I love old jewelry. I love it with a passion. I love the way it isn't perfect, I love the way it is unabashedly about the materials and the beauty. It's not self-conscious, it doesn't need a reason for existing. It is its own reason. Art jewelry is fun and sometimes thought provoking, but to me, the point of jewelry is primarily about the beauty. I'm sorry. I love art. I'm an illustrator in my spare time, but seriously. Jewelry to me is precious metals and fantastic stones. It is about the aesthetic value of the object and about what effect it is trying to have on the wearer. Jewelry can be a form of body modification to me. Adornment. Beautifying. When something becomes more about the idea than the object, it ceases to be jewelry in my mind. It might have the physical form of jewelry, but it is now a piece of wearable sculpture or something like that. Some pieces can be both, and I have great admiration for the jewelers/artists who pull that off. Until I reach that level, I will continue to worship at the altar of yellow gold. ;-)
These pictures are all taken from this fabulous jewelry book called 7000 Years of Jewelry. Expect to see more of it in the next couple of weeks as I work my way through it (over breakfast every morning. Nothing like crazy gorgeous pictures to get a person off to the studio in a mood for creating!)
3 comments:
I love your new designs :) The Flamingo Sapphire and Diamond Set is fun! Although I really like the Helios ring too. It reminds me of mine!
Hi Pretty Princess!
Thanks! I like the helios too. Do you think I should set stones around the center stone? I have these nice turquoise blue diamonds that I want to use. What do you think?
I think that would be gorgeous! It's fantastic by it's self but I think people will also be drawn to the turquoise.
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