Dear readers, it is done now - my third show at Raintree, my own personal little battle of Agincourt, and hard work it was too. This time around, Mike cheered me on from afar as he stayed in the UK, but I was ably supported by my friends Aishwarya, Rachel, Sheela, my sister in law Anu and my mother, and I am exceedingly grateful to them for all their help. As usual, the main fly in the ointment was my inability to accept credit cards - card readers have only just become available in the UK but unfortunately the UK readers cannot be used internationally. Alas, India has a way to go to catch up, although it won't be long now. I had a great time meeting a whole load of people and will have to keep the stories till I get back to the UK. Here are a couple of pictures from the event. One of the ladies who bought a necklace from the exhibition did me the honor of wearing it the next day to a party - the inimitable Rubi Chakravarti. She is a "Theatre Afficianado, International Stand-Up Comedian & Performing Artist, Actor, Columnist, Writer, Corporate Nuturer and Activist. Internationally Validated by BBC as one of the Top 100 Women to have made a difference in the year 2014 and selected by Salt magazine as among the 100 of the greatest female change agents of 2015". I enjoyed looking at that picture especially as the necklace is called 'Forever in Blue Jeans' . As soon as the exhibition was done with, I flew out to Jaipur to buy some supplies which is why the blog is out later that usual. I am due to go back to Bangalore tomorrow and have spent the day combing the back streets of the Chameliwala market where the jewellery wholesalers live and work. I will tell you all about it later when I get back t the UK at the end of next week.
Until them, have a great week and I'll catch you next week, perhaps a bit later than usual, byeeee xx
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Hello all you Caprilicious women out there, I hope you are all relaxed and ready for the weekend, ready to go partying in your statement jewellery. I have some exciting news this week - Caprilicious is due to have a second exhibition in January 2015. I am negotiating with the good people of Raintree, where I had my first exhibition, to find us a suitable weekend at the end of January when I am due to be in Bangalore visiting with my mother. Lipstick on your CollarThat's right, I've made this necklace before - last time, I used the jasper I acquired from my friend BN with a coral pink howlite - I happened to have some pale, blush pink howlite lying around and a few black veined jasper beads left over from last time and they just seemed to cry out to be put together. I am by no stretch of imagination a 'pink' person, but I just love the combination of pink and grey/black - very cool and sophisticated. You wouldn't catch me in a pink outfit though - one has to draw the line somewhere! There are plenty of greys, blacks and whites in my wardrobe that could be accesorised beautifully by this necklace when I take it out for it's test run. ParadisoFor the longest time, I thought seahorses were mythical creatures, like unicorns, phoenix', dragons, dinosaurs and pixies - only kidding, honest. I love the little critters, they are the cutest and I am always on the look out for them. I found an aventurine carved into a seahorse, so smooth and shiny - an instant love affair. With a little wire bail, and the addition of agates and glass beads as well as pearls, it was transformed into a cruisers necklace - or for someone going on a holiday to an island paradise. I used the colours in this photograph to make this necklace. SalomeDo you know the story of Salome?? It is from the New Testament - Salome, who by all accounts was a raving beauty and a femme fatale, who is hailed as the embodiment of female seductiveness and an icon of sensuality , did the Dance of the Seven Veils at her step fathers birthday bash - he offered her anything her little heart desired, and Salome, being as thick as two short planks, looked to her mom for an answer. Her mom had dumped her first husband, and married his brother - she was extremely put out that John The Baptist had denounced her marriage as unlawful; and he didn't just say it once - he raved and ranted and denounced her from the rooftops, unfortunately prophets just don't seem to know when to stop - to silence him she decided to get her daughter to demand that John be beheaded. Salome could have asked for anything - gold, diamonds, pearls - but being a bit sweet and unworldly, she said 'what shall I ask for mommy??' and chose to obey her mother. The king had no choice but to behead the hapless John and present her with his head on a plate. But on Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before them: and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath, to give her whatsoever she would ask of him. But she being instructed before by her mother, said: Give me here in a dish the head of John the Baptist. And the king was struck sad: yet because of his oath, and for them that sat with him at table, he commanded it to be given. And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. My necklace is named Salome - I'm sure it wouldn't have looked out of place during the Dance of the Seven Veils - men will lose their heads over the wearer - but hopefully in a nicer way than poor old John. I've tried to put nuances of sensuality and fiery desire into this magnificent necklace and the haematite gleams brightly in contrast to the hand carved black jade and the paisley howlite beads in the second strand of this piece. Warrior PrincessHer face is hand carved of ox bone, she wears a sterling silver and marcasite helmet, her helmet straps are fastened and she looks calm, yet resigned, as if off to do battle for a cause she believes in, wearing her regalia. A beautiful faceted citrine teardrop dangles below her chin - she is The Warrior Princess. I teamed her with citrine and carnelian freeform nuggets, pearls and blue goldstone beads to make this piece. Now that I've decided that there will be an exhibition, a bit of anxiety has started to creep up on me - yes, I know I'm being silly, and that I have five months to go - but I'm just a ' have everything ready ahead of time' type . So, I made some earrings - they will go on the website, and eventually make their way to the exhibition, or not, as the case may be - but at least I will have them ready in time. These are sweet, and helped me watch one of my favourite movies 'The English Patient' for the n'th time as my pliers moved rhythmically along with the soundtrack. And then, with mental calm restored, now that I have enough earrings, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the truly righteous. Now all I have to do is to remember to carry them along - one time I did a jewellery party at my friend Gerry's house, and I left all my earrings and other little bits behind in the cupboard at home. That's all for this week, folks, I hope you have enjoyed looking at my bits and bobs - if you have, do leave me a message - I'm beginning to think I'm talking to myself. One of my kittens, Wilfred has found a spool of wire and is chasing it around the room, whilst Charlie has bumped into a wall and got a huge bruise on his nose - £50 to the vet and a clutch of tablets later ( I'm so in the wrong profession), he looks like a rugby player after a particularly violent scrum. Thankfully he is a kitten and not a child, or they would have had me up for non accidental injuries! Catch you next Friday, same time, same place xx Hello, readers, here we are in downtown Pune, or Poona, as it was originally known. I thought I'd give you a quick update on the preparations for the forthcoming exhibition. I already had so much planned for the three weeks while I visited with my family, that adding a jewellery exhibition to my frenzied schedule seems like an act of masochism. The first hurdle was to pack all my jewellery as best I could, and then hope that it all made it to the other side in one piece. It took me a while to muster up the courage to open my cases, but by and large, everything was intact - thanks to the guy who invented bubble wrap, no doubt. I had picked out a venue, sight unseen, but when I got to it, didn't think that Caprilicious would fit the ambience of the place which was heavily laden with Indian antique furniture. A quest for another venue took us to Raintree, an old Raj style bungalow, renovated beautifully with dedicated exhibition space. Once we settled on that, the machinery was cranked up to a dull roar - posters, invitations, packaging, phone calls, mailing lists - OMG! my feet haven't touched the ground. This colonial style 75 year old "bungalow" with its beautiful garden and shop space was a dream-location for a show. The owner is ever so obliging, and bent over backwards to help in any way she could. Neelam Modi, my advertising whiz kid friend remade my invitation for me, and the cards have now been posted out. I have had a restful couple of days with my sister, and will go back to Banglore, refreshed, to sort out yet more of the minutiae - before I have a short trip to Bangkok - the hard life of a jet setter! I don't know how they cope - I am going to need another holiday once this one is done. I did have time to pick up some delightful silver beads to bring back home with me, and will be on the look out for more. I'd best go now - to get on the flight back to Bangalore and sink my teeth into yet more preparation for Caprilicious' big day. Thanks for stopping by, and do keep everything crossed for Caprilicious, wont you?? Catch you next week, same place, same time
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