A Wedding to Remember Part 1

A wedding is one of the most anticipated ceremonies that two people, who love one another and wish to be united in marriage, greatly anticipate. It is an opportunity to declare and celebrate their union and share their happiness with family and friends. Traditionally, most wedding ceremonies is an exchange of vows, accompanied by symbolic presentations of a couple’s vow of their love for one another, and the beginning of a new chapter in their lives. Culturally, the objects that symbolize vary, but we will be focusing on items usually found in a traditional Christian or Catholic wedding in the Philippines.   

Unity Candles

Unity Candles with Wire Art by Stephanie Lopez

The tradition of lighting unity candles has been a fairly recent addition to church weddings. It symbolizes the rite of marriage, the joining together of two families, and the love that the bride and the groom, as they start a new life together as husband and wife.

Unity Candles with Wire Art by Stephanie Lopez

Unity Candles with Wire Art by Stephanie Lopez

In the lighting of the unity candle, both the bride and groom use two flames to light the unity candle as they bring together their love for one another, uniting as a new couple. This indicates that two lives have now been permanently merged. The candles used by the bride and the groom are generally left burning beside the unity candle, which is a sign that the newly-married partners have not lost their own sense of selves and their individual personalities.

Arhhae

Arhhae with Wire Art by Stephanie Lopez

Arhhae with Wire Art by Stephanie Lopez

The wedding arhhae, which are also called the Las arras matrimoniales, are widely used by countries that have a deep Catholic faith and Hispanic cultural influence.  Arras is Spanish for “earnest money”; and during the matrimonial ceremony, is presented as thirteen gold coins, to symbolize Jesus Christ and the Twelve Apostles. It also symbolizes the “earnest” foundation of their marriage, as they embark on a journey that binds two individuals into their new life. These coins show that the groom promises to provide for his bride and his new family.

Unity Cord 

Unity Cord Wire Art by Stephanie Lopez

The unity cord is a traditional wedding article that's also widely used in Hispanic-influenced countries, namely Spain, Mexico, and the Philippines. It symbolizes the lifetime unity of the bride and groom. During the wedding ceremony itself, the cord; a representation of the rosary, is placed to bind the couple together as they are kneeling to take their vows. After the wedding, it is a custom for the bride to keep the cord as a souvenir of this special day.  

As additional embellishment for the bride, Flow Jewelry and Crafts crafted a 5-piece jewelry set. This includes an ear cuff, a large hairpiece, and three smaller pieces to accentuate the bride’s hair. We will be writing more about these pieces on another blogpost. :) 

Photos by Stephanie Lopez, Flow Jewelry and Crafts

Keeping it real.- PJV 

Art Jewelry Exhibit by Stephanie Lopez

Stephanie Lopez, Heirlooms at the Boston Gallery 

Last June 6, 2015 my artisan apprentices and I attended Steph Lopez’s solo exhibit at BostonGallery Cubao, Quezon City. As an accomplished sculptor, Steph has done over dozens of exhibits, but it was her first time displaying art jewelry. Artjewelry differs from standard jewelry in terms of standard jewelry in that materials are used are of lower value. It doesn’t use precious metals, gems, or stones; but rather focuses on design and creative expression. 

Stephanie Lopez, Heirlooms at the Boston Gallery 

In a way, art jewelry is a statement against consumerism. It is taking commonplace materials, “crap” when defined in terms of value, and turning them into something unique, surreal, and constructive. It is taking pieces of broken glass and fashioning them into a piece that bridges jewelry to high art and well-thought out design. While traditional jewelry making is about guarding secrets, such as where to source diamonds, pearls, gold, and the like; art jewelry is about sharing techniques, information, and ideas.

Stephanie Lopez, Heirlooms at the Boston Gallery 

Art jewelry can be traced to early 19^th century Arts and Crafts movement. It can be best described as a movement pertaining to fine arts, which flourished in Europe and North America. The movement soon began to spread internationally, as artists began to put more value into traditional craftsmanship advocating a change into the consciousness of society to put more value into indigenous techniques and style.

Stephanie Lopez, Heirlooms at the Boston Gallery 

As the noted social critic John Ruskin put it, industrialization may have optimized production for goods in an assembly line fashion, but this has no place in art. Mechanization and maximization of profitability, to him, was the beginning of a slow death for traditional techniques that have been handed down through the generations.      

Stephanie Lopez, Heirlooms at the Boston Gallery 

Consider Dafen Village in Southern China. The place specializes in copying masterpieces in a massive scale. At the heart of it, they produce fake art. Thousands of hours are spent in what amounts to mimicking, and a painter earns $0.35 per piece copied. Though I do not aim to question or belittle the skills of these artists, they have become servile laborers, subject to economic shifts and emerging markets. Consider a work of art being priced based on the number of brushstrokes rather than simply being. It becomes tantamount to fast food, and much like fast food is not good for your body; it’s also not good for your soul, as it stifles creativity and the beauty of existing as an individual.

Stephanie Lopez, Heirlooms at the Boston Gallery 

Photography by Carlo Cayabyab 

Heirlooms Art Jewelry Exhibit by Stephanie Lopez 

Boston Gallery 

Keeping it real.- PJV

Prism Pains by Nikki Ocean

Nikki is a teacher, make up artist, writer, fashion stylist, an environmental advocate and a fashionista; but mainly she’s a visual artist whose goal is to inspire others with her love for the arts. She’s a graduate of Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines and is currently with Finale Art File Gallery. She paints with her heart, treating every canvass as a way for her to share her gift to others. In each of her paintings, she gives a piece of herself to her audience. 

The story that up-and-coming oil painting artist and Palamuti Style Advocate, Nikki Ocean wants to tell through her second solo art show pertains to internal storms that occur in each and every persons’ life. Though we perceive these times to be negative occurrences, they are critical moments that provide us with meaningful insight and opportunities towards self-discovery.

PRISM PAINS 

An Art Exhibit by Nikki Ocean at the Finale Art File

Warehouse 17, Chino Roces Avenue, La Fuerza Compound, Makati City, 2241, Metro Manila

“The idea I want to put out there is not so much as the thought of overcoming adversity, but first, opening ourselves to it. Embrace, grapple, and dance with the darkest, fiercest storm; then perhaps we can come to see life in a different perspective. Adversity is natural, consistent, and useful; we are no less burdened by its crippling presence, as the illusion that everything will somehow turn out all right.

Sneak Peak of Nikki Ocean's Arwork for Finale Art File

Until we’ve been truly tested, we won't know what we're made of. Transformation and adaptation is our greatest human skill; and perhaps, that's what adversity gives us: a sense of self, a sense of our own power---an impetus for change.

Sneak Peak of Nikki Ocean's Arwork for Finale Art File

The greatest disability is a crushed spirit; where hope, beauty, our childlike curiosity, our innate ability to imagine becomes anathema to our very souls.

Sneak Peak of Nikki Ocean's Arwork for Finale Art File

If instead, we can bolster a human spirit to keep hope, to see beauty in themselves and others, to be curious and imaginative, then we are truly using our powers well. When our spirit becomes imbued with these qualities, only then are we able to step into new realities and new ways of being."

-Nikki Ocean 

Keeping it real- PJV

Tribute to the Masters: Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh is one of the greatest artists to ever live, and throughout his life, suffered from anxiety and mental illness. He is considered to be one of the fathers of Post-Impressionism, an art movement that focused on rendering a subject in an abstract and symbolic manner, rather than natural depiction. The main characteristic of Post Impressionist artists that I admire the most is their insistence of using of vivid and unnatural colors.

Van Gogh inspired necklace 

During the spring of 1887, Vincent Van Gogh moved into a Parisian suburb called Asnières. During this period he first began to incorporate techniques known as Pointillism and Divisionism, wherein an artist uses a pattern of individual dots to form an image. During the last years of his life, considered by many to be the peak of his artistic abilities, VincentVan Gogh painted several self-portraits that can notably be seen advocating the use of these styles.

Bea wears her custom made necklace at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA. 

Inspired by some of his most sublime and tortured creations, and in homage to the great master himself, I made my very own rendition of Vincent Van Gogh’s last (possibly) self-portrait; which was also a custom made order by one of our very loyal clients based in Singapore, Beatrix. As a handmade costume jewelry artist, I create my work by individually hand-sewing beads of different colors, sizes, and materials. In this way, I feel that my artwork is somehow connected to a style developed primarily for oil paintings.

Keeping it real.- PJV

Insights on Art and Design

Freeform Art Jewelry by PJ Valenciano 

The importance of beauty and art may not seem necessary when stacked up against basic needs and other practical matters. In modern times, we continue to be bombarded with poorly designed, mass-produced objects. It may seem like you’re getting a bargain from assembly-line products, but most of the time what you’re getting is a creation that’s deeply unloved. Unskilled workers, whose main purpose is to maximize output and profit, hastily put these things together. Extravagant prices come attached with the latest, high-end products until the moment the next “shiny new thing” comes along, and then you’re left with an empty feeling of wanting to “keep up”.

Dalisay Art Jewelry by PJ Valenciano 

“Design”, simply put, is thinking about how things look. A designed object is one whose makers worked long and hard to make it’s just right. Good design matters because it evokes emotions, which affects our mindset on how we view the world around us. Much like a dark, brooding sky evokes feelings of melancholy, or how a bright sunny day can brighten most of us up, objects around us permeate our senses and affects our outlook in life. Our environment and the things around us shape us to become better or worse versions of ourselves.

Egyptian Inspired Art Jewelry 

Depending on what’s in front of our eyes, we are quite literally different people. Beauty is promise of goodness, and though emotions and moods are impermanent, so too is the very nature of our existence. While we have the time, we should indulge our souls by surrounding it with people, places, objects, and ideas of true beauty, not in terms of the superfluous and expensive, but those embodying love, compassion, hope, and enlightenment.

Jewelry: PALAMUTISHOP.COM

Photography: Carlo Cayabyab

Keeping it real.- PJV 

Power Dressing for the Modern Woman

One of the most challenging tasks of a successful career woman is finding an appropriate wardrobe for corporate, creative, and even casual work environments.Scour stores, both online and physical, and you’re bound to find out that it’s very much like Venus’ asking Psyche to sort out a mass of mixed grains.

Finding an appropriate piece seems more of a setback, especially if someone in your circle of professionals already owns it.  There is also a preconceived notion that the only color options available are basic black or the price is often too steep. The good news is, there are many designers out there, having left the corporate world to start their very own fashion brand, who feel your pain.

Today, there is no shortage of stylish, office-appropriate, and affordable clothes catering to the modern career woman. A unique and elegant wardrobe is one of the tools that professional women can utilize to empower themselves while climbing up the ladder and striving for their career goals.

Keep in mind that there is no “magic dress” specifically designed to match every woman. Don’t be afraid to try out a wide range of silhouettes, until you come across a style that flatters your body. You should also consider the setting where you’ll be wearing your attire; such as conservative boardrooms or the dressed-down environment of creativity-based companies. Always remember that you’re a part of a new generation of professional women who shouldn’t have to sacrifice quality or style, for price.

Photos by Amaya (Kimberly Basa) 

Jewelry: Amaya Accents 

Keeping it real.- PJV