Creative Projects

I've been thinking about writing this for a few days now and there's been a lot on my mind. I've been reflecting on the past year, looking back at all the challenges I’ve overcome, the journey of self-discovery and changing my life for the better.

This time last year, I was severely depressed, and my anxiety was shooting through the roof. I felt like a failure for being unable to get a job, having to come back to live with my parents and things generally not working out for me. However, things started to shift after a few deep conversations with my best friend when I recognised that I had to change my mindset. Shortly after, I stopped taking the antidepressants and established a daily practice of meditation, self-care and breathing exercises. I slowly learnt to love myself for who I am, be proud of what I’ve achieved in life so far and stop beating myself up for things out of my control. When the pandemic started, I promised myself that I will use the time to work on myself, read the books focused on self-development and put these principles into practice. This experience has been truly life-changing.

I was able to beat my depression and anxiety by identifying the triggers and eliminating them, even if it meant dropping out of my masters degree for the time being. At first, I felt like I have failed not only myself but also my family who believed in me. But then, I was introduced to the concept of circumstances being neither good nor bad – simply accepting things as they are. And I started to live by it. Thanks to the pandemic, I recognised that now is not the right time for me to continue my studies and that I need to take a break and  choose a different path (which I’m actively working on at the moment).

Another topic, I wanted to touch is appreciation. There was a time in summer when I was thinking about this concept for weeks. Why don’t we show appreciation to people who care about us, or perhaps to people that set us on the path to who we are today? I am so guilty of not showing appreciation myself, I often keep it hidden in my thoughts. I was thinking of a particular person from years ago - my art tutor who taught me all the basics. She taught me how to draw, paint and experiment with different materials. With her help, I drew an identical self-portrait at the age of 13 and had it displayed in a gallery (which was one my big dreams back then). I chose to dedicate my life to art thanks to her encouragement and knowledge she shared with me and I took my passion to university level. But does she know how far I’ve come thanks to her? No… because I’ve never told her how much influence her teaching had on me.

Around the same time as having these thoughts, I unconsciously became a receiver of this kind of appreciation. I was working on one of my projects and shared a few pics on Facebook. A day later I received a digital drawing of myself from my uni classmate Gabi (who I absolutely adore and admire as an artist and tattooist). We exchanged a few texts but what she said, resonated in me for weeks. “I love what you do, you always bring me inspiration”. She didn’t know about my mental health battle I was going through at the time, but that text gave a sense of purpose again. For the first time in a long time, I felt that my art isn’t just useless headpieces and boring sketchbooks, but I’m actually making an impact. So please if you think of someone who you truly appreciate, tell them because you never know how much it may mean to them.

Overall, I’m so grateful for how this year turned out, it’s been one of the best years I had in a long time. Even though, I didn’t get to do any creative photoshoots with my dream team this year due covid, I’ve been quietly working on my art and preparing for shoots and workshops next year. I’m also grateful for experiencing the journey of depression, anxiety and its recovery because it taught me important life lessons and helped me to find the inner peace and balance. I’m very thankful for having such caring friends, family and a loving boyfriend who has been there for me through the good and bad and makes my life so much better in every way. I feel blessed that I’ve got to celebrate New Year, knowing that I didn’t lose any of my loved ones and that everyone is in good health.

Research: Hellenistic Serpent Bracelets 

Here are some examples of Greek gold bracelets from the Hellenistic era that I felt would fit quite well into my project. I particularly like the one decorated with Garnet stone because of its level of detail and its association with high status individuals. I’ve done a little bit more digging into this particular piece and found the following information: 

A GREEK GOLD AND GARNET SNAKE ARMBAND Made in the Hellenistic period, circa late 4TH-3RD century B.C. Formed from a stout strap, flat on the interior, carinated on the exterior, coiled into a spiral, the ends terminating in two coiling naturalistically-modelled snakes, the scales well detailed, the heads finely contoured, the bodies forming a "Herakles knot" at the center, the tails looping and undulating outward along the lengths, the knot centered by an oval cabochon garnet in a plain bezel, framed by filigree twisted wire and granulation 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm.) long.

Its value is estimated at USD 25,000 - USD 35,000

Pythia in Paintings: The Oracle by  Camillo Miola (1880)

In this painting, the Pythia is also sitting on the tripod, wearing a long, richly decorated chiton with colourful details highlighing the hem of the fabric. However for the first time, we see her ornamented with jewelry. I am particularly interested in the upper arm bracelet which seems to resemble a snake. This little detail is quite interesting as the snake is one of Apollo’s symbols. I was considering  incorporating snakes somehow in the accesories however now I see it as a must.

Pythia-inspired photography

While looking for the images of the Pythia, I came across these photographs by Linda Nguyen Drake. The inspiration was clearly taken from Collier’s painting and in my personal opinion the team have done well. The colours and the atmosphere created work very well, however I do have slightly mixed feelings about the fire as it doesn’t have any direct association with the Pythia.

Photographer: Linda Nguyen Drake

Model: Janelle Whitehead

Jewelry: Simmang Design

Pythia in Paintings: Priestess of Delphi by John Collier (1891)

 This painting has to be one of the most known depictions of the Pythia. She is dressed in a simple ochre-coloured chiton, heavily embroidered by the hem of the fabric . She is also wearing a bright red veil decorated with gold threads. The painting is showing the Pythia sitting on a tripod with vapor rising from a crack in the earth beneath her and holding laurel leaves, which are indicating the presence of Apollo. In her other hand, she is holding a dish filled with water from the sacred spring.

     There are few differences in the research that I’ve done and this painting of the Pythia. According to contemporary sources, the Pythia was wearing a purple veil which she then took off before she entered the temple. Also, on Wikipedia it stated that she wore a short white dress however I wasn’t able to find any supporting evidence of this in any academic texts or publications. In the book Portrait of a Priestess, it shows the priestess wearing a simple chiton with mantle, pinned at both shoulders, and decorated with some rather simple but colourful embroidery details. Her fancy dress is complimented with jewelry.

The Result

Assembling the chains

When the incense burner finally arrived, it was considerably smaller than I thought. The chains designed and printed by Evander no longer fitted and made the burner excessively decorated. I decided to strip it back to the basics and ordered a plain bronze jewellery chain online. Then I had a look through my materials and found some old brass bells which happen to perfectly match the colour. At last I attached the bells and chains to the holder and made my own handing incense burner.

Collaboration: Evander Hopper

When I was at the university, we were always strongly encouraged to collaborate with people from different areas of expertise which helped us to network with other creatives and achieve better results. Over time I build quite a strong network of people including photographers, makeup artist, hair stylists, actors, musicians, artists, makers and designers – people that I could collaborate with should the project require specific skills. This project isn’t any different and I asked my old friend Evander Hopper for help with the chain. He sketched it in CAD and 3D printed a sample using bronze infused PLA. The colour turned out to be a very close match which I was very happy about.

Designer Profile 

Evander Hopper is a product designer and technical engineer, with expertise in product design, manufacturing and assembly. He specializes in drawing designs in CAD, 3D printing as well as working with wood, metal and plastic. Evander completed a BSc Hons degree in Technology with Design, receiving the prestigious best designer award, graduating with first class honours from Ulster University in 2017. He currently works as a consultant to various colleges, universities and businesses in Northern Ireland, helping to develop innovative new products and engineering solutions.

Next, I have looked at the prices of the incense burners and I was taken aback by a hefty price tag of 70 pounds - which I was not willing to pay. Also, they all looked somehow too new, too shiny while I’m aiming for a slightly aged look. Then I had a quick search on eBay and seen a couple of incense burners on auction and decided to go for this brass and copper one. It had no chains, so I had to look into that and found a lovely decorative brass chain on Etsy. It would require some tarnishing but that’s an easy process. I think it would look absolutely stunning with this chain but once again, the price was way over my budget and the shipping would work out probably just as much as the chain itself.

Inspiration:  Miss G Designs

The other day I’ve seen these images by Miss G Designs on my social media and instantly fell in love with the idea of incorporating the incense burner in the Pythia photoshoot. The incense burner has a strong religious connotation which would help to establish the priestly setting and make the images more atmospheric.

Experiment: Smoke Bombs

Over the course of my modelling career, we have used smoke bombs in a number of photoshoots. I find smoke bombs more reliable when it comes to smoke effects, creating mystical/fairytale atmosphere and just overally making the photos more interesting. For this experiment I decided to use small smoke bombs that come in size of a coin and give you that middle rage of smoke effect - neither too faint not too dense. 

Final decision

In my opinion, these small smoke bombs performed the best of all other materials I’ve used and will use it in the photoshoot. They only last about 20 seconds but are very reliable. 

Experiment: Incense Cones

Experiment: Palo Santo wood sticks

Experiment: White Sage 

Experiment: Incense Sticks