18th BNB – Handmade metal jewelry

Handmade metal jewelry

As Kelly Hosford Patterson of PyxeeStyx – Traveling SideShow won the challenge round set by me (Kolam) she is hosting the next round of BNB with the Theme  “Painted Pachyderms” – Elephants on Parade. She gave us a whole album of pictures of beautiful decorated Indian elephants. I for one was thrilled to see two back to back India themed challenges.
She challenged us to work in any medium that we would like – fiber arts, or paint, or even write music or poetry, apart from making jewelry. Ofcourse I chose jewelry as I am working on the second season of Romani and this inspiration fit perfectly into the gypsy theme.

Handmade metal jewelry
 
Though these pictures are Indian, I have never seen elephants painted like this before, excepting the last picture which is very common in Temple elephants belonging to Amman (Durga) or Ganesha temples. I guess that the other styles must be from either Rajasthan as many Rajput kings still live there or Mysore during the Dasara festival when the elephant procession happens. But I have seen elaborate embroidered ambaris and forehead patti and shoulder (back) cloths  so I chose that as my inspiration in the color themes suggested by Kelly. Here are my two entries of Handmade metal jewelry. 
embroidery inspired metal necklace

Lita Necklace
Inspired by the splendor of embellished forehead ornaments worn by elephants during temple processions, Lita is an exotic combination of metal components, braided yarn, crystals and is edged with painted embellishments. The black portions showcase the hairy head of elephants that is visible below the cutwork of the ornament and the painted druzy is reminiscent of the velvet fabric that is often used as the base of the ornament.  

 Analetta Earrings patterned Glass cabochon set on a handcut painted brass square tab with hand formed ear hooks. As Kelly said our entries could be even written, I wrote a micro story to explain the name of these earrings.  

Long long ago, there was a gypsy Ana, who had travelled to India as a singer in a music troupe. There she met a royal parade elephant mahout and his gorgeous elephant Latha and fell in love with both of them. The mahout and the gypsy got married and lived happily ever after, painting the elephant in myraid colors for special processions ”

ANALETTA = Ana (Romani Gypsy name) Aanai also means elephant + Latha (common Indian girl’s name)

 

That was so much fun to write 🙂 and I enjoyed making these Handmade metal jewelry. Both the earrings as well as the pendant is made out of brass, hand cut formed and painted by me. They are available for sale.
How do you like them? The selection of winners is done by Public vote and voting takes place on a public facebook album called 18 BNB here. so if you like these designs, please vote for me by liking these images – Lita Necklace and Analetta Earrings

I hope you found it interesting 
Cheers

5 responses to “18th BNB – Handmade metal jewelry”

  1. Little Treasures avatar

    Your entries are fantastic! I already voted for you and hope you win!

  2. Divya N avatar

    Thank you for your votes maya 🙂

  3. Vijay Devarajan avatar

    Hi Divya in Guruvayur, hope you have heard the story of Guruvayur Kesavan elephant, every Guruvayur Ekadasi,there is a grand elephant procession. Every elephant is beautifully decorated goes inside the temple through the entrance located. Do see the photos of the decorated elephants when you get time, i am sure it might inspire you. Also your entries were fantastic, congrats and all the very best for your nomination.

  4. Divya N avatar

    Yes Vijay, my piece was indeed inspired by the sreeveli procession and how the elephants are decked up then. I have an elephant doll dressed in such a way and that was what I tried to recreate in the pendant

  5. Vijay Devarajan avatar

    Fantastic work divya, voted for you

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