Showing posts with label Celtic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celtic. Show all posts
Ravenclaw pendant. Wayland's feather
3/27/2014
Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.
Rowena Ravenclaw
Handmade silver pendant inspired by Ravenclaw - one of the four houses of Hogwarts from J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter". The shape and texture of the feather refers both to the eagle- symbol of the house, and to the raven- patronus of its founder. The pendant is adorned with a small blue sapphire and hand formed Celtic triskel symbol.
Triskelion, through the position of its three spiral branches, imitate the constant forward motion and symbolizes the progress, process of learning and self-improvement. In the context of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the three spirals can be seen as symbolical representations of intelligence, wisdom and creativity - main traits valued by Rowena Ravenclaw and prized in her house.
In the future, I'm going to make a similar pendant in bronze, to reflect Ravenclaw's official colours - bronze and blue - more appropriately. However, silver colour of the feather is also meaningful. My main inspiration for this exact pendant was "The Ravenclaw's Skylark" fanfiction series written by Bastet- one of the very first fanfic I have ever read and - thanks to the unique, truly magical atmosphere and wonderful character creations - the only one that permanently influenced my personal vision of Hogwarts. I can't imagine Aurora Sinistra any other way ;) I love Bastet's conception of Ravenclaw common room's windows scattered with painted ravens. One of them is white... and in fact, he is more than just a painting. His feather refers to one of my favourite chapters in the story, which tells about the secrets of magical pictures, portraits and above all - one special gobelin.
In omnia paratus...
As far as I know, Bastet's fanfiction is not translated and is available only in Polish:
Gates of Doriath
3/27/2014
Necklace made by hand out of fine silver, sterling silver and labradorites, inspired by the forests of Doriath from J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Silmarillion" and "The Children of Hurin". Doriath was the realm of Sindar - Grey Elves - ruled by Elu Thingol and Melian the Maia.
The necklace is adorned with two trees, which branches and roots are interlacing into Celtic triquetra knots. At some angles, the dark green stone you can see in the center flashes light, warm shades of green. Thanks to its unusual inclusion, sometimes you can see also a line of light blue colour on its left side. Is this Luthien dancing...?
I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold...
8/28/2013...and leaves of gold there grew.
Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew.
Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew.
Small openwork pendant showing two pleached mallorn trees. Made by hand of fine silver, sterling silver and golden labradorite.
Lothlórien - the Golden Wood - has always been my favourite elven realm and this is certainly not the last piece inspired by this wonderful, dreamy place :)
Moonlight Forest
8/07/2013
This piece was inspired by the beauty of nature as well as by J.R.R. Tolkien's prose. I wanted it to have an elven feel, and to show the atmosphere of the forest glad (or path?) lighted by moonlight.
The pendant was made totally by hand of fine silver, sterling silver and moonstone. It's oxidized and polished. And I'm quite proud I managed to make a small triquetra symbol out of the trees' roots ;)
Trinity of leaves
7/27/2013
And finally something new- my first attempt at making Celtic knotwork pendant :) This is a triquetra, which was known in Celtic as well as Germanic traditions and later- like many other pagan symbols- has been adapted into Christianity. Triquetra has many meanings, both religious (depends on beliefs- the Blessed Trinity, the three stages of the Triple Goddess- Maiden, Mother, and Crone, and many others) and non-religious ones. As a knot without beginning or end, it represents infinity, eternity and interconnectedness of all things. Triquetra can also be seen as a promise of love, honour and protection, and therefore it is commonly engraved on the engagement or wedding rings in Ireland.
My pendant is not perfectly symmetrical, but still I think this is technically the best piece of jewellery I made so far- the knot wasn't cracking while I was working on it and the leaves are more detailed and look much better than in my previous projects. I oxidized and polished it to better expose the symbol. And I can already see tons of possibilities of using knotwork designs in the future- so exciting! :)
