One of my favourite parts of the jewellery making process is rendering a design as a tiny painted work of art. I love the almost draughtsman like quality of jewellers paintings, drawn to scale, with views of the different elevations, but brought to life with colour and depth.
My chosen tools for creating these minatures is textured pastel paper, designers gouache, various brushes, a geometry set, silence and a scented candle to set the mood.
The paper is very important. Pastel paper is dyed various colours, from buff right through to black. It helps to use coloured paper as it makes the gold look three dimensional and the gemstones sparkle!
Designers gouache is also the best paint medium (in my experience) as it can be applied opaque or thinned and treated as though it were water colour for a myriad of effects.
Once the painting is finished, it is used as the pattern for the finished piece.
We love hand made jewels at Parisi Jewellery. There's something so personal and intimate about a piece that has been designed and crafted, from scratch, by a human being.
Our new Elements Collection which launches soon, is all hand made and uses gemstones that are natural and unusual. For a sneaky peak, have a look at our Pinterest board:
http://www.pinterest.com/parisijewellery/elements-collection/
