New collection, brooches, earrings, rings and necklaces

New collection, handmade earrings, rings, necklaces and brooches, powdercoated in black and white.

I finally have some of the pieces from my new Circus collection for 2014 available for sale in my etsy store. They are also available for sale at my studio in Limoilou (just contact me to make an appointment) and will be for sale at the Salon d’Artisanat Actual at Regart (in Lévis) on the 7th of December and at Salon Nouveau Genre at the church St-Jean-Baptiste on the 8th December.

large circle brooches in black and white, available for sale here

I am really excited to be able to get these pieces out before the holidays. I have taken a more sombre approach, focusing on form and structure and keeping my colour palette very limited.  I am using only four different powders for the powdercoating, matte black, glossy black, matte white and glossy white. I have used some gold leaf and pearls as accents to add a touch of colour and texture. Some of the pieces that are still to come incorporate chain and artificial hair.

feather cage earrings in black and white with gold leaf, available here

It has been a struggle trying to design more classic pieces, and I feel like the more I tried to push myself out of a certain comfort zone the more I enclosed myslef into old design habits. I returned to some familiar forms that I have used before, the circle necklaces I created for my 2013 collection were a big inspiration and I made brooches and earrings in the same style.

Circle necklace from the 2013 collection, black circle earrings from the 2014 collection, available here

It was my first time using gold leaf as well, and it was in some ways much simpler than I had expected and in others a complete nightmare. It is way messier than I would have thought, and takes some practice to be able to make an even layer. It does add a wonderful touch of gold to a piece that is not possible with just paint or pigment.

The form I like the best is the leaf shaped cage form that I have used in two pairs of earrings (both pairs are available in black and in white).  It is somewhat labour intensive to make each piece so I will be including it much more in my high end sister line to this one, which should be coming out sometime in the spring.

cage leaf earirngs in black and white with a touch of gold leaf, available here

I will be adding more pieces in the next couple of weeks, I have rings and necklaces that are almost ready to go plus more pieces with gold accents.

Overall I am happy with this new line, but am excited to be working on the larger one of a kind pieces that will accompany the 2014 line. Every Circus collection so far has had a sister line which I call the Sideshow, they are one of a kind pieces that higher end and more work intensive but are a joy to make and design. Generally the Circus line is derived from these pieces, this time I worked backwards coming out with the more inexpensive pieces first and the larger pieces after. I do have many many sketches and tests that are ready for the larger line as I worked on the design phase for both simultaniously.

I can’t wait to show these pieces to the public in the next couple of weeks and get some feedback!