Some time ago I purchased these simple halo headbands, thinking I would eventually do my own interpretation of the popular wisteria trellis kanzashi that is so famously associated with the maiko of Kyoto. I finally pushed myself to do it when for Anime North. It was the last piece that I finished before hopping on the plane to head to Toronto. I know I’m biased, but it’s one of those pieces that reminded me of why I do what I do. It turned out just how I wanted it to.
The Hobbit is one of my favorite books, and although I think of myself as more of a hobbit, I’ve always had a bit of a fascination with elves – and faeries. Brian Froud is one of my favorite artists, and the book Faeries (Brian Froud/Alan Lee) is probably the single biggest influence on my couture accessory work. My goal is always to create something that feels just a little bit surreal; items that feel like they might be a touch magical.
I think it’s the same approach that I take to life, in general. The world is beautiful and endlessly fascinating, and that it what I want to express and bring to the world with my art, and I think this piece does just that.
It’s silly, but for me the magical part of this piece isn’t in the holographic butterflies or the elegant sweep of the leaves and wisteria petals; it’s in the way that the twisted gold trellises flex with the headband. This was, for me, the trickiest part of this entire project. I always want my pieces to be as stable as possible, so having a piece with parts that intentionally move – and therefore risk being broken off – was nerve wracking. The flex was achieved by looping the ends of the gold glitter wire around the halo arch, before gluing the ends of the wire to the base of the headband that rests on the head. Gorilla glue was my friend here!
I’d also like to note that normally, I am not a big fan of making shidare – flowing, trailing petals. I tend to get a bit of a mental block around making them. That’s part of the reason that I wanted to do this piece; to challenge myself to do a piece that is almost exclusively made up of shidare. I thought it might help me move past this block.
I’m not entirely sure it worked as intended, but I’m still feeling a bit burned out after my tsumami zaiku making marathon over the last month or so. We’ll have to see how I’m feeling once the burnout has passed and it’s time to start working on new pieces again. As ever, now that I don’t have a big event coming up I feel just a bit rudderless. Not that I don’t have a whole host of projects I could be working on – because I do – but it’s always easier to push myself when there’s a looming deadline.
Anyhoo, that’s all I’ve got for today. 🙂 Thanks so much for reading and I hope you check back again soon for more crafty goodness!
