Painted Pachyderms - Elephants on Parade

    I have been a lover of elephants ever since I was a little girl.

    I'm not even sure where or how it started.

    I have a collection of elephant trinkets that's been amassing since before I can even remember.
    When I was a little, my aunt and uncle would travel the world and bring me back elephants from many of their exotic vacations.

    I have an elephant formed out of a starfish with seashell ears from Hawaii. Beaded and mirrored elephant Christmas ornaments from India. Hand carved Mahogany wood elephants from Africa. A milk glass elephant perfume bottle. A giant paper mache circus elephant. More stuffed elephants than I can count. And the list goes on and on and on.

    As an artist, I am all about color and texture. Bright bold beautiful colors is my standard palette. I make my own handmade textiles. And I almost always weave some form of textile into my jewelry. Whether it be recycled sari silk ribbon, felted beads, or hand spun art yarn.
    I've been known to refer to my creations as "Rainbow Colored Sugar", much like the candy straws from which PyxeeStyx derives it's namesake.
   You've heard the term minimalist? I often refer to myself as a maximalist. More is almost always better in my book. I love to layer elements to create interest.
    So the first time I ever saw an elephant painted and decorated and bejeweled, I fell head over heels in love. What could be better than several of my favorite things all rolled into one.
    I have always found elephants to be such beautiful and majestic creatures. To see them adorned in all their glorious splendor of paint, textiles and jewels feels like they are elevated to the status of royalty and respect that they so very much deserve.

    The reason I chose this as the theme for the 18th round of the Blogger/ Non-Blogger challenge, was to inspire me to complete a project I've had brewing on the back burner for a while. I just hadn't found the time to do it.
    I collect East Indian hand carved wooden textile blocks. Most of my textile blocks are very large scale motifs, but I have 2 smaller ones I've been wanting to use for etching. An elephant and a paisley.
    I was hoping to stamp directly on my copper sheet to etch, but discovered that the block was so worn that it wouldn't imprint clearly. I was however able to get a decent print on paper. I cut that out to use as a template for the shape and then had to draw the details in by hand.

    I etched with Ferric chloride, for a very long time to get a deep etch. About 4 hours. This is risky because it's possible to etch all the way through and leave holes, so it's pertinent to check on it often.

   You also risk getting flaws like the crawling effect left on his legs and trunk. It did however work out well for my piece because it just looks like the texture of elephant skin.
    I then patinaed and buffed with steel wool to create the highlights and shadows. I drilled holes to add jewels.

    Originally I had flame painted him, and he had beautiful hot pink, orange, and purple iridescence, to go with my beaded palette. But of course the age old question of how to seal that color in still stands. I tried sealing it with Renaissance wax, but the colors just buffed out.
    So I flame painted again, and left it unsealed. Unfortunately my fingers managed to buff out all the color while wiring on all his jewels. :(
    I considered trying again, but didn't dare for risk of destroying the glass beads and gemstones.
    Fortunately he still looks pretty spectacular with out the extra color.
   Embellished with brilliant orange faceted Padparadscha Sapphire briolette tassels that swing freely, glass seed beads in hot pink and lilac, and a beaded and fiber tassel tail.

    Strung on a mix of beaded and wire wrapped paisleys, Glass pearls (the large knobby orange ones are vintage), vintage hollow brass beads with a distressed silver coating and seed bead embellishments, and an array of brilliantly colored sari silk ribbons. It closes with a hammered copper hook with a swirling cut glass cane bead, and a sari silk wrapped and beaded loop.

    Of course being the hostess, my entry was not eligible for voting, so this was purely to motivate me to complete this project.
    If anyone is interested, this sweet little baby will be going up for auction this week on the Jewelry Designers Open Market. My show runs from Monday night, until Wednesday night. Come check it out.


    Now, onto the beautiful entries.....

    I'm really quite impressed with the array of different styles that were entered. I love to see everyone's unique spin and how they interpret the images.
    Thank you to everyone who participated. You all did an amazing job!
    Here they are in the order they were received.

"Lita" necklace by Divya Narasimhan

    "Inspired by the splendor of embellished forehead ornaments worn by elephants during temple processions, Lita is an exotic combination of metal components, braided yarn, crystals, and is edged with painted embellishments. The black portions showcase the hairy head of  elephants that is visiblebelow the cutwork and the painted druzy is reminiscent of the velvet fabric that is often used as the base of the ornament."

"Analetta" earrings by Divya Narasimhan

"Patterned glass cabochon set on a hand cut painted brass tab with hand formed ear hooks. Long long ago, there was a gypsy Ana, who had traveled as a singer in a music troupe. There she met a royal parade elephant mahout and his gorgeous elephant Latha and fell in love with both of them. The mahout and the gypsy fell in love and lived happily ever after, painting the elephant in myraid colors for special processions."

Divya Naraimhan and her Jewels of Sayuri can be found on facebook and on her blog Jewels of Sayuri.

"Hano" by Betony Lee Maiden

   "Inspired by the actual events of Hano the elephant (circa 1514). This challenge was extremely inspirational for me. The amazing array of colors, fabrics, and paint, the elephants themselves are incredibly beautiful animals. I wanted to actually challenge myself as an artist and incorporate items that I have never worked with. And thus I was on a mission. Hano is a gorgeously made polymer clay pendant, made by the talented Staci Louise of Staci Louise Originals. This is the first time I have ever worked with polymer clay in my designs. I fell in love with Hano at Bead Fest, he called to me, and so Hano was born. I didn't want to do my normal style of wire work, so I thought long and hard of materials that were new to me. Then I met Marsha Neal of Marsh Neal Studios, also at Bead Fest. What caught my eye right away were the silk ribbons, and I knew I wanted a bright color. The gorgeous orange popped right out at me and Hano agreed. He said it wouldn't make his but look big. With the orange silk I also chose a smaller cadet blue silk to add an extra pop and pull in the gentle blue tones in Hano. Added to that was one of Marsha Neal's Ceramic discs, another element I've never worked with, and attempted to wire wrap several times. Hano also has a patina brass elephant stamping for company, and ceramic beads by Gaea Canody. I did manage to incorporate my copper wire work throughout the design, finishing off with a hook and eye clasp that each hold a brightly yellow bead by Kim Quigley Nunn. Hano also carries some glorious trinkets, such as an orangeish lampwork bead and copper component (artist unknown), and a vintage painted heart tag.
    It has been an absolute pleasure to meet Hano. He has been a huge inspiration and has taught me some things I never knew, and has inspired me as an artist to try new things. (Artists also become addicted to new things.) Hano measures a very light and comfortable 18" long."

Betony Lee Maiden and her Fair Maiden Jewelry can be found on facebook and on her blog The Beadwenches Blog.    

by Robin Kae Reed

   "Luscious colors of sari silk and round glass beads combine with a bronzy bangle as a foundation for keys and saying tag and silver toned drops. I was going for the colors but more for the opulence and vivid brightness."

Robin Kae Reed can be found on her website Artistry: Handcrafted Bead Designs.

by Rachel Mallis

    "Here is my piece! I chose the one that was a straight on shot of the elephants face. I knew I wanted to use my Lucite flowers from the moment I set eyes on it. I knew that that is kind of going for the obvious, but I knew I could put a new spin on it. I hammered out each copper bar out of wire, and then I wrapped each one with wire and white seed beads. To connect them, I used copper jump rings. How to finish it on the bottom was a huge challenge for me. but I finally decided to use a gorgeous chunk of Kyanite. It reminds me of the rustic elephant juxtaposed next to the colorful, man painted flowers. To finish off the necklace, it is meant to be worn with a white suede cord. This necklace was cheerful and fun to create! Thank you so much for providing a great inspiration."

Rachel Mallis can be found on facebook and on her blog Mint.


    And the winner is.................

with a grand total of 43 Likes, 
              Betony Lee Maiden with Hano!

    Clearly her challenging herself and working outside her comfort zone has been a very good thing.
           Congratulations Betony! 

   Can't wait to see what you'll come up with to challenge us for the 19th round of the Blogger/NonBlogger challenge.

    Thank you all for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed this little adventure. Leave us a comment and tell us what you think.
    Have a brilliant day!
        Until next time, Peace, Love, & PyxeeDust! 

Harmonious Convergence

    Welcome to the 17th round of the Non-Blogger/Blogger challenge, hosted by Divya Narasimhan.
    The inspiration for this round is the art form Kolam.
    Kolam is a traditional Indian practice. Every morning millions of women draw mandala like designs consisting of dots and lines formed into elaborate patterns on the ground. This is believed to bring prosperity into the home.
    Rice flour is traditionally used for these designs to provide food for ants and birds as a daily tribute to harmonious co-existence. A sign of an invitation to all into the home.
    You can read more about the challenge inspiration on Divya's blog, Jewels of Sayuri. 

    I thought it might be interesting to share this piece from a different aspect, and show how I approached the designing of it.     

    In one of the groups I belong to, Golden Jewelers, I recently participate in an engagement ring design sketching challenge. 

    Sketching is a critical aspect of the jewelry business that most people don't really think about. If you're going to do any kind of custom work, you need to be able to share your ideas with the person investing their money in you.

    I've been doing a little practicing in preparation for that challenge. 

    Sketching was my weakest subject in fashion design school, so this is definitely a challenge for me. 

    I'm no Picasso, but it's not necessary to be. The goal here is to be able to portray what's going on in your head to someone else. 

    I started out by googling Kolam images, to get an idea of the scope of these patterns. 

    From those examples, I started to draw my ideas. 

    My initial sketch is really just a doodle, to come up with some basic ideas of what I would like to do with it. 

    My second sketch is a cleaner, more stylized version of my design idea.

    My third sketch was for figuring out exactly how my wire work would go, in order to execute the design.    
    The basic scalloped shell pattern was done with a single piece of wire in a continuously looped pattern. The little S scrolls on the top of the scallops are separate pieces that were soldered on. 

    This group of images were a very strong influences in my design. I'm sure you will be able to pick out the elements I chose from each of these images, and then manipulated them into a design, making it my own.
    In yet another group I am doing a wire work challenge. This was an excellent opportunity to combine all three challenges into one.
    Once I had the basic pattern sculpt and hammered, I then tried laying it out with different bead options, to see what color combo I liked best.
    I chose the white and red ochre color pattern. So I'm trying to figure out the best way to put that into play.
    First with white pearl tail feather eyespots, and red gemstone striping.
    Then with red gemstone tail feather eyespots and white pearl striping.
    As you can see from these two photos, I don't have the right combination of colors and sizes in the pearls and gemstones, so I wanted to be certain of my color combo choice before orderings supplies to complete my project.

    My original intention was to make a necklace out of the peacock, but as you can see, at 7 inches wide by the time it's hammered out, it's a bit large for that, so                 Plan B.....

    So while I waited for my pearls and gemstones to arrive, I soldered all the joints together, and soldered my S scrolls on. Then used an acid patina to match all that solder to my copper.
    The Carnelian where the first to arrive. Two different sizes, and the vendor did an excellent job of matching the color for me. I started by wiring all of those on.
    Then the pearls arrived and I was in complete shock at how tiny they were. I had ordered seed pearls, but I had no idea. I have never in my life seen pearls, sooo tiny.
    I ended up having to order larger pearls, to get the size I needed. Even had to ask the vendor to rush them because I was down to the wire by then. Fortunately I found a shop that was only about thirty miles away. It only took 4 days for them to get here via USPS. Go figure.
 
     In the meantime, ideas have been brewing about what to do now with my very large peacock.
     Seven inches is the perfect measurement for a cuff bracelet! (Light bulbs goes on! Cause I am "Creative Evil Genius" and all.)

    Cause I'm never satisfied with a good idea..... (yes, my ideas are like a runaway snowball.)
    I started thinking about the Haath Phool. The Haath Phool is a traditional wedding adornment of Indian brides, that consists of a bracelet attached to a ring or rings, with a medallion that's centered on the back of the hand.
    Since this challenge is inspired by a traditional Indian art form, I might as well be inspired by traditional Indian jewelry as well, right.
    I created the medallion from one of the basic Kolam line and dot grid patterns.
    Then set out to make the ring. I needed the ring to be adjustable, to ensure that I wouldn't be the only one it would fit.
    I've never made an adjustable ring before. I've never much liked them, because, in my experience, adjustable rings always pinch. I wanted to make sure that wouldn't happen.
    I came up with a multi wrap design, so that my gemstone would still be wire wrapped to the center of the band, that no two pieces of metal were close enough to pinch, and that I had a loop on the end to attach my chain to. Then I used those itty bitty teeny tiny seed pearls to wrap around the carnelian gemstone with a delicate little halo as a finishing touch.
    When my 3mm pearls arrived I was able to finish the striping. Lots of detailed wire wrapping to hold the pearls in place and ensure that those wires would be stable.
    Then I soldered the peacock's body onto the frame.

    Here's a picture of the peacock, all beaded and wire wrapped, before I shaped him into the cuff.

    In hindsight, he would have made a pretty amazing crown, but since I've already made the ring and medallion, I'm sticking with the Haath Phool design.
    Perhaps someday I'll elaborate on that idea and make a peacock crown as well.

    Now it's time to assemble all the pieces.

    I think the hardest part was photographing it.
    I tried to lay it down and it would tumble. Then I tried sitting on the edge of a shelf, but you couldn't really tell what it was in that position.

    So then I had to photograph it on myself, left handed, at a very odd angle.

    I finally got a friend to take a few shots of it on me.
    I'm still not real happy with the results, but I've edited the heck out of them and am doing the best I can with what I've got.






    The last step was naming it.
    I often have a title before creating a piece that helps to shape it's personality. However, on this occasion I'm naming it last.
 

  I had a general idea where I wanted to go with it. Something to do with the harmonious coexistence that the Kolam is designed to invite. Yet not the exact wording.
    Then I added in the symbology of the Haath Phool, and it's layers became deeper. It was no longer just coexistance, but the joining together in unity.
    I don't know where the term came from, but it kept ringing through my head.
    "Harmonic Convergence"  
    When I googled it, what I read just brought the whole idea together and fit perfectly.

    Harmonic Convergence was the name given to the very first globally synchronized meditation event. It was held during an exceptional alignment of the planets. Twenty million people were called upon to meditate on world peace at the same time.
    It's predecessor was World Peace Day, which also coincide with a world prayer day, where over 500 million people, representing all faiths, on every continent,  prayed for Peace, Love, Forgiveness and Understanding, at the same time. A moment of oneness designed to dissolve the sense of separation and return humankind to godkind.
    I couldn't possibly think of a better representation of unity.



    Thank you very much to our gracious hostess Divya Narasimhan.
    I am honored to say that I actually won this round of the challenge.

   WooHoo!
        Yay me! :)

    Make sure to head over to the official BNB Challenge page and check out all the awesome entries I was up against.
    Thank you for all the love and support that everyone has shown me in this round. I an looking forward to hosting the next.
    The deadline for the 18th B/NB challenge will be a bit far out, the last weekend in May, so as not to conflict with the Swap & Hop reveal date.
    I will, however, be announcing the theme for the next round soon. So you'll have plenty of time to create and participate in both challenges.
    I do hope you'll join us.
               Until then....
As always -
      Peace, Love & PyxeeDust!