LA REVE D'UNE FILLE - A GIRL'S DREAM

THE SPARK OF INSPIRATION
Growing up, i have always been obsessed with anything girly, whether that be, clothes, makeup, nails or jewellery. But jewellery in particular, is an accessory I never leave the house without, and it's the starting point of the story behind this collection

Someday in the month of January, I was sat on my bed with my notepad and a pen, brainstorming ideas for future paintings. I had been jotting ideas down for a few hours, but nothing that stood out to be a cohesive collection. I found myself in a sort of creative block, and naturally distractions crept in, as they often do when a creative block occurs. In procrastination, I took my earrings out to swap them for a different pair i had just seen on my vanity. I put them in and that exact moment, I realised I wanted to integrate jewellery into my paintings to elevate my art. I quickly wrote down the idea and it was like it opened a vault of loads of mini ideas in my head.

Recognising the need for real-life models to pose with jewellery for reference in my paintings, I turned to my circle of freinds and family. This decision ensured that the whole way through this collection, I would be surrounded by those closest to me, infusing each piece with personal significance.

To ensure this collection had complete significace to jewellery, each friend and family member photographed were asked to choose their favourite colour as a background, and their favourite type of jewel (whether that be an opal, pearl, diamond, etc), along with which type of jewellery they wanted it to resemble (rings, earrings, necklaces for example).

Each painting in this series features a portrait of one of the women closest to me, paired with carefully selected jewellery piece, to reflect their individual uniqueness.

For me, this entire collection is more than just a series of paintings, it is a reflection of our shared dreams and the indivdual paths we take to achieve them. I feel like as a girl, we are often drawn to the idea of being surrounded by those we love, dressing up like a princess, living a life filled with elegance and effortlessness along the way. We naturally graviate towards girly things like makeup, fashion, and jewellery, and we feel a level of fulfillment whilst persuing these things that our inner child recognises, evoking memories of playing with barbies, plastic heels, and pretend makeup from our childhood years, except now it is no longer a toy we play with or soemthing dream about, but rather an integral part of our daily lives, essential accessories we wouldnt leave the house without. Whether we recognise it or not, our childhood dreams arebecoming our reality.

Through my paintings I sought to reflect this, I also wnated to ensure that the process of creating these paintings mirrored something of our childhood again. From selecting the jewellery for thier portraits to the excitement of a girly photo day, and finally months later, seeing themselves as paintings in real life.

The jewls the girls chose for thier paintings, serves as a tagible connection to their pasts, and the beauty of their journeys from dream filled girls, to accomplished women, who's little girl within them, smiles at the sights of thier dreams coming to life.

EMOTIONS AND CONNECTIONS TO JEWELLERY

Jewellery possesses an incredible ability to encapsulate emotions and memories, transofrming something of material value, to a cherished keepsake for our most treasured moments. My late greatgrandmother Bessy probaby had no idea at the time of purchasing her ring that I would be wearing it years later. But, this gorgous ring, is now something i wear every single day, and it serves as a tangible connection to her. Sometimes i will look at the ring, or notice the weight on my fnger, and think of her warmth, and the love that permeated every aspect of her being.





Le reve d'une fille
a girls dream.