Week 4: Jewellery and Me

"New Zealand Jeweller

The New Zealand jeweller that I chose found interesting is Andrea Daly. 

When I searched Andrea Daly's name into Google I found this website (http://themultitude-contemporarynzjewellery.blogspot.co.nz/2009_07_01_archive.html) that held some information on the New Zealand jeweller. On the website it states that Andrea Daly is a practicing jeweller who works from her own studio and is a Partner in Fingers Jewellery Gallery. Fingers Jewellery Gallery website is where I located Andrea Daly's work along with many other jewellers. Daly is also known to be involved in teaching on numerous night courses, weekend workshops and guest lecturer sports as well as being a lecturer at Manukau Institute of Technology in the Visual Arts Degree Course. She now lectures Jewellery Design on the Hungry Creek Visual Arts Diploma and works in her studio. I found the coke cola can roses fascinating because of the fact she was able to take an ordinary object that people wouldn't normally see as something exquisite and creating an extraordinary rose out of an object that gets no recognition. Forming a new life from an object that has been around for decades is a mind boggling moment when you take the time out to think about it.

Jewellery Week 3

"M is For Mary"

"M is For Mary" is a brooch that was created in 2001 by a Maori jeweller who was

born in Rotorua. "The brooch is a oval silver brooch with an laminated inset depicting Mary. Mary appears to hold a McDonald's shape M in her hands. The M is cut into the laminated insert to reveal the silver backing."- http://ourspace.tepapa.com/media/3973. The materials for the brooch are fine silver, laminated card, and stainless steel wire. After placing her name into Google to find more information on Matchitt I found a site that carried plenty of information on Gina Matchitt. The website that I was able to locate more information on Matchitt is http://www.ginamatchitt.com/content.html?page=1. This website withholds information about her studies, her other art works and the museums that you can find her work at. 

"The Lovers" Rene Magritte [ richard ]

"The Lovers"

The lovers is an oil painting created by Rene Magritte in 1928. It was this image

that I found more fascinating then the others because it was this painting that I found eye captivating and mysterious to the point where I felt I was obligated to do research on the painting. I tried to research the meaning of the painting and only found that everyone has their own opinion on the meaning to this painting, meanings that the artist himself doesn't agree with. After reading all of the passages that I found from many different websites off of Google I realized that there were two main interpretations on the painting from everyone that tried to interpret the piece on their own. 

The main interpretation that I kept finding was the fact that everyone thinks Magritte

was trying to show the audience that "Love is Blind." Numerous amount of people believe that Magritte was trying to prove that love is blind through this painting because of the veils that both the man and woman have placed over their heads. They took as because the face of the man and woman are covered and they can't see one another it doesn't effect the emotions that they feel and to seal it with a kiss is another reason why they believe that this painting is about loving someone causes you to be blind. 

On the other hand, some people say that the reason why Magritte covered their faces

is because he could be traumatized from his childhood. They say that it because his mother committed suicide when he was still a child. Her body was recovered from the river in 1912 when Magritte was only 13 years of age. When they found his mothers body apparently her night gown was wrapped around her head hiding her face which is why they say he could be traumatized or that his painting could just be a piece he wanted to do in memory of his mother.

 When it comes to my interpretation on the painting it becomes a mixture of
what I have read from others opinions and my own opinion. The painting to me shows that love can be blind because when you're working on being in a relationship the person that you are talking to doesn't just fully unveil themselves at that particular moment in time. Even when you are in a relationship some people still don't know everything about their significant other. I also gathered that looking at this painting some people would love one another past death or until their dying days.

There are many ways that you can interpret this painting and I can continue on for days but these are just some that I came across and thought of on my own.

Jewellery Week 2

"The Kayan Women"  

  

 I chose to do my blog on the Kayan women of Northern Thailand because of the

brass coils that they wear around their necks. The Kayan women usually receive their first set of brass coils at the age of 5. The set weighs about 4 1/2 pounds, then slowly new rings are added. Researching about the brass coils that the Kayan women wear helped me grasp a better understanding on their traditions. The main thing that I found interesting is the fact that the Kayan women do not have their necks elongated. As the weight of the coils press down, the clavicle is lowered, and with each addition to the neck rings it falls further, compressing the rib cage as well. The shoulders finally fall away to give the appearance of an elongated neck. 

Jewellery Week 1

Art Nouveau Coral and Pearl Necklace

This image is a photo of a necklace from the 1900s that I found on a site called "Pinterest".

The materials that are being incorporated on to the necklace are 14 karat yellow gold, 1 round cut coral, 6 tooth and roundish freshwater pearls and 1 round button natural pearl. The measurements of the necklace is 6.18 x 9.50 x 0.00 mm. The necklace to me seems as if it's just for decoration, making a fashion statement type of decoration.