Gorgeous Lizard and Cat bracelet cast in pewter from my original design

I love lizards, and this bracelet was one I just had to make from an original design of mine. It is cast in lead-free pewter and has a beautiful curve that sits snug on the wrist. It’s inspired by the sinuous designs of Art Nouveau jewellery, which drew so much on Nature’s creations.

It has chain on both sides that allow for shortening or lengthening, and is finished with a little silver finding.

A perfect jewelry gift for any other lizard or gecko lover ! It’s available for sale in my online shop here and the price includes free shipping.

I have also transformed my cat design into a bracelet for cat lovers :

…you can buy it on Etsy here !

Gorgeous new fantasy Art Nouveau jewelry designs!

I have been hard at work creating some unique jewelry items, most from my own carvings which have then been cast in beautiful semi-precious lead free pewter using centrifugal casting. I have made brooches, pendants, choker necklaces, keyrings and earrings featuring an owl, fairies, a mermaid, flower girl, lizard, cats and even a little pixie.

A very talented metal caster here in Johannesburg casts these pieces for me, some of which were carved in wax, or in silver clay, and even in Pratley Putty! Centrifugal or spin casting uses centrifugal force to produce metal castings from a rubber mold and is able to capture a great deal of detail, which is very suited to my work.
Below are some examples of my new creations; some are also replicas of original Art Nouveau jewelry designs. All of these, and many more, are available in my shop here.

Cat with Red Poppies : a new Original Painting!

I have a fascination with red poppies and with cats, and have often portrayed them together in little montages and pieces of art, but have never done a full painting of these two lovely themes together.

Here are the beginnings of a watercolour based painting that I have been working on, Art Nouveau style, with pigment inks and white gesso highlights. The paper I use is Stonehenge cream paper – great for mixed media and especially good for etching and watercolors. I painted a yellow wash with touches of orange for a base design of colours to set the tone for what looks to be a folk-art kind of painting.                                         ~ More photos as I go along !

Art Nouveau Fairy Painting : Luna Moth : Completed!

I finished this last Friday, and am quite pleased with the flow and expression of what is really a homage to the great Alphonse Mucha, the beauty that is Byzantine and Orthodox Iconic Art and, of course, fantasy art. The Luna Moth is a fascinating creature whose colours and ethereality also inspired me…

You can purchase a beautiful print of this painting in my online shop Here.

Cat and Moth new Choker style necklaces from my original designs

These necklaces have just been cast in beautiful shiny lead-free pewter right here in South Africa, from designs and wax carvings that I had made a few years ago. I loved the idea of turning my little cat into an unusual necklace, and the moth, or butterfly, was inspired  by the bold designs of the Art Deco era.

The whole process of carving an original design from jeweller’s wax, then casting it with the lost wax process and centrifugal casting is an amazing process and one which I have learned over the last 5 years. I hope to be able to make many more unique and soulful design in the near future…!

The choker style necklaces are really stunning, and are adjustable in length. You can see more of my own jewellery designs: Necklaces, Brooches and even Keyrings here on my online shop.            Or view my exclusive range on the menu bar to the left!

“Luna Moth” : New Fairy Painitng, Art Nouveau style…

It is time for another fairy painting! To me, fairies represent the feminine spirit in Nature: ethereal, transcendent, beautiful and inspiring.

I love the work of Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha  ; his illustrative style is highly decorative yet maintains a wonderful evocative realism that captures the feminine essence within the natural world exquisitely. I also have a fascination for the exotic luna moth and want to combine those two inspirations with the magical ambiance of a crescent moonlit night… ~ You can see more of my original fairy and fantasy paintings here. ~

Here is the quick sketch, and the beginnings of the painting. I am using Fredrix watercolor canvas which is so interesting to paint on. It has a smooth and very watercolour- paper like canvas surface, but one can achieve beautiful blending and painterly techniques.

 

New : Original Miniature Paintings / Hand painted Gift Cards

I have been very busy painting these beautiful little pieces of art, each a one-off original miniature painting : I have produced about 20 or so, a selection of which you can see below.

Some of them are inspired by Art Nouveau style artwork, reminiscent of the art of Odilon Redon, and also the stunning designs of William Morris of the Arts and crafts movement in the late 1800’s. Each one has been carefully painted on gorgeous silky handmade mulberry bark paper in vibrant watercolors with highlighted colors in pigment gold and silver ink.
The border has been uniquely drawn in a combination of silver and gold ink.

The paintings, measuring 4.5cm x 4.5cm (1 3/4 x 1 3/4 inches) have been mounted on stiff coloured card which actually opens up and can be written inside, so this makes an ideal and very collectable all-in-one gift !

You can find a range available for sale in my Etsy online shop here: Small Original Art for Sale  ~~ or you can simply click on the Permalink below each image to find out more details and see a larger image…

Contact me if you see something below that is not for sale there…and thanks for looking!

Dragonfly Pictures

Thought I’d quickly post this collage of new Dragonfly works that I have obsessively been painting on scraps of lovely paper left over from my Printmaking.

They have been great to do -mostly because I love depicting dragonflies whenever I can, on whatever I can(T-shirts ,Bags, Prints)

The first one is a dragonfly sojourn at midnight under a full Moon – kind of dark but I like that … and the black & white drawing is still a work in progress, so we will see how it develops. The bottom one is a Japanese-style watercolour painting on beautiful handmade Mulberry bark paper from Thailand – this kind of textured natural paper is really interesting to work on – it is not a watercolour paper so does not allow the paint to blend on the surface- more suited to quick line work. Here is an original for sale.

They were very popular during the Art Nouveau era as they are so stylistically suited to the flowing organic forms of Nature depicted by the designers of that time. Tiffany and Lalique have some of my favourite pieces of dragonflies- so inspiring !

I just wish things were made like that still, with care and great imagination; that’s why I have been slowly developing my own range of Art Nouveau Jewellery. -in honour of this forgotten era

thanks for looking – there will be some darker stuff coming soon….