Bangles

Inspired by Aztec pattern I wanted to create a cluster of bangles that were detailed or dainty individually but once in a set of multiple bangles they stand out and appear bold. I kept to two simple colours and each bangle is different, either braided and wrapped or weaved or wrapped leaving a gap to let the gold bangle shine through. I secured the material with cotton and i am very pleased with these bangles, really feel i have made something out of nothing here.

Photography

Another element of this project is to explore my photography skills, I shall be creative and experiment at taking shots from different angles and aperture to display the accessories.

 These photographs shows aperture well, buy changing the settings you can decide which object you want in focus, this could be the background , foreground or you can pick out a particular object. I shall explore this aspect when capturing the many bracelet's.  

Old made New

I saw this in a small independant shop, as you can see its a recycled beer bottle transformed into a clock. I just thought this was a simple but effective way of creating an unusual object out of what would have been waste.

Patch Work and Patterns

These are patch works quilts from various artists. I like these simply because of the different shapes and patterns that have been created by pieces of material.

This one reminded me of a mood board i created whilst selecting materials for the bangles i made. I am going to make images with different shapes like this patchwork, the natural forms of flowers have simply been made out of shapes. Therefore i think it will be interesting to explore what images i can create out of shapes of different colours and textures of material.

I want to carry on making different items out of weaving and braiding the different materials. Here is a clear example of a bangle that has been weaved out of thin metal. Which i think is very effective, because although overall pattern looks complicated and knotted the process is just repeated weaving of the materials. I want to explore using simple weaving techniques to create interesting designs, i shall experiment by using different colours and thickness of materials to obtain an quirky item.

Helen Chadwick - Georgeously Repulsive

Her work is thought provoking and crazy but her choice in materials means her work in unavoidable. Her work expresses emotions of lust, desire also identity and humanity but one way or another her work obtains a reaction.

She used organic materials such as meat, chocolate, snow,urine and flesh. It the choice in materials that are significant to me because it is her choice in materials that raise questions on the meaning of her pieces not the over all sculpture or outcome but the materials that have been manipulated.

An example of this which was created in the height of post-modernism, is her piece 'The piss flowers'. This was created by Helen Chadwick and her Partner urinating in the snow therefore melting the snow. But why snow is it the relation between hot and cold? Is it about the difference in males and females, Identity? This piece although bizarre defiantly starts some ideas and thoughts.

Dorothy Cross

Dorothy Cross used found and already existing objects and manipulates them to create new objects, re-energising everyday objects. The effect of her work is confusing, powerful, disturbing and occasional funny. She has created sculptures that include religious figures such as the Virgin Mary and then used materials such as cows udders to make her point of a Nurturing Mother (virgin shroud)
This piece is the hind of a cow, an old wedding dress which is draped over a statue of the Virgin Mary and then the udders have been formed around the head of the statue to create a crown.
A bit crazy but inspiring as to what point you can make with your choice of materials.

This is very important aspect which i need to carry into my work. The choice of materials, I'm now thinking about using really  boring rustic materials such as string? to make something beautiful and contempoary.

Bangles, Re-materialising

These are my first attempt at making bangles by using old materials, old bangles and giving them a new life.

This first bangle involved several strands of material that I plated and weaved to create this effect.

After creating this bangle I realised that f i wanted to progress further i would need to use thicker material to give the bangle strength and to hold its own shape.

Here I used 2 materials that were the same pattern and then an individual one. I like the colour combination and think this bracelet is more appealing. However i used thicker material which was harder to weave but the overall it created a much stronger bracelet.

Here i developed the idea further by creating a plait made from 4 strands of material instead of 3. This made the bracelet a lot thicker but also created an interesting effect because it is a lot more busier and chaotic.

The Materials Sourcing

I sourced all my material from a dress maker who had collected strands of material from as early as the war. These are pieces of material she could  not throw out but had never found a use for. Therefore influenced by postmodernism values I am using these 'wasted' strands of material to create items of jewelry that beautiful and giving them a new purpose.

I went to a charity shop to source the thin metal bangles that form the frame of the bracelet, I also had some old ones of my own.

The Making

It is a simple process that i have improved through trail and error, however i think they create individual and interesting designs. I simply measured and cut the material into strands, i braided the material whether using 3 or 4 strands to create a neat plait.

i then secured one end to a bangle, stretched the plait to make it taught and then weaved the plait inbetween the two bangles. This took a couple of attempts to get the correct thickness and to create a neat pattern.

I simply repeated this process adding on about 4 plaits per bangle to make it tight and secure.

Improvements

1. Thicker Material

2. Iron the plait before weaving

3. Strong bangles to act as a sufficient frame

4. Create new designs and develop further