On the 5th Day of Christmas...

...this blogger gave to thee...

 ...five gold rings!..

...four fancy fish...

...three granulations...

...two bits of wood...

...and a calendar made of tea.

Zoe Arnold

'Open Windows with Absent Views' 

(18kt Gold, Silver & Quartz Drop)

I love Zoe Arnold's work, her use of narrative in wearable sculpture, without being po-faced. They're beautifully executed and I wish I could hate her, but I'm just jealous because my imagination failed me and my dream of narrative jewellery.

 Jan Pomianowski
'The Wizard of Oz'
(Silver, Gold Plating & Green Glass)

Another piece of narrative jewellery, with the inspiration coming from Frank L Baums, The Wizard of Oz. Jan Pomianowski is not a jeweller I've come across before, but this picture came up on Pinterest a few weeks ago and while the green glass is supposed to be representative of the Emerald City, the form actually reminds me of Russian architecture. It reminds me of onion domes, which became an integral part in one of my 3rd year projects. 

 Castello Hansen

Unknown Title

(Gold & Unknown Materials)

Okay, I'm letting down the side with this one, I can find a load of information of other pieces of Hansens work, but this ring again was one I found on Pinterest, and I can't find a name, or materials list, but I fell in love with because of its colour and texture. It reminds me of muted mercury glass or carved graphite, which is why it appeals to me. I want to hold put it on so the dome fits in my palm and draw great sweeping forms with it on a piece of paper.

Mahtab Hanna
'The Sensory Collection: Gold Vein Ring (2011)'
(Gold)

One thing I would really like to know about this ring, is is it handmade or is it a casting/CAD design. Either way I love the design, but if it's made completely by hand, I wish to bow down to Hanna. Soldering cages, soldering any form which relies on fine wires all soldered to one another as a structure is a difficult - in my experience - feat. You solder it on in section, but not enough heat and a dry solder will break your piece apart as your polish it, too much heat and you're risking sections falling away or melting. To hand make a piece like this would take time, patience and accuracy, if it's a computer design or casting, again, that's impressive, but less fraught. 

(I'm a bit of a handmade snob, I love the application of computer design, and see its place, but so often it starts to overtake and kill handmade work, which makes craftsmen become rare. That is something which shouldn't happen. If a skill-set it lost to technology, that is a crying shame.)

Maru Almeida

'Quartz Ring'

(Quartz, Gold & Silver)

This ring, was the first I chose for my 5th Day. I chose it months ago, despite its tiny portion of gold, despite not being able to find much out about the designer, because as with so many bits of jewellery I see on Pinterest, love and jealousy collide. I find something really beautiful in such a delicate cage of gold flowing out of which otherwise is quite a chunky ring.

Of course jealousy is one of the main problems with the 5th Day of Christmas for me, I turn into Gollum and become envious of anyone with a great piece of design. But it isn't really envy, at least not for the design, it's envy for the ability to have such wonderful ideas, to have found the inspiration and execution to bring them to life.

To have the confidence.

I wore a piece of jewellery I made last year or the year before (or the year before that) to our staff night out. It's not finished, it's been sitting in a ziplock bag in a little clicky tub on my desk since I got to the last push towards completion, where I gave up with it. I got scared that it was rubbish and hid it away. But the last few months I've had it on my mind, so I pushed closed a makeshift jump ring and put it around my neck. But my colleagues were so supportive, I didn't know what to do with it. 

For Christmas, take away all my presents. Take away my time off. Just tell me how I get enough confidence to do something I love?

Link | Zoe Arnold Website (Image 1 via The Carrot Box)
Link | Jan Pomianowski Jewellery Design (Image 2 via Silver Chamber)
Link | Canstello Hansen Website (Image 3 via Pinterest)
Link | Mahtab Hanna (Image 4 via Pinterest)
Link | Maru Almeida  (Image 5 via Pinterest)

Merry Christmas! Part six tomorrow...
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Listening: All I Want For Christmas (Live) - Ellie Goulding