May I present to you......

Since Octobre Parkwolf Jewels are promoted by tuxedoconfessions.com I am very proud to find my jewels next to the smart urban street-wear of Camilla Wellton, next to the funny unnecessary objects of Mitemite and the beautifull trousers of Tahir Sultan.


www.camillawellton.com

www.mitemite.es/

www.tahirsultan.com

Parkwolf Jewels, see more/buy at www.parkwolf.exto.nl

I used to be Russian

When I was a girl I had a beautifull wide red cotton skirt with richly colored decorated bands at the seam. It was made by the sisters of Casa Nova, a nunnery where my mother followed sewing classes. I felt like a gipsy in it.

I believe, if I had a previous live, I probably was russian. If there is one country to emigrate to it would be Russia for me. Then I would be a country woman. I would make clothes following old principles; simple patterns, lots of tissues of various patterns, lots of bright colours. And of course, all handmade!

It never came true. I’v never been in Russia. My longest eastern trip was to the Czech Republic. Beautifull though!

Yet I make colourfull jewels that show my liking for folklore. Can you imagine that I could not believe my eyes when I saw at Google:
http://shopper.ua/nggallery/post/ukrasheniya-ot-maria-van-aar/page-2/
I was very happy!

Parkwolf Jewels, see more/buy at www.parkwolf.exto.nl

Creepy Crawlers

This week I travelled to Lille for probably the largest flea market in Europe; la Braderie. Set in the very heart of Lille, over one million visitors swarm the streets to browse the never-ending stalls that line 200 km of pavements throughout old Lille.

I never have a purpose or a plan when I visit a flea market. An item just has to speak to me before I start a bidding. But after a few purchases a theme emerged; insects and other creepy crawlers. I scored at least 1 fly, 2 beetles, 3 salamanders and a spider. At home I found out that one of the brooches I bought is made of brass and two real insects; cetonia aurata, rose beetle or “gouden tor” in Dutch. And that in the late 1800’s, Darwin’s controversial theories on evolution and new botanical discoveries created a demand for jewelry made to look like animals or insects. Ladies would secure pieces of lace to their ensemble with a multitude of these small pins made to look like butterflies, housflies, beetles, etc.

I even read these beetles were kept alive. What to say about a report that I found on the internet by Abeo;

“I first saw a beetle brooch when I was in Mexico about 10 years ago. It was in a fine jewelry store in one of the shops in the city of Merida, Yucatan. The beetles are highly decorated with pieces of jade, gold, diamonds, silver etc... and they move so slowly that no one can really tell they are alive until they move a bit. They have a small chain that you attack on your clothes. They came with a little box you can store them in, you have to feed them so they won't die on you”

Hmmm, living jewelry, what to make of that?

Parkwolf Jewels, see more/buy at www.parkwolf.exto.nl

Heavy duty necklace (meneernouwen design)

Last month I got annoyed about my studio. Too little space? Too much stuff? Too chaotic?

My working method is like an adventure. When a new idea becomes a project it means a new gathering of materials, different tools and often a new organization of my space. And now the initial clear arrangement has gone. So; I started a major studio reorganization project.

I consulted my friend (after all I share my atelier whith him) and we came to a well planned scheme. We exchanged rooms, we cleaned up closets, we dragged away all sorts of things, drove several cars filled with junk to the recycling center, we made racks, tables and painted walls. This week we started, next week we will stop. We aim to have realized by then; a silversmithworkplace, a mood board with display table, one shared workstudio and a heavy duty photoworkplace for meneernouwen.

I hope my next blog will deal with my newest jewels!

Parkwolf Jewels, see more/buy at www.parkwolf.exto.nl

I've got the blues...

I found a new inspirational combination: peacock pearls and hematite. It reminds me of long dark nights, at a sidewalk cafe downtown, or under the stars at the beach. I'm using only the finest materials: smooth leather in different shades of bleu, silver, dark pearls and stones. I'm still thinking about a title for this new collection.
In a leather store in Belgium I found the softest leather, exactly what I wanted. I could not resist the crocodile!

More Grace+ variations

'Holy Rose'


'Lolita'


'Yellow Secret'

Waal-hunt

One of my favorite sports: treasure hunting at the Waal-side. Under the railway I found lots of beauties. Today I found this lovely piece of china:


At home I clean them up and add them to the collection of Waal-junk.

My bio Little Pony

'Frog Prince'
'And when the princess opened the door the frog came in, and slept upon her pillow as before, till the morning broke. And the third night he did the same. But when the princess awoke on the following morning she was astonished to see, instead of a frog, a handsome prince, gazing on her with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen and standing at the head of her bed'
Detail
'My Little Pony'Anything can be a piece of jewelry. And that goes for a bio rubbish bag, too. It's beautifull material, it's realy soft and mat and the color is a subtle green. Really worthy of my beloved little green pony. The choker that goes with it is made of green stones.

'Night Rat'
I love the 'aurora borealis' shine on the glass beads combined with the 'glow in the dark' rat.

Grace+!

I will call my new collection Grace+. By now I finished several pieces. This photo is of the first Grace+ I made. I found a match between little moonstone beads and a bleu metal pendant decorated with blue rhinestones and a bleu anchor. They seemed to belong together. But how to make a jewel out of it? Then I found a piece of white rope and sewed and knotted them together. It suits very well. I feel it's a real Parkwolf jewel now. I named it: Beach Bum.

Lovebirds

Recently my daughter found two little green plastic lovebirds on a broche at a flee market. Kind of childish, but touching . It was a little too shiny though. When I was tired of my "Grace Kelly thinking process" I made the green lovebirds mat for her and laid it on my design table. Accidentally next to a little green pearl necklace. And I was struck by the interaction between the two. A perfect match! This is what I was looking for! This made my day. Goodbye thinking, finally at work!