dForsythe

I’ll be off to Thailand soon (cannot wait), and I’ve heard so many things about Thailand and their jewellery industry, not only the high quality of their metals, but they also have huge amount of beads and semi-precious  stones sold in  markets and malls around the place, in particular Bangkok, (where I’ll be staying for a few nights). So whilst I was doing my usual YouTube browsing, going through various Thailand videos etc, I came across dolores1014 channel,http://www.youtube.com/user/dolores1014. Her channel drew my attention not only because I love to collect jewellery pieces from my own travels, but also she makes her own stunning inspiring collections.

Dolores Forsyth owns her own jewellery boutique in California. From her travels around the world she has gathered a striking collection of unique, handmade creations from small independent businesses and designers in countries such as Bali, Thailand and Turkey to name but a few. Not only does she source stunning exotic statement pieces (my favourite type), but she also ‘gives back’ by supporting these designers, mainly from developing countries.  She also designs her own inspiring custom made pieces to sell.

Her site.. http://dforsythe.com/

For the past two Sundays I’ve taken part in a Creative Bead Jewellery weekend class at city lit .

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been making bead jewellery since I was a young child and have always improvised or just learnt techniques purely by experimentation. As I got older books and YouTube tutorials played a small part in developing ideas, (still very basic techniques). Sooo, I finally decided to bite the bullet and try a professional class. At first I was a bit sceptical, I’ve been umming and ahhing about taking a bead class purely for the fact that I always wonder if I would be wasting my money. I’m by no means a pro by far at jewellery making, but most classes don’t come cheap and I regularly found myself asking myself could I just learn this from a book or online for free? Having said that, I wasn’t disappointed. I learned some simple yet effective wire wrapping techniques. Ive never worked with wire before, so this was a completely new skill for me. And at first it was kind of hit and miss in term of getting it right, but once I got the hang of it I really liked the results. It’s definitely something I would use in future designs, once I get the hang of it.

 

The other new technique we were taught was ‘knotting’. To be honest I’m not a great fan of this aesthetically, as I like my jewellery a bit more polished and I think this would be more suited to more ‘earthy’ looking pieces with a organic feel. Never the less I can see the appeal, but I doubt it’s something I would incorporate in my work.

All in all, I would definitely recommend taking up classes. I’m also currently looking into more, and considering venturing into other materials, such as clay, ceramics and metals.

Pics to follow later..