BEHIND THE SCENES
February 17 2020 – Marlous van der Toorn
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B E H I N D T H E S C E N E S
In the introduction of the EXTRAVAGANCE collection, SIX. you can read that the idea of the Lion collection came about in Puglia, Italy. I found vintage buttons on a vintage market à la Versace style with a lion in the middle. As my sign is a Lion I couldn’t resist to bring it in this collection to do something fun and unexpected.
I found inspiration in different parts. I watched movies, Instagram accounts, studied detailed drawings, pictures, and videos. The Lion I envisioned is a wise lion without any aggression in his expression. It needed to express courage and strengths as what a Lion represents.
In my mind, I had a perfectly clear idea what the Lion Ring needed to look like, so on my way to Bali! This is the first time for me creating a jewelry piece out of wax. All pieces are normally handmade by one man from the base till the end. This time it was not possible especially for the production. So pretty exciting for me, but for sure ready for the challenge. In Bali, the Lion started from mind to creation. The base of the Lion was made by Henry, one of the owners of the factory. He was just starting to learn more about wax, so he felt challenged to make the base. Of course, I got inspired to try working with wax myself, future plans for sure. In the third picture, you see the base of the Lion. You can imagine my thoughts in this stage: ‘Is this really going to be a nice, wise-looking Lion?’
Soon the wax master turned it into a beautiful lion, a little sculpture. I had to be on top of the process though. It started with the mouth open, as I didn’t want an aggressive Lion the mouth needed to be closed. Then they gave the Lion ears, no no it shouldn't be a cute Lion. No ears! Then the Lion turned to look like a monkey, nose way to big. And we ended with a laughing lion, so we shorten the length of the mouth. I loved the process and it really turned out what I had envisioned. They did a great job and we had for sure laughters in between. That’s what I really appreciate in the Indonesian people, they've got a great sense of humor and not shy to make fun of themselves. That was one of the first things I noticed when I stepped on this Island. They don’t take things too seriously.
1. In this stage, you see the first version of the Lion Ring in metal, brass. The silversmith is filling up a little hole.
Check out the 'Behind the Scenes' movie below.