The beginning of something new :)

The Battle Of The Beadsmith started, and after some whining about too much work and no spare time I decided, I will give it a go. And so far I am really happy with the decision. As you can see from the previous posts, travelling to far-away places and experiencing different cultures drive me to new ideas in jewelry-making. In 2013 after visiting Sri Lanka the bead-embroidered vest, Serendib was born. Earlier this year I visited the island of Borneo, and well, it gave me and idea or two :) 

So far I would like to show some pictures, so you can get the hang of it: the rich, wild vegetation, the deep, blue sea, and, of course, the tradition of headhunting.

And a sneak peak of the jewel itself:

The very beginning :)

1st of April was a big day for beaders all over the world: the Battle of The Beadsmith '14 started. Shame on me, it is already time to create something new, and I still haven't told you everything about my last year's entry either (not to mention other stuff I managed to design AND finish during the past months). First thing first, here and now I would like to show you some sketches which later evolved into Serendib.

The notebook is a simple A5 I picked up at the local convenience store in Anuradhapura. It was made specifically for Sri Lankan children learning to read and write: the hard cover shows the Sinhala, English and the Tamil alphabet. Tamil is a minority in Sri Lanka, they make up about 11-12 percent of the entire populatin. The civil war between the two ethnic groups ended just five years ago, in 2009, after getting rid of the separatist group LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). After the long-lasting massacre spotted with suicidal attacks, the government realised, that the best way to bring closer Sinhalese and Tamil people is to get to know each other's culture. Not only the Sinhala language is teached in the minority schools, but Tamil is also mandatory for every child in the country. The reality is unfortunately a bit stuck up after this nice thought, but it is a good beginning at least. 

It still seems so unrealistic, how easily the idea came and changed to the final stage. Sure, I had to simplify it because of the pressing time-limit, but everything, the colours, the shapes, the materials came to me without stress and frustration. 

Unfortunately, this year's BOTB is quiete different...

New pictures, new e'lan

I really wanted to write a new post here regularly, but somehow I ended up with just four of them so far, the last one dating from June 2013. That doesn't mean I wasn't around beads any more, or that I didn't make anything new in the meantime. On the contrary, a big change in my work-environment helped me to dedicate more time to beading, and quiete a few designs were born. However, before showing you the newborns, I would like to continue with my good ol' vest Serendib, because there are so many stories untold about it.

I must confess, that against the fact, that all the previous posts are about the Big Battle, I don't really like competitions. Working on a tight schedule is definitely not for me, and even worse is, that I tend to work simultaneously on more projects (and then from time to time even finish one :), and I couldn't do that this time, because I wouldn't finish my battle piece until the deadline. 

Against the above mentioned, I am really happy I participated. I was forced to leave my comfort zone, hence mostly I make jewelry which is suitable for every casual day. Serendib is different: even I say it is for special occasions only, and believe me, my borderline between wearable and not has somehow shifted over the last years. The other thing I had to overcome was the pure hatred to make something monotonous, to repeat a simple task again and again. Sometimes I struggle even when I make earrings. Now, that the battle is over, even I can't believe, I bezeled 191 + 12 + 6 + 12 cabochons with peyote, using only two colors of Miyuki beads, sewed more than 2 m of cupchain on ultra suede, and used I don't dare to count how many fire-polished beads in the same color and same size.

Before applying for a possibility to participate, I told myself, I'm gonna be happy, if my name appears on the list. It did indeed, and I was jumping all over our house at six o'clock in the morning. (Hb was really happy about it, too. Especially about the jumping...) Then after calming down, I was hoping I will get past at least of the first round, but when the pairings were made, I knew I will fly in the first round. It seemed so easy to say and understand, but then it definitely wasn't the happiest moment in my life when it came true. Anyway, congratulations to the incredibly creative Csilla Papp, she really deserved to move forward with her magnificent soutache neckpiece, and it was an honour to meet her at least virtually.

Fortunately the "mourning time" happened to be quiete short, and I was up to a new beginning. What started with my new brand La Peregrina and my new logo, continued with finding a professional photographer. So I contacted my ex-classmate from university, Matej Hutta, who after our studies of Aesthetics started to work as a freelance-photographer. He shoots mostly jewellry (lucky me!), and some portraits occasionally. He was up to the job, and we are nicely cooperating from that time :)

So now I would like to show you some pictures he took about Serendib.
Please make sure to check out his pictures on FB: Matej Hutta photography.

Serendib - not a secret any more :)

The Battle of the Beadsmith '13 has started, there are new designs published every day. The humble me beside the 191 great bead artists was waiting eagerly for the appearence of the photos, so I can finally show them here, too.
You can follow the competition (and maybe vote if you have the time on Facebook:

Battle of the Beadsmith '13

My battle piece Serendib (which is Sri Lanka's ancient Arabic name) is a vest sewn by me, embellished with literally hundreds of cabochons bezeled with peyote, sewn one by one on the ultra suede base, and further decorated with my favourite technique: bead embroidery. The inside is completely covered with soft leather to protect and hide the stitches.

I used the following material:
Silver-grey Ultra Suede for the west.
191 pcs of limited edition Swarovski Elements round stones: 10 mm Pacific Opal rivolis.
12 pcs of white opal pear-shaped Swarovski Elements fancy stones.
6 pcs of 18 x 25 mm turquoise cabochons.
12 pcs of magenta colored regalite beads.
Japanese seed beads: mat silver and light metallic bronze Miyuki Delica 11/0 and round 15/0. Color codes: 457 and 321.
Czech fire-polished beads: 3 mm dark bronze round ones.
Antique bronze focal component.
Nearly 2,5 m (2,8 yards) of cupchain: mat white in antique bronze base.
Bordeaux colored leather from Morocco as backing. It is glued and also hand-sewn all around by little stitches.
The idea was born while sitting next to a lake in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka - hence the name. The realisation took approx. 120 hours.
Size: the back is 38x30 cm, the front parts are 18x30 cm big.

I am really grateful for the following people:
Orhan Can from OrhanCa Photography for taking the pictures.
Zuzi Hake from Zzuzzi Handmade for being the model.
Slávka from Hogo Fogo for the beautiful headpiece Zuzi is wearing.
Ganesh Utsav, the best Indian restaurant in Bratislava, Slovakia for letting us take the pictures with their beautiful oriental furniture in the background.

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Battle of the Beadsmith 2013

Today is the first day in two months time, that I don't have an obvious answer, what to do with my free time. My battle piece is finished, photos submitted. Now I am waiting impatiently to see all the entries: last year it was a great adventure to browse all the beautiful designs, and I am sure, that it will be even better this time. 

Earlier we spent a month in Sri Lanka, and I was thinking more and more about the upcoming challenge. We stayed some days in the ancient city of Anuradhapura, in a nice little guesthouse next to the lake. Every day in the morning I used to sit on the pier, admiring the water lilies and listening to the birds. That is the place where the idea was born. I bet, the owners of the Lake Wave Guesthouse doesn't even know, how important thinking was going on, while I was just staring at the water and doing nothing :)

My battle is actually over, I managed to design and make something bigger than ever before, and I am really happy with it. In the future, I would like to focus more on my beadwork, so here, I present you my new brand, La Peregrina, and my new logo. La Peregrina means 'wonderer', and it is reflecting on my other great obsession: traveling. It is very important for me to stay open-minded about foreign people and civilizations, and to maintain a free spirit. 

Meeting different cultures has a deep impact on me, and therefore my jewelry, too. This was the case with my still secret battle-project also. It's called Serendib, what is the ancient Arabic name of Sri Lanka. It will remind me forever of this little island, its friendly people, the tea plantations and the mountains, the sunny beaches and the Buddha-statues. I hope you will like it :)