Gorgeous new fantasy Art Nouveau jewelry designs!
I have been hard at work creating some unique jewelry items, most from my own carvings which have then been cast in beautiful semi-precious lead free pewter using centrifugal casting. I have made brooches, pendants, choker necklaces, keyrings and earrings featuring an owl, fairies, a mermaid, flower girl, lizard, cats and even a little pixie.
A very talented metal caster here in Johannesburg casts these pieces for me, some of which were carved in wax, or in silver clay, and even in Pratley Putty! Centrifugal or spin casting uses centrifugal force to produce metal castings from a rubber mold and is able to capture a great deal of detail, which is very suited to my work.
Below are some examples of my new creations; some are also replicas of original Art Nouveau jewelry designs. All of these, and many more, are available in my shop here.
Cat Folk Art Painting Art Nouveau style with poppies, butterflies and ladybugs
This is my completed Art Nouveau style Cat painting. It is watercolor with gold and colored pigment ink and is inspired by folk art as well as the illustrations of the Art Nouveau period which had a wonderful flowing style and often incorporated natural elements within the diverse themes depicted.
It is for sale as a beautiful print in my online shop here and the original painting is for sale here – I have not come up with a name for it, so any suggestions are welcome!
Cat with Red Poppies : a new Original Painting!
I have a fascination with red poppies and with cats, and have often portrayed them together in little montages and pieces of art, but have never done a full painting of these two lovely themes together.
Here are the beginnings of a watercolour based painting that I have been working on, Art Nouveau style, with pigment inks and white gesso highlights. The paper I use is Stonehenge cream paper – great for mixed media and especially good for etching and watercolors. I painted a yellow wash with touches of orange for a base design of colours to set the tone for what looks to be a folk-art kind of painting. ~ More photos as I go along !
Cat and Moth new Choker style necklaces from my original designs
These necklaces have just been cast in beautiful shiny lead-free pewter right here in South Africa, from designs and wax carvings that I had made a few years ago. I loved the idea of turning my little cat into an unusual necklace, and the moth, or butterfly, was inspired by the bold designs of the Art Deco era.
The whole process of carving an original design from jeweller’s wax, then casting it with the lost wax process and centrifugal casting is an amazing process and one which I have learned over the last 5 years. I hope to be able to make many more unique and soulful design in the near future…!
The choker style necklaces are really stunning, and are adjustable in length. You can see more of my own jewellery designs: Necklaces, Brooches and even Keyrings here on my online shop. Or view my exclusive range on the menu bar to the left!
New : Original Miniature Paintings / Hand painted Gift Cards
I have been very busy painting these beautiful little pieces of art, each a one-off original miniature painting : I have produced about 20 or so, a selection of which you can see below.
Some of them are inspired by Art Nouveau style artwork, reminiscent of the art of Odilon Redon, and also the stunning designs of William Morris of the Arts and crafts movement in the late 1800′s. Each one has been carefully painted on gorgeous silky handmade mulberry bark paper in vibrant watercolors with highlighted colors in pigment gold and silver ink.
The border has been uniquely drawn in a combination of silver and gold ink.
The paintings, measuring 4.5cm x 4.5cm (1 3/4 x 1 3/4 inches) have been mounted on stiff coloured card which actually opens up and can be written inside, so this makes an ideal and very collectable all-in-one gift !
You can find a range available for sale in my Etsy online shop here: Small Original Art for Sale ~~ or you can simply click on the Permalink below each image to find out more details and see a larger image…
Contact me if you see something below that is not for sale there…and thanks for looking!
On Cats and Fish, Earrings and Art…
I have realised that I have a fascination with throwing cats and fish together.
It started with one of the first etchings I ever did, in London where I learned the craft 14 years ago; for some reason I was compelled to portray a little black cat swimming merrily along with some goldfish:
I hand coloured it with gouache, loved the result, and put out an edition for sale, which you can find at my Online Shop.
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The image of a cat’s fantasy underwater realm stayed with me, and a number of years later I painted a whimsical watercolour and pastel of the same topic, only with added water nymphs and spirits:
A gorgeous Print is for sale here.
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Yesterday, I found myself in one of Johannesburg’s quirky bead shops, where I picked up a wonderful stash of gorgeous Czech glass beads and findings with which to play and create, and the result, unsurprisingly was this:
I had such fun making these, and have decided to start a few themed jewellery pieces along these whimsical lines. This pair and other lovely creations can also be bought in my Shop!
….with more to come soon….
Siamese Cat Painting
Siamese Cat Picture
I have just finished this little Siamese Cat portrait ~ I liked using the patterns and colours to compliment this cat’s eyes and markings – the painting is watercolour on beautiful Stonehenge smooth ivory paper which I always love to paint and draw on.
It will be available soon as a pocket mirror and a print- keep an eye out! If you would like to see more cat designs and jewelry, check out my other Cat Art
Faery Cat…the beginnings
I am really missing having a cat around the house as I have always grown up with them and found these beautiful creatures a constant source of inspiration and comfort. So I am bringing their spirit through into this A4 drawing about the exquisite beauty and tranquillity of a sleeping cat…they almost look like they are lost in faerieland when they are asleep ! I am working on it slowly, while sitting at our market stall at Glebe Market, Sydney.
I used to do a lot of black & white drawings when I was a student, filling in all my lecture notes with little illustrations. There are some of my older works on my website and it is really wonderful to be doing this sort of finely detailed work again.
Listening to p.j harvey’s new “White Chalk” album with it’s simplicity and haunting emotion reminds me why I love this way of creating. Drawing in freehand, with only the barest of pencil lines to guide the progress of pen on paper – it is a good meditation and a great way to gain drawing confidence and freedom of expression ! Guess we’ll have to see how it turns out….but the path to creating is often more fun than what is at the end….
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27 February 2008
Finally finished this – here it is ! …it kind of got spirited away with itself…
