March Hares! Lunar Hares!
This month at Art Jewelry Elements we are launching the first of our seasonal themed challenges. For Spring, and as a symbol of fertility and creativity, this month’s Muse is the Hare. As this is a totem of mine – inspiration was everywhere.
I had long wanted to try a hare portrait pendant, and really explore a more three dimensional face. So here is the first batch- its a deep mold, and as you can see by my fingers (below) rather large. The hare nose gets a little flattened since I am usually in a rush to pop them from the RTV mold and look. But the nose is easy to tweak and then each sculpt is a bit different. I like that variety from the original face.
The two pictures directly above show steps in the painting/glazing process. Each hare took a long time – layering underglazes, highlights, accents all in a painterly fashion. The details are a bit more homogeneous when these earthenware hares are covered in clear glaze. Here are the first earthenware hares and their smaller porcelain counterparts:
I think I prefer the size of the porcelain hares – so I can recast them to have a smaller mold. But I am intriqued by the porcelain possibilities. The studio where I work fires to ^10 – very hot, very durable for porcelain. This batch was too yellow (rutile) so the next batch will have more reds (iron oxides) to be sure!
This month – I was overwhelmed with hares I wanted to work with – let me show you a few:
My lunar hare, set amidst the swirly stars and sky. This earthenware pendant broke while I was sanding the edges. I glazed it anyway… and I wasn’t sure why. But bead embroidery was the answer. I will finish this with a few wire wrapped gems and chain to complement the pendant but keep it simple.
My “Patronus” keychain – Niky of Silver Niknats made this sweet lentil bead for me! I am assuming you are familiar with Patronus from Harry Potter? In a way its a person’s spirit animal, that manifests in a protection spell. For that reason I wanted to have this around more often than a bracelet, thought about hanging it in my car… and decided on a keyring. And yes – thats a Thea Elements metal clay charm from Lesley there at the end! Speaking of Lesley…
Moon gazing hare necklace in progress – Oh I love this set. The moon gazing hare – I wanted to place the moon further up the necklace to create a bit of storytelling inthe piece. As you can see its not finished. I am using pearls, garnets, labradorite… all my favorites. This one will be hard to part with… and I need a dangle at the bottom. Stars? Leaf? Flowers?
All in all its been a very creative month for me; some things completed, some hares just starting out. I was glad of a chance to focus on this theme as it clearly resonates with me. Please take a look at the creations of our guests and my fellow AJE teammates:
AJE TeamGuestsAural – Woodland Bay NativeHeather – Hidden Ridge StudioKarin Grosset Grange – Ginko et CoquelicotMichelle McEnroe ( 4 pieces pinned on the AJE Pinterest page)
Jenny Davies-Reazor 
Jenny, your new dimensional hares are wonderful! And I love the bead embroidery you are doing on your lunar hare. It’s going to be stunning. Thanks for organizing this month’s challenge. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s creations today!
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The faces on your portrait hares are so wonderfully expressive. I like that each one turns out a little different even with a mold. The way you used bead embroidery for the broken pendant makes it seem like that was meant to be. The design is divine and the colors are fabulous. That patronus key chain is brilliant. What a beautiful way to keep your totem animal around. And the moon gazing hare necklace is going to be stunning.
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Hello Jenny, What a lot of Hares you have accumulated I love the look of the porcelain ones. But what a shame your lunar hare pendant broke it looks lovely. I really like your moon gazing hare necklace, maybe its a keeper??
Jackie
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Love your work and earthenware porcelain is awesome what fun
Love this challenge too
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Love, love , love your pendants and their dimensionality…so unique. Your beaded piece is just wonderful and the key chain just charming and I know the necklace will be beautiful when finished. Thank you so much for picking this totally inspiring theme Jenny – it’s been a fun few weeks.
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I love your hare portrait pendants – it’s fascinating to see them in their different stages of creation. And I love your moon gazing hare necklace, it’s beautiful. This was such a fun challenge to be part of, thank you 🙂
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Your 3d hares are really beautiful I love how you show the different stages of painting, they look like a lot of work but well worth it! I love what you did with the lentil I sent such a lovely idea to make it into a key chain and that necklace is a show stopper!
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Love all of your creations Jenny, I think your ceramics have to be my favourites though, the darker faced hares are beautiful! I’m blaming you for some of my obsession, I can’t stop making them now, but glad to be in good company 🙂
I’ve had a great time taking part in your challenge and really enjoyed seeing so many different designs. Thank you!
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Very nice! I especially love the beaded hare / Moon focal.
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Thank you so much for this fun challenge Jenny! I often need a good nudge to get me to actually make progress on new designs, so I’m so glad I joined in! I love what you’ve got going here… and especially seeing the peek into your glazing process—fascinating! My very favorite creation of yours has to be the Moon Gazing Hare necklace. I love story telling in jewelry… subtle elements that show a theme and tell a bit more about the wearer or creator. And you’re using some of my favorite stones… love it!!
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Thank you for putting this month’s challenge together. It was great fun! Love your creations ?
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You did an awesome job with these…the expressions are so sweet! I love the little porcelain trio of brown hares in the lower left collage photo! The colors are gorgeous.
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Love all the bunnies! I want them all. Thanks for the Challenge! Happy Spring!
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I’m late in following along on this, but it was worth keeping it on my “too see” list! I love hares and have really been enjoying seeing so many artists working with them lately. I’ve recently purchased several myself, and so it is very inspirational to see what others are doing with them. It was fun to see how your hares came together and how different they all are.
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