First off- it is unbelievable how quickly half of this semester is over. I am just a step away from graduation and it is a scary excitement. Seeing the outcome of *half* of this project I am a little less scared. I know I got this! After a long time I am truly satisfied with what I created. Of course I could have done it differently, tweaked it a little here and there, maybe could have dedicated more time to the finishing, but looking at it as a whole the bracelets are not bad at all.
I love the turquoise one more than the plum. It held its structure better. I figured that even though the top layer for both pieces was tulle, the blue was different than the pink. Somehow the pink lost its strength after boiling. I do not understand why because it was all done in the same pot simultaneously and it was exactly the same material just in different colours. Maybe their internal compositions were different. I did not notice this when I had experimented them separately, but when placed together the pink one looks clumsy. This was the only little technical difficulty that really irked me.
Moving Forward...
I feel I have my bases clear but a lot more can be improved. I want to work on the concept now. I will be dedicating more time developing the forms of the pieces and basically questioning every decision I make from here on. Why a circle and not a square, which part of the body it goes on? I do not want to make a shape that is just pretty, every part of the piece should have a meaning behind it. I am currently reading about mindfulness and trying to extract some kind of imagery. This imagery will transform into shapes and forms later.
In terms of materials, I will still be working with shibori. Probably a different kind of texture. I would also try to incorporate natural dyes into the making. So in contrast to 'one by one', some muted colours can be expected from the next pieces. I will spend this week sketching out some ideas and seeing how things can fit together.
I love making big neckpieces but it is not always up to the mark, I know my natural tendencies will sway me to that side and I will consciously try to avoid it unless I have a fool-proof plan. In terms of the scale of the pieces I would not want to make it too big to I can focus on the finer details and finishings.