Sunday, February 10, 2019

Arabian Nights and some Zardozi

Spin me a story and I may never sleep again............or kill you, for that matter.......
THAT was the origin of the 1001 tale of Arabian Nights and well, the Emperor did fall in love with his quick witted and smart Queen eventually........
This necklace has an almost equally enchanting story behind it.......while we were going through Victorian beads at an alarming rate, Preethi expressed a desire to have a set made using those beads. We had made so many Tanjore pieces for her already (Tanjore being the design we were pairing Victorian beads with) that it was foolhardy to attempt yet another one and look/sound repetitive. We begged Preethi to allow us to experiment with a new technique and after a spread of choices was laid out for her, she went for Zardozi! When you mentin Zardozi, the first thought that comes to your head is flowy silks, rich golden embroidery, pearls, precious stones and Princesses!
We have tried to bring that grand vision to 3-dimensions, incorporating the "richest" elements we possessed - Swarovski pearls, Swarovski crystals, high gloss mica powders and of course, our finest skills........The "fish-like" entangled piece takes inspiration from the Japanese shibori ribbons, sans the ribbed texture. We've gone for a more 'fluid silk' texture and given faux-sequinned look using polymer clay and a smattering of aztec gold mica. When it comes to the zardozi look, we can only describe it as self-inflicted pain that we quite enjoyed :D Line by line, the 'threads' were precisely cut, assembled and highlighted. Some serious swarovski crystal embedding later, this has surely become THE creation of all creations for us!





And, of course, when he's asked to "dress properly" he dresses like a band-baaje wala :D AND loves photobombing Mumma's photos :D