Isishweshwe Fabric Display

Today I visited a fabric shop. I was looking for fabric I could use for the dress I want to get for a wedding. I came across these beautiful Isishweshwe fabric, with intricate patterns and calm colours. Then I thought to myself it would be a good idea to have all these shades of colours and patterns for my end of year display, not necessarily on my jewellery but maybe on a piece of artwork like Katanu Kay Sanna

Platinum design exploration

These are patterns I've been working with lately, I've decided to work with copper to see if i get the same results as silver and it turned out beautiful with the patterns but i feel like the colours don't pop out nicely in copper. so now i know which metal works beautiful with my melted beads

Emma Smith

According to Emilia Sarupdeo "For me working with sculptural forms has given me the freedom to Express myself"

Since I've been working with patterns I have realized that everything around me evolves around patterns. It might not be perfect squares or circle. Repetition of lines and arrangements of things around you they form certain patterns on they own.

This sculpture has drawn my attention because when I looked at it the beauty behind it lays on the different patterns overlapping and intersecting each other and how he has used the different sizes and shapes.

Function Of Jewellery

Portable Wealth

Another traditional function of jewellery is to serve as a redeemable investment and a portable wealth. In some cultures they would keep their wealth attached to the body. Woman all over the world wear a substantial portion of their wealth in jewellery, which can be converted into goods and services should be need arise that is according to Metcalf.
When you designing jewellery you need to make sure that it last longer, doesn't easily break or slip off easily. When I was making these platinum earrings I made sure that my Shepard hooks flow with the design as much as it flow with keeping your wealth safe. I thought these earrings fit well with this function cause platinum is very expensive and you need to design something that is safe and secured.

Platinum Twirling Earrings

I saw this beautiful painting with different patterns- On Station Drive
patterns can be found every where you go...

Function Of Jewellery

Spiritual Mediation

According to Metcalf jewellery has been associated with the spiritual and the supernatural.The intimate contact between symbols and skin as jewellery is worn becomes a constant reminder of ones faith, and the promise of security and salvation.

Coloured Disks
melted beads

Enamelled Pendant

Mandala means circle, it offers balancing visual elements, symbolizing unity and harmony. Mandalas are usually used as a form of meditation, but they all have different meanings so you need to know the meaning of it before using it. My b-tech journey is a continuation from my 3rd year work where I made this enamelled pendant inspired by the mandala. Mandala are made from repetition of patterns and colour. The colours have different: Yellow- for learning, wisdom, laughter and happiness

                                                                Blue- for emotional healing, inner peace and meditation

I feel like these two pictures are a good example of the above explanation and circle have been working very well with my designs as well as the patterns taken from isishweshwe. My jewellery pieces are not only a reminder of ones faith but also it symbolizes unity, that you can take different aspects from different fields and put them together to create beautiful and meaningful jewellery.

Social Identity

According to Metcalf adornment has always been used to either distinguish or merge the wearer with social grouping. The power of jewellery is to enhance self-image and also to put a title for yourself. Jewellery beautifies, within the value system of the local culture, and sometimes renders the wearer socially or sexually desirable.

Figure 1- Nkabinde, M. (2018). Punched Disks Earrings.

Jewellery can build or break your image and what I mean by that is it can build a certain image to people around you which may lead to negative and positive connotation. The jewellery that you wear can state the kind of group you belong whether it is cultural or socially. My jewellery is mainly designed for females but it doesn't necessarily accommodate everyone taste or favourite. Simplicity and minimalism are my design principals I tend to focus on patterns with its meanings, patterns creating images and a hint of colour in my jewellery. On the picture below it is a pair of earrings inspired by isishweshwe, where I've taken patterns from isishweshwe to metal by using punching and drilling techniques. I think it relates to this Metcalf functions of jewellery because of the history behind my inspiration that only certain people know about and understands. Isishweshwe is a traditional fabric used for clothing and I've used that fabric to manufacture my jewellery taking patterns from it. People who are familiar with this fabric can easily identify that you belong to their cultural or traditional group hence i feel like my jewellery does belong to this function.

Rectangular Elements

Figure 1- Nkabinde, M., (2018). Silver with glass beads elements.

These are silver and melted glass beads elements I was planning to use for the Jewellex Competition themed: Retro. This was the first piece I made for my b-tech that didn't work out, I had used a thicker plate for the imprints which made it very difficult for the beads to melt. I also noticed that the actual rectangular shape of the element was not working for this particular technique because the beads wouldn't stay in place and they started cracking when i was joining the two pieces together to from that three dimensional form. I had been working with two different colour arrangement but I chose the one in figure 1 because I thought it dominated more then the other one.

What I learnt from this project is that you can't apply the same technique to different shapes because they differ in reactions.

Pattern Imprints

Figure 1- Nkabinde, M., (2018). Silver strips.

Figure 2- Nkabinde, M., (2018). Silver strips

Figure 1&2 shows how I imprint the patterns from paper to metal.

Interesting Patterns and Colour Arrangement

In the last meeting we had,we spoke about the skeleton of our chapter 1 and I have decided to focus more on:

*Patterns

*Colours

*The actual shweshwe fabric

When i looked through my wardrobe this morning i saw this t shirt I've had for years and i started noticing all these different patterns and colours it has. What is more interesting is that these colours complement each other and the patterns creates a beautiful look on the eye. Then I thought of the shweshwe patterns that I'm focusing on. Patterns can be found everywhere and anywhere its just a matter of paying attention to detail and what pleases the eye.