Jewelry Design Adventures

I've been feeling like I'm stuck in a creative rut lately... making simple, (boring), non-creative projects. I have no actual formal art training to fall back on for inspiration and my design sketches are hit and miss because I get upset that I can't draw very well and just quit. So I stumbled across a great jewelry design tutorial series called Think & Design Jewelry by Eni Oken.

credit: Think & Design Jewelry

Each issue walks you through practical hands-on drawing exercises to create new jewelry designs.  Since I'm not currently bursting with spontaneous creativity, I was thinking that working through each of these tutorials and making a project for each will kick start the process. After skimming through most of the tutorials, it seems like the majority will be really useful. Some don't really interest me quite as much (I'm over heart shaped jewelry and butterflies are just too twee) but I will work through all of them anyway. And since I have this perfectly good blog here, I thought I would share what I'm doing.

I will be starting with Lesson #1: the Flower.

credit: Think & Design Jewelry

Flowers are right in my wheelhouse. I love making flower inspired jewelry and I think this tutorial will help me get past the idea of making just realistic looking flower replicas and move into more abstract designs.

I have already sketched some preliminary designs. Over the next week or so, I will share my designs and hopefully at least one finished project from them.

Creativity here I come! (Hopefully...)

What's next? Medieval scrunchies?

I'll preface this by saying I am a history geek and spend my free time looking at museum collection websites... I like getting inspiration for new jewelry from ancient designs. So, in any case, I was browsing the hair accessories aisle at Fred Meyer today and noticed something familiar...

Goody - Bun Spiral

And this is from the British Museum's collection. Listed as a "hair ring" from around 600 BC Italy, probably Etruscan.

British Museum - 1980,0201.23

So pretty much the Etruscans invented spin-pins?

Historical Inspiration - Roman "S" Earrings

I like to find inspiration for my jewelry creations from historical jewelry. I look at collections from major museums and find beautiful jewelry from Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, and Medieval Europe that would be perfect for people to wear today. Here where I found inspiration to make my green glass beaded "S" shaped earrings, below). (Available for sale here in my Etsy shop.)

MiscellaneaEtcetera Glass Beaded Roman-inspired "S" Shaped Earrings

Ancient Roman - from the British Museum - Sealstone Gold Earrings

Ancient Roman - from the British Museum - Gold Ear Ring

Historical Inspiration - Bridal Knot Jewelry

I find many inspirations for my creations from historical jewelry. Here is a little bit of the story behind my collection of Tie The Knot jewelry.

Miscellanea Etcetera Tie the Knot Collection - Bracelet available here, Earrings here, and Necklace here

The knot a a symbol for marriage has been around for a very long time. There are many examples of ancient Greek jewelry with examples of square knots (reef knots if you are a sailor), also historically known as Hercules knots.

Hercules knots (most likely named for the strength of the knot) were originally used by the ancient Greeks in medical applications; tying bandages with this knot was thought to aid in healing. But Hercules knots also became popular as a wedding symbol. Belts worn by brides were tied in this knot (a strong knot, hard to untie - representing the chastity of the bride-to-be), to be untied by the groom after the wedding - and eventually the knot itself became a symbol of marriage and fertility that has persisted through history to present day in the common expression referring to marriage as "tying the knot."

Symbolic knots can be found in jewelry from ancient Greece and ancient Rome as well as in medieval jewelry. Here are a few examples that can be found in museum collections:

Ancient Greek - From the British Museum - Gold Diadem with Herakles Knot

Ancient Greek - from the Metropolitan Museum of Art - Gold armband with Herakles knot

Ancient Roman - From the British Museum - Necklace of gold links in the form of Hercules' knot