Lotus Necklace

For this necklace I used the same lotus design that I did going up the necklace. I threaded them through the chain instead of using a V-loop or jump ring.

New Lotus Necklace Design

I have been thinking of how to ensure that my chain doesn't overwhelm the lotus flowers. I have decided that it will be better for the lotus flowers to get smaller slowly up the chain. 

Kumihino Weave for Lotus Neckpiece

When I placed the weaved cotton behind the lotus flowers to see what it would look like, I felt that it fights with the delicate flowers. After talking to Songz he said that I must create a beautiful chain to go with the piece rather. So I'm going to figure out how I am going to do this.

Completed lotus flowers.

Finally got to finish the filigree in my 3 lotus elements made for my neckpiece. I really am happy with the looks of them. Cant wait to make it into a necklace.

Lotus Neckpiece

I'm busy making my lotus neck piece which was inspired by my Thailand trip. The neck piece will one day be a statement piece with 3 lotus flowers which are made from square wire and filled with fine filigree and then strung onto a woven necklace (not finished). I have been frustrated at the moment because I started creating it last term and then a compulsory project came up and after that every time I start on it something else comes up.

Platinum Ring

My finished platinum piece. 

Im so happy that I finished because I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish it in the time for the hand in, although I was only able to do 3 rings and not 5. I decided to do the edges of the rings highly polished and the sides with a brush finish to give the rings more of a contrast.

Lotus Stack Ring (Silver)

Completed my silver prototype for my platinum piece. 

I am very happy with how it turned out except for a few places which I should have sanded before I added on the toppers but I guess that is why we do the prototypes.

Lotus Stack Ring 2nd Wax Cut.

This is my second attempt at my wax cuts. I am much happier with how they turned out because I made the gaps larger and this let the cut be much cleaner.

 I decided to try the stack ring with 5 individual rings. When I did it with 3 last time you only got the layers from the one side, by doing 5 rings I feel that it now looks like a completed piece of jewellery.

For this cut I joined all 3 of the rings together, to get a better feel for what its going to look like.

Lotus Stack Ring 1st Wax Cut

These are wax cut outs which I made for my platinum prototype. 

I decided to wax cut them because of the commercially viable aspect to the theme this year.

They are stack rings (which are very popular) and when they are worn together they look like a lotus. I also like the layers which are created when stacked.

The lotus also fits into this category well because the piece are for young women celebrating success and achievement, and the lotus represents over coming things.

I am not completely happy with these because I made the gaps between the "petals" too small and when cut they came out rough because the ball bur couldn't get in there.

Filigree Lotus

Been working on my filigree for my lotus neck piece. The first frame took me a day to do because it was the basis for how the other frames will be, so I wanted to make sure it was perfect. I am very happy with the way it turned out although the other frames will have to differ slightly because of the sizes.

Proto-type vs Proto-type

Trying to decide which frame I would prefer to use for my lotus neck piece

The first one is very angler where is the second one is a much more gentle curve. 

I did a small survey asking my friends which one they prefer and the one on the left won hands down but because I will be using filigree in this piece I am going to choose the one with the softer curves because I feel that this will fit in with the delicateness of the filigree better.

Lotus Neck Piece Design

For my statement neck piece inspired by the lotus flower I want to use the Kumihimo weave that I played around with last year which originated in Asia. I think this will tie in well with lotus flowers.

Lotus Tattoos

Here are some references I found for the lotus piece I want to create. I used Tattoos as references because this is what sparked my interest in the first place. I am looking at the side view of the lotus flower for the symmetry and the way the petals go up in steps.

http://poietix.deviantart.com/

http://instagram.com/

Lotus Meaning

When I was in Thailand I really wanted to get a tattoo, which unfortunately didn't work out because we ran out of time, but I was going to get a lotus flower so I did abit of research into it and found out the meaning.

"The lotus flower represents one symbol of fortune in Buddhism. It grows in muddy water, and it is this environment that gives forth the flower’s first and most literal meaning: rising and blooming above the murk to achieve enlightenment. The second meaning, which is related to the first is purification. It resembles the purifying of the spirit which is born into murkiness. The third meaning refers to faithfulness. Those who are working to rise above the muddy waters will need to be faithful followers."

http://buddhists.org/

 

koh Phangan

When I was in Thailand for my honeymoon I saw a real lotus flower.

The form of the flower is what attracted me to it, how the petals are raised as opposed to a flower like a daisy which has flat petals.