anglo platinum hand piece

mehndhi jewellery

Why do I want to make jewellery based on mehndi patterns???

I’ve been fascinated by Mehndi patterns for a long time. I first came across Mehndi when I was 5 years old, at my neighbours pre-wedding celebration (Mehndi party). Whilst being in the process of getting Mehndi applied to my skin I wondered what they are doing to me. Of course I was impatient I couldn’t keep it long for too long. I simply love going to Mehndi parties, now that I’m all grown up, family and friends ask me to decorate their hands with Mehndi. I love Mehndi motifs that were traditionally used like leaves, flowers, and vines mixed with geometric shapes that work well together creating endless designs. Then I learnt through research, Mehndi has the power to protect, to provide spiritual and material wealth, brings luck, wards off evil eye, guards against black magic or anything supernatural. Mehndi patterns that have Hindu deities remind me of teachings at spiritual school, my guru used to say that the day is too busy, we forget about god, it’s important that you write gods name somewhere so when you look at it you are reminded about god. When I look at these deities I’m spiritually enlightened.

I’m trying to incorporate these beautiful images into my jewellery, after some experimentation and practice, I’ve finally figured out a method to express my design ideas freely. It requires a steady flow of hand movement; I therefore think it’s preferable I design using the actual Mehndi cone. Besides jewellery I’ve also incorporated Mehndi patterns on wood that I’m building into display stands etc.

wedding souvenirs

My next mission is to make a keyring that would be faster to make.For example my dad is a carpenter,he has off cuts of wood so he can cut them to the size that I want. Im thinking off getting religous pictures,hindu gods and printing them and sticking them on either side and sealing them with clear laquer with glitter.

my wedding souvenirs

My plan for wedding souvenirs was to make something that people would use and not a statue that just lies in thr house somewhere and people forget about it.I went to the ratha yatra festival of chariots, thats usually held at the durban beach front but for the past two years its been held at the old durban drive-in.Its usally held in April during the easter holidays

these are some pics I took at this years festival

Lord krishna's chariot is yellow,his brother balram is green,his sister lady subhadra is red

chariot procession throught the night

I been told all my life he importance off pulling the chariot,it cuts down your karma

the deities of krishna and balram along with other devotees

matha-ji's dancing for lord krishna

I was not allowed to take pictures inside the souvenir tent that was on site,they stock everything you can think of, that comes from India,from jewellery,clothing,bags,shoes,souvenirs,etc.

I bought a brass key ring that I want to make a mould off and and cast them.I have to make 500 key rings so im thinking this is the fastest method of doing this.

Colombo,jewellery is art too exhibition

My plan for my display for the Jewellery is art too exhibition that will be held at Colombo tea and coffee on Gale street,is to display my jewellery in a way so that it creates an indian atmosphere so that the viewers get some sort of understanding of the mehndi theme of my jewellery. My display needs to look atistic because its not just about the look of the jewellery its about its play of art. My jewellery needs to connect with  my display.I feel its needs to look like a dowry from the grooms family to the brides family.The tradition about the dowry is the gifts that the brides usually would wear on her wedding day, they would send the brides sari and blouse and underskirt,usually red and her jewellery,underwear,shoes,handbag. These are well displayed,the idea if the gift is to be visible so that everyone around her can see her status,how much she is worth because of the value of her dowry.This is wrapped in celophane plastic in clear or a very light transparent colour so it is see-through like the examples below

pictures from http://www.etawau.com/HTML/Culture/MalayWedding/MalayWedding.htm

Looking at the space we are displaying our jewellery,its quite dark. There are many windows which bring in natural light, however our exhibition will take place later parts of the evening on the 5th october 2011,so iI have to come up with some sort of plan for lighting.

For lighting im thinking of using clay lamps which does tie in with the eastern approach to the display,having many small oil lamps will brighten up the display area,using scented oil that has oriental fragrance may work to get rid of the smell of coffee being manufactured. I also need to fill the lamps with oil when they are burnt away and keep having to light the wicks when they blown off.

arabic gold bracelet

looking at Arabic patterns from a mehndi pattern book called Nikhar :Arabic and traditional present-day mehandi designs.This book includes designs of tatoos and bindees.My idea is to use this pattern shown above to create a piece of jewellery,not sure on what it could be.I think it makes sence becoming some sort of hand or arm jewellery because the pattern is drawn on the wrist and looks it could represent a bangle or bracelet.I want it to be flat,not to have any hieght or different layers, all must be one layer just like the way mehndi is applied

Bridal head piece

The head jewel should be the focal point however it must not over-power the face of the bride, in other words I dont want to make it too big or too small because it will get lost with the brides image.If a hindu bride is going to wear it, it must sit over the forehead but just above the tikka/bindhi (forehead decoration dots). If a western bride uses it,she can wear it lower.Therefore it must be adjustable,musnt move easily,must be held in place by some sort of chain that will hook onto hair,or if the bride is wearing a tiara ,it can be hooked to the tiara. Im thinking of using 3 to 5 strands of chain to hook to the hair so its weight is balanced.
The focal point must be contemporary,maybe a flower,maybe including a gemstone or stone settings.

I have a stone that is shaped like a snow flake. I would like to incorporate it in my head piece,however it is not the colour I would of liked to use. It is crystal clear with irridecense.I would like to incorporate the use of colour,maybe red with a mixture of other tones if I happen to use it.