Quinevere Necklace made from dried plant material. Philadelphia Flower Show- by Mimi Favre 2013. |
Again this year I have made a piece of jewelry from dried
plant material for the Philadelphia Flower Show. Keeping to the British show theme, "Brilliant", this Artistic Jewelry Class is called, “Quinevere”-
Necklace. That is all the direction one is given. The challenge is to interpret
the theme (points for that) as well as make a well-crafted piece that ‘looks’
as if it could be worn (lot's of points). Sounds easy, but every time I make one of these pieces
I totally underestimate how much time it will take and work to the last
possible minute.
After reading a bit about the legendary Queen, I settled on
a period piece that would reflect femininity and her Christian beliefs. A
friend saw the components before I finished and said “it looks just like your
jewelry!" I really love this piece and would welcome a chance to make it in
real gold with a beautiful ruby!
The creative process is a combination of finding interesting organic plant material by shape or texture and thinking of ways it could be used. Collecting is an ongoing process and I do have several boxes of potential seed pods, nuts, leaves, stems, berries, etc. The spice cabinet or pantry aren't off limits either- I used mustard seeds and lentils on this necklace.
I was walking outside one windy day a few weeks ago and picked up a dried cluster of hydrangeas that had blown over from my neighbors house. I had been thinking of making a thick chain and cross and this was the inspiration I needed to flesh out the design. The petals as stations on the chain are a classic form in the decorative arts known as a quatrefoil which was used in the Medieval period. I added the holly berry 'pearls' to visually break the chain and make this a strong yet feminine piece, something a Queen might wear.
Updated- read how to on PHS Online https://phsonline.org/blog/a-gem-of-a-class-looking-back-at-the-botanical-beauties-of-the-flower-sho
Updated- read how to on PHS Online https://phsonline.org/blog/a-gem-of-a-class-looking-back-at-the-botanical-beauties-of-the-flower-sho
Components. Birch twig links, hydrangea Quatrefoil. |
Quinevere Necklace- Cross and Quatrefoil. |
Quinevere Necklace- verbena stem (squares), birch twig (links), holly berry 'pearls'. Mimi Favre. 2013 |
I was cleaning up the inevitable mess that I had made, a pile of discarded pieces, trial painted seeds, 'stone' settings not used, extra 'pearls' and thought, well, this picture says it all! I do paint ideas out first even thought the piece evolves organically.
Dried plant materials for Jewelry. |
Quinevere Necklace. Hydrangea, beautyberry, verbena stems, holly berry, lentils and coriander. Not shown, coffe bean (ruby). |
Description card. MFavre 2013. |