Dubai, 2012 : The Scientist within me demands self-expression. No, not through research writing in healthcare and biotechnology communications (for once!).

The Scientist in me wants to create. Design. Handcraft. Paint. Sculpt. Experiment. Discover. Explore. Fall in love with magical life in all its colourful magnificence.

That’s why I started crocheting these tiny sculptural pendants. While I came up with the mini-sculptures concept in December 2011, I struggled to find a Valentine’s twist to it. It was through a conversation with a business colleague Matt Farr, who runs a company called Mountain Quests,  that I had my ‘Eureka’ moment. During a meeting with the Mountain Man (I prefer to call him the “Pahad” Man, where “Pahad” means mountain in Hindi/Nepali) I discovered out that he had a degree in Chemistry. Suddenly, I had a ‘kindred’ spirit sitting in front of me, someone who had a science background, someone who loved to discover and explore.  And suddenly, the ‘Love Potion’ pendants concept was finalised.

Each pendant that I have wire-crocheted, looks like a conical flask that a chemistry or science student would be familiar with. I finished the pendants with a hand moulded and painted clay heart and the Love Potion is ready for any scientist in love this Valentine’s Day. The smallest pendant stands at 2.5 cm tall, followed by 3.5 cm tall pendants. I have even created 5 cm mini sculptures that can sit at your table with a bunch of handmade flowers or just on their own. These are made to order as I have limited stock to showcase at the ARTE handcrafted exhibition this Friday, 10th of February, from 12pm to 7pm at Times Square. (I discovered yesterday that there is a ‘rock climbing’ area at Times Square, next to Adventure HQ. I might try it out some day, to calm the adventurous Scientist called ‘me’.)

And if you don’t favour ‘love potions’ pendants or sculptures, perhaps the “Tears of Joy” ….

… Or Flowers around your neck may be of interest (to the ladies of course!).

Coming back to my ‘Eureka’ moment at a business meeting. It is very important for creatives to find time to network. Get out of your creative shell; you never know when you will find a solution to your creative problem or who/what will inspire you to climb every mountain towards another creative peak. (Ok, I happen to be watching the Sound of Music whilst typing this and feel inspired to write about climbing mountains).

Perhaps the scientist in me yearns for a bit of fresh mountain air. And who knows another sculptural idea about to be visualised.

New mini-sculptures which can be customised into pendants or mini home decor items. © Janys De

Dubai, 2012:  It was December 31^st  2011, five minutes countdown into the new year and I was at home. Whilst most people were at the Burj Khalifa waiting the fireworks, I was home alone, seated in my comfy armchair, meditating on the remaining minutes of 2011.

The fireworks at the Burj Khalifa ignited an unexpected stream of inspiration and I ended up creating mini-sculptural keepsakes. I used wire only to create my first ever mini-sculpture. The crochet technique is a new twist to the one that I’ve used previously. I have decided to try new crochet techniques this year – gives me a new lease for life with wire. And it gives my customers something new to crave for.

The good news with the mini-sculptures is that they can be adapted to the needs of the customer. The mini-sculptures can be made into pendants. They can be used to hold a love scroll (messages in a wire bottle – for Valentine’s day), or can be sculpted into bigger sculptures to be kept as a mini-showpiece. I love the clean lines of wire sculptures, minus the use of crystals and beads.

And that’s what I love about my life. In my early days as a science student, I spent hours in the labs dissecting a range of insects and animals (from rats, cockroaches and frogs) to a range of plants (for taxonomy classes). Thankfully, I did not venture into the area of dissecting humans (that’s why I escaped studying medicine, but chose a less intrusive way into medicine, through genetics). I’m even more grateful that I continue to experiment, these days, more in the arts and business areas. Learning new mixed media art techniques. Finding out there is more than one method of crocheting. Coming up with new ideas and designs (single handedly I must add). So whilst the journey can be a lonesome one (I do not have a sales and marketing team, neither do I have a team of artisans implementing my designs), I have my customers, supporters and well-wishers to thank for pushing me beyond the comfort zone and into Life with all its fireworks as resplendent as those of the Burj Khalifa.

This is what 2012 holds for Janys De – new techniques, new media, new stars to reach. What does 2012 hold for you?

PS: Visit Janys De at the ARTE souk on Friday, the 13^th of January 2012, at Times Square Centre, Dubai from 12pm-7pm, to view this mini-sculptural pendant as well as mixed media artwork on display.

When snowflakes fall gently. In my case, my new snowflake cufflinks landed with a thud on the floor

Dubai, 2011:  As usual, I was at this particular monthly exhibition, earlier than the rest, chiefly because it takes me 1 ½ hour to set up the table. This time I had to plan the table arrangement to a greater detail than usual, simply because I had the new mixed media pendants and cufflinks to display. And it can be tricky to display cufflinks in an effective manner.

So there I was, setting my table as a form of mindful meditation, so absorbed in the music of nature, with the birds chirping away and the soft cool December breeze tickling the trees. One minute, everything was peaceful, just nature and me. And the next minute, the table’s shade collapsed, and the supporting horizontal wooden pole landing on the left hemisphere part of my head.

I didn’t take it all in, when it happened. All I could remember was my new line of accessories had landed with an unremarkable thud on the floor – my hard work of the last few days, in a non-descript pile of nothing. Only then did I realise the extent of the damage to my head. No blood, no gore to speak, only stars and lightheadedness combined with weak legs. Thankfully, out of nowhere my fellow artisans had also started to arrive and one of them grabbed my stool and plonked me on it, while rubbing my head to help me out.

My palm tree cufflinks will surely be on display at ARTE soon.

A good half hour later, I may have recovered but what I think is a mild concussion helped me decide that packing my bags and returning home was the best thing to do. In any case, the whole purpose of this blog post is not to whine about my poor condition, but to highlight the help and assistance that the fellow artisans gave. Rebecca Bigler, who makes lovely embroidered work, packed my bags for me. She folded each display cloth material with great care and I know that when I next open my bags for the next fair this coming Friday, all will be in good shape.

My cloissonne style pendants - I love mixed media work

Sometimes when we are in the momentum of life we forget the little things that make a difference in our lives. It takes a hit on our head (although I would prefer not in the manner that I was bestowed the hit) to stop and take stock of our life situations and to remember that there are people who care for us. Strangers one minute, close helpers the next.

I would like to thank Rebecca for her assistance and dedication. Vandana, thank you for running to get help; Lianne, thanks for your concern. And Katarina, since we met a month ago, you have been really nice to me. Thank you for the gold leaf sample that I can try with my polymer clay work.

Life is a blessing even when it is hard; even when projects you are working hard at, crash to the floor (like my pendants and cufflinks line did). Take time to thank those who help you, stranger or ally.

(My last exhibition this year is at Times Square Centre, Sh. Zayed Road, on Friday, 9^th of December 2012. I will be seated upstairs. More details of the fair www.arte.ae)

It always starts with the client's gown

Dubai, 2011:  I love creating custom pieces for brides and wedding guests. So far, I’ve created the whole wedding jewelry set (including tiara) for an English bride and the bridal entourage. I created a wire crochet choker for a German client who was a wedding guest. I have made 3 jewelry sets for an Emirati client who was attending an Indian wedding (therefore the various jewelry pieces for the whole wedding). My latest commissioned adventure was for a wedding guest attending a wedding in Malaysia. Simple drop earrings and a focal pendant to go with the gown (photos shown).

Love the embroidery just below the gown's bust area!

Drop earrings. Yes, the circle motifs were wire crocheted with Swarovski crystals.

The wire crochet pendant

What I enjoy the most is the consultation part, where my client and I discuss the pattern and the design of the piece in conjunction with the dress or gown that is worn. These commissioned pieces are made using the wire crochet technique. Some of the pieces were featured in the Shoreline magazine, the Lloyds TSB bank international magazine.

This was the set worn by one of the bridesmaids for the English wedding. Photo copyright Johanna Ward, for Shoreline, Lloyds TSB Magazine

The wire crochet earrings in sterling silver - the other published piece. Photo copyright Johanna Ward, for Shoreline, Lloyds TSB Magazine

Sadly, I do not have the wedding and guest photos from the earlier commissions. They were before the advent of social media and blogs.

The other reason I may enjoy the consultation part is a chance to ‘play’ with fabric. My mother was a designer and stitched my clothes with such dedication, I wished I would be like her. Unfortunately my stint with fashion designing led to nought and while I love fabric, whether sheer silks or heavy brocade, I have resigned myself to handcrafted jewelry to go with the gowns.

Do not be surprised if I do take the plunge (no pun intended) and progress into fashion designing.

The new handpainted and resin paintings that I'm working on.

Dubai, 2011:  I am usually quite strategic as to where I network, who I network with, who I work with and which exhibitions I take part in. For a change, I wanted to take part in the Alliance Francaise fair. You never know who you will meet.

In my case, a big bunch of synchronicity happened. I was seated next to a lovely lady who was from the Netherlands. Maruskha Lebrun was also present. She is also from the Netherlands. I then bumped into Sandra Hermann, a talented photographer and fellow creative, for the nth time in the last one month. I discovered that she too is from Holland. And all this while it was quite strange that the first stamp pendant that I had created was from a Netherland stamp. Talk about serendipity. To top it all, I was writing an email to a fellow Netherland associate.

Of all the places (that is in the midst of Alliance Francaise), it felt like I was attending a Netherlands business council.

I experimented with raising the height to make space for my long necklaces to be displayed more appropriately. I have taken to making long necklaces specially for the tall women (perhaps a new niche market to work with). I think I may need to buy a few more bigger busts as I did end up piling a few necklaces on the same bust.

I rarely have the same presentation, even though I want to. The presentation time is usually a time for experimentation for me. The next fair that I’m taking part is at the Majlis Gallery on the 3^rd of December 2011 and then the week after at ARTE on the 9^th of December 2011 (you can read one of my very early posts on ARTE here).

I need to go now. Working on a wedding guest jewelry order, something that I like working on, especially the consulting part!

Click to view slideshow.

Long necklace for tall women studded with my wire crochet work

Dubai, 2011: I reached Bastakiya at 8 am and ready to set up my stand. It takes me 2 hours to set up, if I want to set it up right. It’s not about just the jewelry making and the accessories. It’s also about presentation.  I have written about Majlis Gallery here.

The other reason I take so long to prepare the presentation as well is that I use it as a mindful meditation process. Google ‘mindful meditation’ if you don’t know what it is. It’s a ‘power of now’ that I use when I create and when I set up my stall. I hate arriving half hour before the exhibition starts and be in such a frenzy that I affect the other vendors due to my negative energy and vibrations. In fact, 3 vendors didn’t turn up. So I was allowed to take on another table and showcase my work there, so in the end I had 2 tables with different setup.

The reason I started a blog for my handcraft is not because I have nothing to do in life, besides running 2 other online portals, the Cultural Arts Travelogue as well as the MedicalHealthWriter.com as well as my Dubai based writing business. Not to forget attending my weekly Referrals for Life ‘plus‘ community sessions and meeting clients.

The reason that I started this blog called Strictly come Crochet & Cufflinks is to record my hands on adventures in creating, designing as well as learning and improving. Of course, sharing information with all of you is as important as well. I also have people who want to subscribe to a Janys De newsletter, but I didn’t have one. So that has already been set up so that those who prefer to receive a newsletter in your mail box instead of subscribing to facebook or twitter, then this blog-newsletter has been done especially for you.

So here are some photos related to the Majlis Gallery fair of November 2011, to jump start the blog and the newsletter.

Click to view slideshow.