Monday 31 December 2012

AJE December Component of the Month - Design Reveal

Welcome to the final AJE Component of the Month design reveal of 2012. The December component was gifted by the lovely Jenny Davies- Reazor - mixed media artist and font of all knowledge for all things mythical and folkloric - if that's a word. The pieces Jenny chose were these lovely ceramic pendant featuring a classical Labyrinth motif...


I have to confess to being pretty ignorant on the subject of Labyrinths but fortunately Jenny gave us some insight in her original post which you can find here. Found in many cultures she explained how historically they were seen as a symbolic path to God and often served as a substitute to a religious pilgrimage. Labyrinths have only one clear path from the edge to the centre and out again and today they have become popular as a walking meditation that can help to inspire and help to centre oneself. Jenny felt that this was an appropriate symbol with New Year's being a time where we all feel resolved to start afresh and I couldn't agree more.

Edinburgh Labyrinth - United Kingdom
I'm not a religious person but I do find that if I am troubled or have decisions to make, walking will often help me to gain clarity. It's as if the physical process of walking somehow helps me to recognise issues and ideas and organise them so that I can see what I need to do to achieve my goal. So I decided that I would use this idea of a journey as the theme for my design.

This is the pendant I received from Jenny - a lovely weathered copper colour.

 
I'm very much into layered or tiered pendants at the moment and as I was given a set of letter punches for Christmas I thought this would be a good opportunity to try them out - this is the finished design I came up with...


I chose copper to work with the verdigris glaze and cut a little bar which I stamped with the legend 'follow your own path' because I sometimes need reminding to aim for the things I want rather than those others want for me. I hammered and oxidised the bar to give it some depth and age and then attached it to the pendant.

I found a bronze charm in my stash that featured a motif that almost looked like an old decaying labyrinth so I used a little verdigris and copper patina to pull the ensemble together and added it to the bottom of the pendant.


At this point I wanted to keep the design simple and uncluttered to capture the contemplative element of the labyrinth so I decided to hang the pendant from a simple copper chain. I made a spiral wire clasp to echo the motif and added a simple ceramic bead to give balance and that was it - job done.


I need a bit more practise at the stamping but I'm pretty pleased with my first attempt. This has opened up a new design style for me and I love it when that happens so thank you Jenny for providing me with the opportunity.


I'm off to see how my AJE team mates and our guests where inspired by Jenny's components and you can join me using the links below. Happy New Year and good fortune for 2013!



Enjoy!

Lesley








25 comments:

  1. I love what you've done with your pendant Lesley! Your designs always look like the elements have been sitting waiting for each other! Beautiful! x

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  2. Lesley I love it! You are so clever and I agree with Caroline!
    Claire xx

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  3. I love the saying that you paired with the bead. It is perfect as is your lettering. I love it!

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  4. Awesome design Lesley, I love the way you built around your Labyrinth!!

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  5. Lesley, your necklace is beautiful and has such a great message. You know I never realized until you mentioned it in your post, but I tend to walk when I need to work things out in my head, too.

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  6. Agree that walking tends to help me work through things - it helps me process. How great to see the design work its way through your's ... wonderful piece Lesley

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  7. Caroline above said it best for me - it's as if the design components were meant for each other! "Follow Your Own Path" - these are very powerful words for me (especially with the labryinth theme) and definetly words that I want to remember throughout the new year. Stunning piece. Simply stunning-I love it!

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  8. This is SO my style - I would wear this, I create in a similar vein, I adore the colors together! Love! And your stamping looks perfect, what are you talking about? The clasp - truly all perfect together. Thank you so much for elevating my lil clay lab to greatness. And I adore your bronze charm, covet it even... its a perfect Celtic-y ancient accent!

    I agree with the walking. I am not a religious person, I am very spiritual though. And the labyrinth can really clear the clutter in your head to let you see things clearly.

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  9. Gorgeous! I love ths simple design, allowing the message stand out. I love the verdigris color with the copper. Your handmade clasp is lovely, and seems to have it's own labryngth within it.

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  10. I love how this piece came together Lesley. And your copper bar is a perfect touch to the design, looking forward to seeing more of those....

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  11. Love this Leslie! It captures the labyrinth idea as well as form!

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  12. Hi Lesley,
    Your necklace is beautiful and I love the statement to follow your own path.
    Wishing you all the best in 2013 my friend.
    Therese

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  13. Lesley, I love this idea! What a great way to showcase that labyrinth! Glad to see someone else enjoying their Christmas gift stamps, LOL........mine are on the way and canm't wait to try them out. This is a perfect way to start a new year, by following the path to your dreams.

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  14. Gosh, I really really love this! Great job on the stamping and the bronze with the patina is so deliciously ancient looking. Great job my talented friend!

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  15. Oh my, Leslie, I love everything about this...beautifully understated and yet packs a punch!

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  16. What a perfect saying for this piece. I just love this necklace it's Gorgeous!!!

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  17. I love this necklace, Lesley. I even showed it off to my husband, (poor man has to endure my jewelry enthusiasms). I would def wear this. I love the message, your stamping and how it is layered. Great job!

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  18. What a fabulous necklace and your journey to create it was just as fabulous!

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  19. Squee! I love it! I really, really love it! I'm going to go squee some more now!

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  20. I love your design and so refreshing to read a charm that has meaning to the design. SO perfect!! I too have a letter set now but I haven't got it out of the box yet.
    Happy New Year!!

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  21. Thanks you all for your lovely comments. It was a joy to work with Jenny's component just as it's been a joy to be part of AJE these - past few months. A very happy and creative new year to all.

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  22. Love it Lesley! I love your process, as well! It's perfect! Thanks for showing the Edinburgh labyrinth - I was in Edinburgh and am finding and endless number of things I want to go back for, including this!

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  23. First attempt!?! man did i read that right. Actually I shouldn't be so surprised and a lovely result you really have the knack for this whole jewerly making :) It's a gorgeous piece all around and I think the stamping makes it

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  24. Love it Lesley! I created a summer activity list a couple of summers ago (I still haven't finished all of the things on the list, but I'm ticking them off). One of them was to walk a labyrynth. We have a beautiful botanical garden on the mid-coast of Maine and they have one there with smooth river rocks. It was a warm day and my daughter and I walked it barefoot - it was heavenly!

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  25. Perfect! I absolutely love your necklace Lesley, and the saying that you've used is just right. I can't believe that was your first attempt at stamping though!

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