Thing To Do Today

(pic via ffffound)

I'm Twittering. Or is it Tweeting?

Whatever it is, I've gone and done it. So please drop by and follow. It's www.twitter.com/pearlbhasin.

I suppose they're like itty-bitty blogs, right? I'm just wondering how much can I actually say in my tweets. My life isn't all that interesting, really...

"Taking Them Two to taekwondo".

"Taking Them Two to ballet."

"Crafting, crafting, crafting."

"Healing with some Heineken."

"Yoga-ing..."

We'll see...


(pic of Bette Calman, aged 83, via Daily Mail)

Kids' stuff

The boutique that I sell some of my more high-end stuff at, colette, is branching out to serve the posh little babes of their loyal fabulous shoppers. little colette opens this week at Paragon, and I was asked if I could come up with fun jewelry for little fashionistas.

So I banged up a few of these. They're mostly dyed jade and agates. But I really like how the faceted white glass bead makes things 'pop'. And those little charms... what is it about charms that little girls are so enthralled with? Ruhi has already hijacked 3 bracelets before these even launch...

Scenes from Our Picnic at the Botanic Gardens

Those Two take Sophie on a social...

... while we get nicely beer-ed up.

Roast chicken, salad, cold cuts, fresh baguettes, homemade chocolate cake, beer, wine...

...yes, we do love our picnics at the Botanic Gardens. :)

Gratuitous fabulous jewelry pic

Marie Antoinette's pearls, set with diamonds and rubies. Fabulous as it looks, it failed to sell at a 2007 Christie's auction.

(pic via W magazine)

Kate Says

A few months back, Kate Moss, and her tummy (seen distinctly through some Topshop staple cotton tee), were spotted shopping in London, which sparked rumours that our favourite waif was pregnant with her second child.

Rumours that even her closest friends were sure were true. Because, how else could THE Kate Moss, superwaif-poster-child-of-heroin-chic, possibly look so, well, fleshed out?

Our Kate puts the whole preggers rumour to rest in February's issue of New York magazine. Turns out, she's just growing up. In a wannabe-article that's actually an aimless re-hash of a rambling chit-chat between our Kate and Mr. Topshop Sir Philip Green, Kate cites growing older as the reason for her body change.

She even goes as far to quip that she had never had to wear a bra until very recently. "Never worn a bra", ladies, and her boobs still look like this. In the case of us mere mortals, never wearing a bra until age 30-something will result in super saggy (and not to mention, flappy) sacks.

But, God being unfair aside, what I sense is this: "Kate is in. Kate is fat. So fat is in." Well, fat in relative terms. Really, Kate Moss has never looked this chunky. AND she's looking good. So yes, God IS unfair.

Look at those mini muffin-tops threatening to bloom into proper lurve-handles, over the waistband of her Topshop shorts. And those slightly pudgy arms across her new-found boobs. If Kate Moss is fat, then fat never looked so good.

If she can get away with being 5' 7" and walk the runway, and being caught on tape snorting cocaine as a single mum, earning obscene amounts of money for just looking into the camera, what is a few extra pounds? If ever there was anyone to stand up and say "fat is in", it would have to be Kate Moss.

And what about this flat-butt-beer-belly look? Super! I, personally, RAWK the flat-butt-beer-belly look. If this is in, I am SO in! Now, if Kate were to get some serious tattoos, and be photographed leaving her house in some ubiquitous men's T-shirt, with baggy 3-quarter cut-off jeans, and banged-up Birkies, I'll be HOT STUFF!

So, all you skinny-mini's out there, you guys ain't so hot anymore. It's time to give in to all those random munchies, start the supper-and-nightcap habit of chips and Heineken. And in no time, you too could be looking like Kate Moss.

(pics from New York magazine)

William Morris at Prada

I have blogged about being a sucker for patterns. And no self-respecting sucker for patterns can deny the absolute genius that is William Morris.

From the looks of Prada's 2010 Resort Collection, I gather our Miuccia is also one such self-respecting sucker...

I'll be relaxing this weekend...

...not necessarily by the pool. But now that the KL shipment is out, I am taking some timeout to let the fingerjoints recover, and completely chill out with These Two.

Makes Me Chuckle

(pic via ffffound)

Whatchamacallit

I really should be naming my pieces...

It just gives it so much more character. Thing is, the only real reason why I think I haven't been doing so, is because I am afraid it'd be the wrong name(!!). I'm afraid the name might not do the piece justice.

But then again, naming a piece just brings out the whole spirit of the piece. And whether it's the right name or not, is not really the point here, is it? Hmm... a double-duh moment for me right there.

I'm going to make a few examples, and perhaps egg myself on a bit by putting name to picture:

"Lilith"

"Tabitha"

"Isha"

"Miranda"

What do you think?

When Them Two Do Their Own Hair...

...it's picture-worthy puzzlement.

Nyes.

New stuff for colette

Totally inspired by Basso and Brooke's scheme...

... can you tell? Heh heh.

This luscious number is of dyed jade, sandstone, cherry quartz, Swarovski pearls, onyx and aventurine, with vermeil. It was exhilarating to craft, because I am so impressed and inspired by the colours at Basso and Brooke. I am going to pick another dress to translate into another wraparound. Or maybe this time I should try a triple-strand choker. Or maybe a festooned bib necklace. Hmm...

New stuff for KL

Here's some of the designs that are going to KL this weekend. This is probably my last shipment, until the launch of a cohesive collection in October, that will last 3 months.

So I am scrambling to get as many out as possible, before I take a short breather. And then throw myself into research and studies, before I have to design and craft up over 40 styles for the new collection.

Should be interesting... It's such a big challenge for me, but I am so much looking forward to see how this first proper collection turns out. I just hope the lovely people who have been buying MAYA & RUHI will think it's great too...

I'm Dreaming Of A Proper Workstudio/Office...

... again.

I really just need a space where I can focus. Right now I craft on the dining table, and computer which is smack behind the sofa, which is smack in front of the TV. Yes it is a tiny little apartment, and I am always in the line of fire of Hurricane Maya & Ruhi. I just wish I had some place to go and just shut everything and everyone out, even if it's just for one solid hour. I just know I'd be so much more focussed, so much more productive, so much more - well, I don't mean to sound like some spoiled artist type, but - happy.

Gorgeous little home offices aren't they? Which one would you like to come by to discuss your next MAYA & RUHI commission? Or just drop by and hang out? :)



(pics from the nest)

Ongoing Commission

A luscious freshwater pearl cuff... so elegant, and swoon-worthy. This design and techinique was created by a prolific jewelry artist named Eni Oken, and I had used it before on the Wedding Party Set (gosh, I'm not very creative with the names huh?), which was packed with amethysts, pink sapphires, onyx and pearls, and it turned out fabulously diva-esque.

This pearl number, however, is turning out completely different, even with the same desgin concept. It just looks so delicate, so romantic. Plus it has a somewhat bohemian sophisticate feel about it with the way the freshwater pearls are slightly irregular in shape, yet it's fabulously luxe at the same time. :)

I should be done with this pretty soon. Will post pics of finished product... ;)

Makes Me Laugh

The Red Commission

When you get a brief like "as long as there is red in it", it pretty much is an artist's dream.

This piece is of faceted coral, howlite, Swarovski pearls, clear quartz, brown freshwater pearls, and vermeil. I really like how the the entire look is substantial yet delicate, with the wireworked coral. The coral beads are a sumptuous red, and the wirework gives it a more airy, romantic look, as opposed to being strung up and packed up against it each other.

Wireworking is so much more labour-intensive, but luckily, I am able to go at it in a relatively therapeutic manner. With my trusty companion, The Style Network. ;)

I also really love how there is that balance/play of the facets of the coral, the sheen of the pearls, and the transluscent bling of the clear quartz. It's one of my basic principles that I always try to have in all my work.

On top of that, I am also very pleased with how the classic nautical colour combo of red, white and blue is upscaled and made even more classic, with the ornate gold bits and the elegant design.

I am so loving how this has turned out. I literally danced in the artistic freedom, and am so thankful to my lovely client for having such faith in my art.

And now, for matching earrings... :)

Ophelia by John Everett Millais

This is Ophelia. Painted by John Everett Millais between 1851-52. Millais was part of the seven member Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of painters, poets and art critics whose main philosophy was filled with principles of realism and observations of Nature. They based their work heavily on the ideas of John Ruskin, the English art critic and theorist, who encouraged painters to 'go to Nature in all singleness of heart, rejecting nothing, selecting nothing, and scorning nothing.' But that's a whole other post...

The woman lying in the water, in the painting, is Ophelia. She is the lovelorn character in Shakespeare's Hamlet, who goes mad and drowns in the river. In the play, it is never quite determined whether it was a suicide or accident. And even on stage, it is never played out, and only referred to in conversation between her brother, Laertes, and Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude.


Hamlet, Act 1V, Scene V11

Laertes

"Drowned! O, where?"

Queen Gertrude

"There is a willow grows askant the brook,
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream.
Therewith fantastic garlands did she make
Of crowflowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do dead-men's-fingers call them.
There on the pendent boughs her crownet weeds
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke,
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook.
Her clothes spread wide,
And mermaid-like awhile they bore her up;
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes,
As one incapable of her own distress,
Or like a creature native and indued
Unto that element.
But long it could not be
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pulled the poor wretch from her melodious lay
To muddy death."

Laertes

"Alas, then she is drowned?"

Queen Gertrude

"Drowned, drowned."

She died singing a crazed little ditty! :( How tragic is that?? Breaks. My. Heart.

Now let's look into the painting of the painting. Millais was said to have painted the river and the surrounding first, on location, at Hogsmill River in Surrey, England. His attention to detail is legendary. Apparently, he was known to apply a magnifying glass to a tree to capture the texture of the bark.


Then he moved his work into the studio, where he painted Elizabeth Siddal in. She was a glorious muse of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, and wife of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a founding member of the Brotherhood.

So glorious was she, that when she died, Rossetti decided to bury a few of his unpublished poems along with her, and no copies. After seven years, he decided to retrieve the poems and had to exhume her grave. And it was said that her body was remarkably preserved, her beauty in tact, and that her flaming red hair had grown and filled the coffin! But, again, that's a whole other post...



It is said the model, our Lizzie, had to lie in a bathtub of water fully dressed, almost every other day, throughout the winter of 1851, for this painting. Millais put lamps and candles under the tub in order to keep the water lukewarm. Eventually, the poor woman came down with pneumonia. Now that's what I call suffering in the name of art. :S Millais remained the gentleman, and took care of her medical bills.

This painting is one of my all-time faves because it moves me on every level. The subject, the story about and behind it, the organic art philosophy, the raw technique, the goddess-like composition, the dank yet rich colours, and the photographic accuracy, in terms of visual and emotion. It makes me cry, and takes my breath away, at the same time. Absolutely out-of-this-world.



(pics from Tate)