappearing from my jewelry designs anytime soon (there's more coming in the next line!!).