What is Full Spiral Designs?
Imagine finding jewels in the forest, and you've got the earthy elegance of Full Spiral Designs. The pieces are designed to bring the magic of the forest into everyday urban life.
What is the story behind Full Spiral Designs? How did it all start?
Full Spiral Designs started with an overwhelmed postgraduate student who needed a creative outlet! This picture of a gemstone and wire creation just popped into my head one day, so I went to Spotlight and bought some cheap craft wire and plastic beads, did some googling and got started. I still have the first wonky wrapped link that I made all those years ago, to remind me of how far I've come.
I am mostly self-taught; I learned a lot from reading books and following tutorials (Eni Oken is a big hero of mine and I have tried most of her tutorials) but at some point I let most of that go and decided to follow my own style instincts. Now I try to keep learning and improving my technique, but I try not to look at other peoples' jewellery too much and rather draw my inspiration from nature and other art forms.
If you could describe your style in one word, what would it be?
Organic
You use a lot of different gemstones in your designs, what is your favourite?
Right now my favourite gemstone is Turquoise, but ask me again in 5 minutes and that might change! I adore the various shades of aqua and green in turquoise and the natural inclusions. I love how it's earthy and sophisticated at the same time. I love how it looks brilliant with any metal.
I am also loving Rutilated Quartz now...I love those little zig-zaggy black inclusions against a white background. I also love any kind of jade, amazonite, peridot and green tourmaline. I guess overall my preference is for earthy and cool colours, but I do love a pop of bright purple amethyst or orange carnelian here and there.
Where does your inspiration come from?
First and foremost, my inspiration comes from nature. That's why I like to work mostly with natural materials - a kind of partnership in creation between me and the greater creative powers. But living in a technologically advanced society, I can't help but be influenced by the 1 and 0 aliens! So I do feel that there's a sense of contemporary confusion about my pieces, a bit of dichotomy between the natural and the manmade, the organic and the technological. It's all connected, of course!
As a creative business person and blogger, I'm deeply inspired by the myriad other creatives out there who are following their dreams in fantastic yet practical ways. I try to read as much as I can to learn from all my mentors. I think the most important factor is a strong vision and belief in what I seek to attain - and patience as I work to manifest it!
Do you have any new designs you’d like to share?
Why funny you should ask! I'll be launching my newest line very soon - a collection of upper arm bands, anklets and bangles for summer - which I'm very excited about! I've leaked a few photos around the blogosphere so I'm happy to share a sneak peak with your readers.
And what a gorgeous sneak peak it is! I absolutely love these arm bands, I can definetely see Jess's forest inspiration, they are so elvish and would definetley not look out of place on the arm of a forest pixie :)
You can find more about Jess and her gorgeous pieces on her webpage, at her etsy store, facebook page and her blog. You can also follow her on twitter.
