Playing with Lace

The Design process proved to be difficult for me. I seemed to have many ideas as to how I would love for the end result of my pieces to look, with the forms, shapes and contrasts present in the lace itself, however transferring it to paper seemed to lose the idea. I began drawing ideas of what I would like for my jewellery to represent, which is the boldness of the central veins with the delicateness of the inner veins.

Mariambibi Khan, 2015. Concepts 1. Pencil.

The idea transformed into a bracelet/bangle which contrasts the delicateness of the wrist. It also seemed to entwine with the idea of lace gloves, but with a twist.

Mariambibi Khan, 2015. Concepts 2. Pencil.

Towards the end of the process I began to lose the natural shape and form of the hydrangea itself, which was initially to capture the beauty while it was alive as well as when it died. The design began looking flat and familiar to a piece which I created when I was in my BTech 2012.

Mariambibi Khan, 2015. Concepts 3. Pencil.

Mariambibi Khan, 2014. BTech 2014. Sterling silver & Brass. Chain-mail.

I went back to the lace samples which I had made and realized its ability to be manipulated into any shape or form. I could bend it, create waves and stretch it. This led to the idea of creating a round lace motif which I could perhaps form a domed round structure.

Mariambibi Khan, 2015. Concepts 4. Pencil.

Mariambibi Khan, 2015. Round Lace 1. Fine Silver.

Mariambibi Khan, 2015. Round Lace 2. Fine Silver.

Mariambibi Khan, 2015. Round Lace 4. Fine Silver.

Mariambibi Khan, 2015. Round Lace 3. Fine Silver.

The finished piece looked better than I expected, so much so that it could be left the way it is, which is in fact beautiful. But I will focus on playing around with this shape at a later stage. With the first attempt at creating a circular lace motif, I was worried that there will be a joining line to close the circle off. I had camouflaged the line by integrating it into the piece. The second attempt was more successful because the threads were interlinked to have no start and end point visible.

Mariambibi Khan, 2015. Lace Ball 1. Fine Silver.

Mariambibi Khan, 2015. Lace Ball 2. Fine Silver.

After successfully creating the circular lace motif I began playing around with the lace by bending and shaping it as well as to see its limitations. I formed a hollow ball and then pushed the edges inward creating a do-nut shaped basket. 

Mariambibi Khan, 2015. Lace Ball 3. Fine Silver.