To the desert and back

I recently went to visit my Dad in Saudi Arabia and while there we made our annual trip to this carpet store that my family has frequented for many many years in the Afghani souk in old Jeddah. While my parents were busy bartering away for a carpet for Dad's new apartment I was stuffed into a little dusty corner playing with baskets of antique jewelry. And I'm not kidding about the baskets; I was sifting through them, like a gold miner panning for gold. The original objective was to find pieces that I could use in my own jewelry... but that goal quickly fell away as I found some amazing pieces for myself. I usually hesitate on buying stuff like this, but I couldn't resist mate. The whole experience was was like a treasure hunt and I went alittle overboard, but it was fun and will be worth it (although I have a gaping hole in my wallet at the moment).

Iiiiitttty biiiiittttty seed pearls - they're about the size of a grain of rice

Less seedy pearls - these are about the size of pin-heads... or slightly enlarged pin-heads

Less less seedy pearls - pea sized little beauties

I went alittle nuts and got several strands of lapis lazuli. Back in the Renaissance lapis was ground up to make the pigment ultramarine which was the most expensive and rare of all the colors. As a result of this most painters would use ultramarine sparingly though it was often used to color the Virgin's mantle because she the most virtuous and important icon in religious images.

Treasures!!! Several necklaces, pendants and strands of antique silver beads that I will begin to dismantle to incorporate into my own creations... to be continued!

So much epic going on I can't even describe. Handling these pieces was amazing because they are all antiques that have been loved and worn. They leave behind a black ash on your hands... this is the real deal. So excited I may not take them apart.

I hope these next photos justify my purchases... keeping to the bracelet theme, here are some more:

Un - boom boom pow... apparently silver and gold clash but I think the antique feel of the two metals together counter-acts that silly rule. I've never really owned a cuff bracelet, so I'm loving this one. It had a very Mediterranean vibe... yes?

Deux - Again I'm getting a very ancient Greek vibe from these bracelets although they originate from the Middle East.

Trois - A simple cuff to balance out the other two. Debating whether I should wear all three together and just bling out or, maybe try to stay classy and wear one at a time.

Go big or go home, I like them all together. Makes my arm look slightly bionic

Quatre - Wonder woman has nothing on this cuff. Holy moly batman, it is my best purchase in a long time. Don't ask me where I'll sport it, I just can't wait to wave to someone while wearing it, although it is alittle heavy... need to get to the gym I guess.

*Sigh* I'm so happy

And finally I love love love emerald green and couldn't let these little beauties slip out of my grasp. I don't usually wear earrings but have been sporting these for days. However, when I took them out last night my ears bled... so I may  put them away for a few, but beauty is pain. 

How'd I do? I'm pretty happy, but all this antique jewelry has done nothing to squash my shopping itch. I really want to go to Portobello Market and do some serious vintage damage. If only I was a millionaire... Euro millions here I come!

- Life is good

Listening to: 'God's Gonna Cut You Down' - Johnny Cash *Just for you Laurena!

Observations: Just back home from a jewelry sale... photos soon

Craving: Chill time with my girls 

Gold and Silver and Sunshine

At home in England for the summer! Hallelujah exams are over but I'm already missing life in Canada. Solution to Canada-home-sickness... sun, which there is an abundance of here right now, and playing with some of the toys my family brought home from their two week adventure extravaganza in Botswana. 'Gold and silver and sunshine, pour yourself another cup of Lady Grey'. I think I will do, thank you Oasis

Love me some bangles, a mix from Zambia and Botswana... can't wait to wear these

Alittle pale, but we're working on it

Our mask wall... scares the crap out of me every time I walk downstairs in the dark. If I believe correctly from left to right: Namibia, New Zealand, Thaliand, Thailand, Kenya, Indonesia, BOTSWANA (square one), Venice, England and Kenya again.

Woven baskets by local women that my mom was taught to make: this one is supposed to be a millipede.

Zebra

Impala

And water lily... awesome right?!

And in addition there is a whole stack of pictures... at least 1000+! Off to battle those, and I'll throw some of my faves on here. For now though, from England...


- Life is good


Listening to: 'Just Stay Here Tonight' - Augustana
Observations: The shear amount of stuff I have to start to organize
Craving: My first home cooked meal... T-minus 30 seconds

Silver and Gold

Earlier this evening my sister messaged me proudly proclaiming that 'Mary Katrantzou's room collection is on net-a-porter.com. I wanna buy one soooo bad!' I am so proud. Well of course I decided to abandon studying in favor of perusing the fashion megawebsite and I found some fabulous rings that make me wish I was the type of person who wears them.

This YSL ring got me so excited, it's not even funny. Even thinking about it now gets my heart going. After spending two years exploring every crevice and bend of my fingerprints for my IB Art show I finally find a real life example of prints in fashion... AHHHHH! It's gorgeous. I couldn't help throwing in some more workbook pages features many of my print experiments.

 After all that blood, sweat and tears I feel like this would make a fabulous keepsake. Oh so sentimental.

Next there is this fabulous Dominic Jones piece that looks like crocodile claws clasped together so peacefully as if awaiting the chance to envelop your finger. There is something just a tad playful about it, but still something you could be seen sporting when you shake hands with Karl Lagerfeld for the first time. My tangent oriented brain latched on the crocodile idea and sent me down the path of Aboriginal art and the common depiction of alligators (let's not get onto the crocodile/alligator debate) in their works.

 Aurelie Bidermann's woven ring looks like someone has liquefied gold and spun it on a loom to create this unique wire textured effect.

We'd been talking about the advent of the textile industry and the printing press in Art History lately, so I thought it was relevant here. I thought of another jeweler who uses wool and weaves intricate necklaces; Heather Goldberg has a unique style that mixes yarns and crystals to create a very urban, hobo-chic look that I would definitely be caught dead in.

I'll say it again, Alexander McQueen can do no wrong and this bird skull ring is a fresh twist on his normally human skull oriented work. The ring is gigantic and covers both knuckles of the finger like a glorious sheath. Gotta love me some skulls...

 It'd be hard to top Damien Hirst's For the Love of God which caused a huge splash when it was reportedly sold for $100 million...

I can't wait for the first half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to come out just so I can watch the Three Brothers scene over and over again. It was a magical film moment when the story turned into an animated sequence that ebbed and flowed in such a way that made me wish that the whole story had been written that way. Relevance: the uber scary, skeletal figure of death would make a fabulous ring as well. 

  Another Dominic Jones masterpiece, but this time featuring a wonderfully exotic beetle that any collector would love to showcase. My Egyptian heritage was tickled pink to see this and so...

 The Ancient Egyptians revered the scarab because they compared it's routine of rolling dung across the desert to the sun god, Ra, rolling the sun across the sky. Those turquoise beads can be found everywhere in Cairo and traditionally they have the markings of the craftsman who made them on the back, each had his own individual signature so you could identify them.

Back to Eddie Borgo, whose chain mail, hinged ring makes me think of knights in armor and Medieval wars. No wonder it is sold out online, it's exceptionally avant garde and modern.  

He used the same technology used in armor to allow it to bend and flex so it's utilitarian and not just a cast for your finger... so unfashionable.

 Both Viktor and Rolf and Gareth Pugh have had collections that have looked life armor and you'd be the most bad-ass person around sporting either dress with the ring.

And on that note, good night!

 - Life is good

[YSL Print Ring, Dominic Jones Crocodile Ring, Aboriginal Art, Aboriginal Art 2, Aurelie Bidermann, Loom etching,Woven Necklaces, McQueen Bird Skull Ring,Harry Potter, Damien Hirst Dominic Jones Beetle, Turquoise Scarab, Temple Wall, Suit of Armor]

Listening to: My Renaissance Art prof 
Observations: Anna Wintour's WSJ. Magazine interview which I want to follow up on
Craving: Friday