Fa setmanes vaig descobrir aquesta arquitecta d’Atenes que fa unes joies amb polimer clay combinades amb pedres naturals precioses. Inspirades amb la natura, les flors i llavors, les seves peces tenen un màgia molt especial.
Some weeks ago I discovered the works of this Athens based architect, she makes beautiful jewelry with polymer clay combined with natural stones. Inspired with nature, flowers and seeds, her pieces have a special magic.
Influeciada pels seus estudis de Teologia, simbols antics religiosos i motius tribals, Sanktoleono crea un nou univers de peces barrejant objectes antics amb moderns, plomes i pedres en brut. Unes peces increïbles, crec que no podré resistir la temptació de comprar-me unes de les seves arracades!
Influenced by a background in Theological studies, ancient tribal religious symbols and tribal motifs, Sanktoleono create a new univers of pieces mixing vintage and modern objects and feathers with raw natural gemstones. She makes amazing jewelry and I’m tempted to buy her one of her gorgeous earrings!
Break a stone Break the rules Break anything that stands in the way!
Avui he descobert aquesta dissenyadora d’Atenes i m’encanten les seves joies on combina els teixits i el metall. Genial!
I just discovered this Athens designer and I love the combination she makes of fabric and metal. Amazing!
When did you decide to become a jeweler?
I have always made things with my hands. Embroidery, sewing, knitting, crafting, drawing and painting gave me a lot of pleasure when I was growing up. However, I did not pursue a Fine Arts Degree. At university, I studied Literature and particularly the Classics. After completing my studies, I began teaching college and at the same time got drawn into learning the basics of jewelry making. In 2004, I stopped teaching and started taking classes in metalsmithing. I became fascinated by the way a goldsmith can transform inert metal into an object of beauty. In November 2010, I established my studio Kosmimata.
Where does your inspiration come from?
I am inspired by the amazing jewels produced by the civilizations that flourished around the Mediterranean basin in ancient times. The way the craftsmen of old achieved such a degree of perfection in their pieces using a few simple tools, their ingenuity and their skilled hands always poses a challenge to me as a goldsmith. In my work, I try to combine the traditional jewelry making techniques with innovative design. Currently, I am exploring the way granulation can be used to create shape and volume as well as embellishment.
Apart from creating jewels, how to you spend your time?
When I am not working in the studio, I read, listen to music, draw and paint. I improvise with a variety of embroidery stiches to be used in my jewelry and of late, I have started an art journal that reflects my love for crafting. I am also experimenting more and more with photography since I photograph my own pieces. Occasionally, it takes more time to take a very good picture of a piece than the actual making of it!
What jewel do you most cherish?
I cherish a filigree chain that I inherited from my great-grandmother. It dates from the 18th century and the craftsmanship on it is superb. It is a manifestation of the skill and the love of the craftsman who designed and made it. Whenever I get discouraged by technical issues in my work, I take it out, touch it and think that this piece was made only with gold wire, fire and unbelievable skill. It has become a kind of talisman.
Who is your ideal customer?
My ideal customer is someone who understands the degree of effort, skill and love that go into making a piece of jewelry. It is the customer who comprehends that the piece is the actual crystallization of a very complicated and long process that may start with an exciting abstract concept and end in a concrete, beautiful piece.
In five years I’d like to have “mastered” a number of techniques that will allow me full freedom with the metals I love to work with, namely gold and silver. I am interested in building a body of work that will be relevant to the present time but also represent, in terms of techniques and skill, a link to the jewelry making traditions of the past.
I am also exploring new ways to combine precious metals and textiles, as well as the untapped possibilities of metal clay.
Three jewelers whose skills and imagination I greatly admire are Chris Nelson, Lorena Angulo and Wanaree Tanner.
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Trobareu més informació sobre ella a la seva web, la seva botiga on-line, el Facebook, Flickr i Twitter.
You will find more information about her at her website, online store, Facebook page, Flickr and Twitter.
Niki Stylianou
Grècia, 1968
www.nikistylianoujewelry.com
nikistyl@artserve.net
M’agraden les noves peces de la Lila Ruby King, fa servir trossets de ceràmica que troba a la platja per muntar joies. Preciós!
I love the new pieces of Lila Ruby King, she uses small pieces of beach pottery to make her jewels. Beautiful!
La Mitsy, de ArtMind, és una ceramista de Bèlgica que fa unes peces inspirades en ocells, babushkas i textures. L’Anna, de Lilarubyking, és una joiera d’Atenes que té unes peces fantàstiques, de formes orgàniques i molt minimalistes. Les dues noies ens han escrit per informar-nos del seu projecte conjunt; joies amb peces de ceràmica. El resultat salta a la vista, unes textures molt suggerents ens evoquen a les formes que trobem a la naturalesa, treballades amb gran delicadesa i un minimalisme que les fan úniques. Bona feina noies, és espectacular!
Mitsy, from ArtMind, is a ceramic artist from Belgium which makes pieces inspired by birds, babushka’s and textures. Anna, from Lilarubyking, is a jeweler from Athens which has great pieces, with minimalist and organic shapes. Both have written to explain us their new project; jewellery with ceramic. The result is obvious, very suggestive textures to evoke the forms we can found in nature, worked with great delicacy and minimalism, that make them unique. Good job girls, it’s spectacular!
18kt Contemporary Jewelry 