Back after a long involuntary break…

After being cured (hopefully) from a life threatening disease I wanted to create s.th. very special and also very challenging. Not for sale!! Just for me and myself. This is the result.

As silly as it may sound, but for many, many years I have been wanting to make a medallion. Never kind of had the time. For inspiration I looked at various designs….but in the end I did it almost like in trance and it turned out to be very different from what I have ever seen. The medallion is rather big, the side length being 60mm.

Once opened it reveals a photograph which can also faintly be seen through the intricate leaf filigree work. This kind of filigree art work is reminiscence to a place I visited several times while staying in India: Fatehpur Sikri, close to Agra, which itself is known for the Taj Mahal.

The back plate of this ornament has a bronze OM sign in Bengali scripture. Om is often placed at the beginning of most Hindu texts or prior to any prayer or mantra.

To complement this necklace I made a ring where I repeated the filigree work and also added bronze leaves on one side of the ring-band.

These 2 ornaments have several hundred leaves. To be precise: 323 of them. It was incredible labour-intensive. Though most people would suggest this repetitive work could be boring, I took it as a form of rehabilitation and meditation, where I have to focus on the moment.

And it truly was a labour of love.
I wear it as often as possible.

It draws a lot of attention because it is a little bit mystic with the lacey silver curtain that reveals only a hint of what is behind it...