Poodlebreath Jewellery

Came across these beautiful pieces on a website called etsy.com they are designed by a lady known as Poodlebreath and have a range of handcrafted porcelane items such as necklaces, earrings and wall sculptures. Some of the pieces have that fairytale Alice In Wonderland look about them e.g. the teacup and white rabbits, however my favourite by far are the items known as the 'Helping hands', they all feature 3D hands that seem to be reaching out to you, they reminded me of the original 'Charlie and the Chocolate factory' film when the children hang their coats on arms that appear to be extending out of the wall.

Images from etsy.com

The Raven

Found this fab Raven/ Crow figure may be something I could include for part of my final outcome.

Edgar Allan Poe.....Concept?

While I have collected lots of interesting and inspiring research I have been struggling for a while to find an overall concept to link all of it together, so when I had my review with Steve and Vicky yesterday they suggested looking at poetry, in particular gothic romantism as the images in my file had a Victorian romantic feel about them. So when I got home I decided to look at gothic fiction from the early to late 19th century in particular Edgar Allan Poe, after finally getting accustomed to Poe's unusual style of writing I picked out a few of his short stories and poems that would be great inspirational starting points for my final outcomes. The Raven, The Gold Bug, The Black Cat and The Tell Tale Heart are all notably intriguing stories that seem to possess a conclusive moral.
My initial thoughts are to centre my final outcomes around a few of the Edgar Allan Poe fable's taking aspects or inspiration from each piece rather than literally recreating the story through my work.

Betty Pepper

Been blogging for weeks now and have just realised I haven't posted a blog about one of the most important parts of my research..... Betty Pepper's book art.

Betty Pepper is a textile/ jewellery designer and maker, her work is inspired by stories, memories and things from the past,the recycling of old garments, fabrics and trinkets are an important part of her work. The books used in her 'Book Keeping' collections are all found in charity shops and therfore have history, the items she places inside are also old each subsequently having its own story to tell and are suitably said to find solace within the book.
The idea of using books to store and display small accessories and jewellery would be perfect for one of my final outcomes, however I am fully aware that there is a growing number of book art/ artists out there and would have to be careful not to innocently replicate their ideas.

Images from bettypepper

Alidra Alic

Contemporary jewellery designer Alidra Alic creates beautifully crafted pieces that are said to be a statement of art and are worn by those who dare. One collection in particular caught my eye the 'Alice's Adventures In Wonderland' pieces which are based on a selection of flowers including the orchid and tulip, but also feature typically 'Alice-esc' ideas such as the 'Drink me' cup and classic silver spoon inspired by aesthetics from the late 1800's. The motifs are said to reflect the cultural and art historical framework of the Victorian period while being produced with contemporary self-invented plastic and casting techniques.

Images from alidraalic

Crafthaus

Found this really interesting website called crafthaus where professional artists, designers and craftsmen/women can showcase their work for all to view. This is great way for me to see whats going on in the craft world at the moment and I have discovered some new artists with really contemporary and inspiring works. These are some of my favourites I particularly like the 'Sacred Fire, Sacred Heart' series by artist Norsola Johnson, other great artists on the site include Michelle Pajak-Reynolds and Beverly Tadeu.

Images from crafthaus

Natalie Shau

Lithuanian illustrator Natalie Shau mixes her own photography and digital media to create these surreal and slighlty strange images, she is said to influenced by religious imagery, fairytale illustrations and classic horror literature. Her work is unlike anything I have seen before especially the photography/digital pieces, all the pieces have a dark underlying message or meaning but still retains a sense of beauty.

Images from natalieshau

Spider Specimen

I have been experimenting with visual ideas for part of my final outcome, this is a piece I have created partly inspired by the Loved To Death Black Widow In A Vial specimen. I have used the same idea of containing a spider (plastic in my case) inside a test tube and added a small LED light at the top to highlight the spider inside, it would be interesting to experiment with different items such as necklaces, rings etc.

Loved to Death

Loved To Death produce custom-made jewellery and antiques from recycled or by-product animal parts. The artists see the beauty in these parts, the final pieces are used as a memorial to the animal and are said to be crafted with love. Unlike the Julia DeVille pieces which seem quite grotesque there is something quite beautiful about the way the Loved To Death animal parts are presented and appear to be celebrated in what seems to be a more respectful manner.

Pictures from lovedtodeath

Julia DeVille

Artist Julia DeVille creates jewellery and wearable art using taxidermy and metalsmithing techniques, her pieces are inspired by Memento Mori and Victorian Mourning jewellery stating she 'finds the acceptance of death in these periods fascinating'. Some of the works include a dead bird shoulder piece, a mechanical winged brooch and a rabbit head /glass sculpture, her belief that taxidermy is a celebration of life rather than an attachment to death is interesting however I'm not keen on the use of dead animals as wearable pieces for me personally it's a bit immoral but the idea of representing death in such a unique way is quite fascinating and are inspirational references for my research file.

Photographs from juliadeville

Hand made sketchbooks

I purchased both of these sketchbooks from Ebay, they are beautifully hand crafted from recycled paper and dried petals. The front cover closes by wrapping a piece of palm leaf string around a coconut button and the pages are made from rice husk/bamboo paper. The sketchbooks were originally produced in a small village in Bali, Indonesia, they are fair trade items and the money made helps maintain their traditional craftsmen skills and sustain village life.

Old Books

Bought 3 lovely books from the Oxfam shop in Kings Heath, Birmingham (recommended by Vicky) all published in the mid 1800's they have that old musty smell and discoloured pages, perfect for my concept but it almost seems a shame to use them as they are so old, the one has a handwritten message inside as it was given as a Christmas present for someone in 1874.

Research boards

These are a selection of photographs taken from my research board, key images for me at the moment are the Betty Pepper books, Loved to Death accessories and the Wendy Bevan photographs. Think I know where I'm heading in terms of a concept and have got a few design ideas for my final piece!