Let's talk about...Jewellery

I'm going all out today, to get as much blog updates as possible, so here it is. The new and exciting HSBC Time Capsule Competition.
What is it? Well maybe a bit of background to it.

 So I wasn't sure about partaking, but it is such a huge opportunity, to not only design for client as big as HSBC, but also go down in history - plus you are expected to use ArtCam, which as you know, I love a lot. So I started some development...








So far so good - it's definitely a busy holiday, but I can't say that I'm bored!

Previously I talked about art medals and now I will talk about my own art medal that I made way back in HND 1. As part of casting project I was to design and carve out an art medal in wax. As a bonus, best wax designs were to be selected for casting in bronze and sent off for BAMS competition. My design was lucky enough to be selected and although I didn't win the competition, there is nothing quite like the joy of seeing your art medal in metal.

Because the project was split into two parts - an art medal and 12 link cast bracelet, I was really struggling with the theme of my art medal. What was it that I wanted to convey in my art medal? What did I feel strongly about? What sort of imagery I wanted to use? Symbolism?
All of these questions I couldn't answer, but I kept on drawing and brainstorming ideas. I knew I wanted to use nature to portray something, but I had no idea what. From brainstorm, I narrowed my themes down to exploitation of children in war, and that theme evolved into topic of girls being forced to grow up too quickly. I felt that it is issue that isn't mentioned often, but the fact remains that media surrounding us, environment and peer pressure often causes the girls to become women way too quickly. They don't have enough time to enjoy being children, before being an adult.
 I chose cherry blossoms as symbol of femininity and innocence. Their fragility and the way they are beautiful for such a short amount of time before wilting away fit perfectly with my theme. The front also features a caption "Like flowers, but pressured to bloom".
The caption came from short poem I wrote:
"Like flowers we bloom
Growing too fast
Hunted by pressure"
The back features sitting girl, one of those 'pressured to bloom'.

Below is final rendering of my design and actual art medal.

With British Art Medal Society (BAMS) competition approaching and in order to raise awareness and provide inspiration for students, School of Jewellery became a host to a one day symposium dedicated to art medals. The event titled "Art Medals - History, Philosophy and Practice" took place on 4th November 2015 and I was fortunate enough to attend it (well half of it at least).
Speakers whose lectures I got a chance to see were Janet Larkin and James Barker.
 I learned a lot about art medals and I'll start sharing that knowledge with answering the very first question popping into mind.

What is an art medal?

When we say medal we might think of military medals received for service in army, or medals handed out on sports events to winners. In its purest form, art medal is a small sculpture you can hold in your hand, made from metal, usually circular, with relief on front and back and meaning conveyed through imagery and text.



What is most often an inspiration behind an art medal?

Art medals can be about anything that means something to the creator. They can be commissioned of course, as they often were in the past. In fact earliest use of art medal was to enhance reputation of leading figures or as a gift for someone with power. Often featuring portraits of emperors, kings and queens, they preserved their likenesses for years to come. Today of course, inspiration behind it broadened; they can be historical, commemorating an event, sending political messages or conveying issues. They can be a memorial to favourite literary or drama piece, landscape or even something very personal to you.



What are the beginnings of an art medal?

Art medals originated from 15th century Italy. As I already mentioned they were used to enhance reputation of leading figures and often commissioned as a gift for people with power. The front - obverse - of the medal would usually show sculpted portrait and the back - reverse- virtue of that person shown through symbolism.



It's impossible to mention beginnings of an art medal without talking about Pisanello (1395 -1455) also known as Antonio di Puccio Pisano - one of the most distinguished painters of the early Italian Renaissance and very accomplished medallist (2 images above, on the right and 2 images below are his work).

Art Medals in England - these two images of art medals show Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Tudor - the amount of detail is astonishing!


Beautiful medal below shows Marc Antonio Memmo Duke of Venice from 1612. Damask texture of clothing on this medal is incredibly realistic - especially considering the time period. One can only admire talent and dedication of the artist who made it.


Some art deco medals:
Medals with political messages: Dance of Death 1917, We know who you are by Cornelia Parker and CDM - Collateral Damage Medal by Steve Bell.
New Home?  and Am I skinny enough?

                        as well as You Will Be My Death


BAMS - British Art Medal Society started its work as promoters of medallic art in 1982. BAMS is run by volunteers; they organize tours and private views. Visit their gallery to see just how diverse art medals can be. Be on the lookout for their magazine released twice in a year.
And most of all -