Influential jewellers reflection

The two references are quite different but both relate to my work. Ringgold influenced my designs by inspiring me to use my castings from last year. Pujol influenced my marketing by her use of an Instagram account and website. I still need to look for jewellers that look at mass production and other parts of my design development, for example, paper. 

I also plan on having a semi-structured interview with Michelle Pujol to determine the overlap, if any, between her personal design process and my own.

Ringgold, N., (n.d.). Chinese Lantern

Influential jewellers summary

 This semester I only looked at two reference jewellers. The first being Michelle Pujol whose work, like mine, is influenced by nature. I observed how she uses her Instagram and website to document and sell her work. The second jeweller I referred to was Nicole Ringgold. She uses fusing to create sculptures that replicate nature. I was interested in how Ringgold utilizes her sculptures in wearable jewellery pieces even though they could be seen as oversized.

Pujol, M., (n.d.). 3 petal flower studs.

Michelle Pujol

Michelle Pujol is a jewellery designer and fine artist that is influenced by the natural world around her. Pujol divides her work into "complex sculptural " pieces for galleries and diffused ranges(Pujol.2021) for her commercial audience.

From what I have observed from Pujol's website and Instagram her jewellery echos her still life floral paintings. Pujol uses her Instagram to display the photos she takes for references, her paintings and jewellery. I also noticed that all of Pujol's paintings and jewellery are sold through her website.

M. Pujol., (2021). Screenshot of Instagram page. 

M. Pujol., (2021). Screenshot of website. 

Nicole Ringgold

 Nicole Ringgold is a silversmith that is inspired by plants and objects she finds while hiking. The botanical jewellery may look cast or electroformed but it is all hand made by melting scraps of silver together. "[Ringgold's] intention is not to replicate the plants, but to recreate them with silver with as much detail as possible[; the] goal with every piece is to make the metal appear alive"(Ringgold, n.d.)

Her work interests me as she makes large sculptural pieces, I was under the impression that she made sculptures and that's how the objects stayed but looking at her website I see she uses her sculptures to make wearable pieces. I always worry about the weight of my pieces while making them I get stuck on the thought of would it sell. Ringgold's work has inspired me to take a second look at my castings from last year I didn't use them as I thought they were too large. My castings are tiny compared to Ringgold's sculptures.

Ringgold, N., (2021). Silver sunflower.

Nora Kovats

Nora Kovats is a contemporary jewellery designer and illustrator from South Africa that is now based in Berlin. She works with silver and vitreous enamel.  Nora Kovats uses botanical imagery in her pieces. She refers to her garden as an inspiration even though her mythical garden in her jewellery may not always reflect her physical garden. She uses the botanical illustrations of her garden as a surface to sieve enamels over while also using her illustrations to inspire the colours she uses in her enamelling process.

 Kovats.N.(n.d.) enamelling over illustrations

Her pieces are interesting as they are simple pierced pieces of metal that have been enamelled. Some of the pieces are domed and strung with beads or stones. She has different variations of the same techniques which are due to the fact that she chooses to create multiple pieces of jewellery at the same time. She states that this is because "it’s a creative process in several disciplines simultaneously."(Kovats,2020)

Kovats.N. (2017-18).Deep Sea Garden Monsters.Neckpiece, enamel and beads