Saturday, August 22, 2009

Paula Thornburrow

photograph by Rebekah Robinson

Latest comments Finn - 22 August 2009
My first job required me to wear a name tag, about this size but made of plastic.
When I would put Paula’s brooch on, I was very aware of the architecture of my clothing, and the relationship between v-necks and collars.
And I kept having flash backs to having to wear a name badge. It took me quite a few pinnings to get it right. I found it similar to hanging a painting, you just have to keep trying till it is right. The silver lovers were very much into this brooch, commenting on how much they liked it and ‘I would wear that’ (in comparison to some of the other brooch club brooches. Ha!) The finding was excellent, and I never worried about losing it on a seatbelt etc. So once I pinned it on, I was quite casual about wearing it

6 comments:

  1. Paula's broach is subtle, and I am enjoying this. I have been wearing it both horizontally as well as vertically. Although the leaf stem reads more clearly horizontally I think it hangs better vertically. Having said that I have discovered that I wear a lot of horizontal stripes in summer and this little dark silver bar sits happily on another horizontal line, a sort of shadowy fragment among bright summer colours. Looking forward to seeing you all in late Jan
    Kathy

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  2. I spotted this brooch at the opening party and was immediately drawn to it... it's simplicity and elegance, and beautiful detail, (or maybe I was just feeling nervous about some of the other crazy looking brooch's I was to be forced to wear throughout the following year!). I worked out I had several months to wait for my turn, and when it came I was so ready to wear it. This, however, proved to be a little more challenging than imagined... it just kept reminding me of a name-tag whatever I tried it with. In the end I followed the previous wearer's (thanks Rowena!) suggestion of wearing it central and upright. Upright seemed to be the key for me and I found myself wearing it all the time, growing more and more attached by the day.

    By the way, I've loved each and every one of these crazy brooch's I've been 'forced' to wear so far, and always, always looking forward to the next surprise. ..and whatever wee challenges it might bring, surprising or surprisingly unsurprising.

    kyla

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  3. Like Kyla, I noted this brooch at the opening party and was keen for my turn with the skeletal leaf imprint. The brooch duly arrived and in my hand it really did feel like a corporate name tag. The surface feels so smooth I wondered if it has some kind of resin covering. The finding worked well. But I found I wasn't drawn to thinking about it when I was getting dressed in the morning and it forlornly sat on my dressing table as I kept forgetting about it. Ultimately, if I owned this brooch it would become permanently affixed to a jacket and become part of the clothing rather than an object that I'd wear on a number of outfits.

    Have the other more 'out there' brooches managed to forced my 'taste' or appreciation to more challenging areas? is this what happened with Kyla? I reckon we've morphed. If I had this brooch earlier in the project period it probably would have been worn alot as it is what I intially understood jewellery is about. Since the beginning of the project I've read lots, follow jewellery blogs and make a point of visiting any relevant exhibition, not to mention having worn a number of brooches that I'd never had looked at prior to the project. In this short time it appears what I find interesting is is changing day by day. I'd be intrigued at the end of the project to discover if the wearers still found the type of jewllery we found interesting at the beginning of the project is still the same after a year and what we'd wear in 5 years time.
    Still, it is a good brooch that has it's place in teh wardrobe.

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  4. Loving this one as I am a sucker for fine silver work! It goes with everything but incidentally didn't get many comments worn vertically. Accidentally one day I wore it horizontally and everyone thought it was a name badge. [I am giggling at the previous comments who noted that too as I thought this was a really original comment - haaaa no]. Kiwi's I find [me included] have a large ekistical circle, so no-one really came up to me close enough to see that there was a leaf inmprint until I took it off and showed it to them.

    Whilst some people commented that the depth of the print could have been more pronounced, I liked its level of delicacy to that intimated by the characteristics of the natural world, something I would proudly wear on my chest as a naturalist-wana-be.

    Enjoy!

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  5. i had trouble figuring out how to wear this brooch. as many have commented, it does look like a name tag if worn in the standard brooch spot. I often wear my brooches to work and i'm in a fairly corporate environment, so suity outfits plus things that look like name tags make me feel a little uncomfortable.
    i suppose i felt like it was hard to make this one stand out but it is definitely beautiful and elegant.
    It's interesting now to be getting brooches knowing the wearing history. It does change how you react to the brooch and how you wear it.

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  6. My first job required me to wear a name tag, about this size but made of plastic.

    When I would put Paula’s brooch on, I was very aware of the architecture of my clothing, and the relationship between v-necks and collars.

    And I kept having flash backs to having to wear a name badge. It took me quite a few pinnings to get it right. I found it similar to hanging a painting, you just have to keep trying till it is right. The silver lovers were very much into this brooch, commenting on how much they liked it and ‘I would wear that’ (in comparison to some of the other brooch club brooches. Ha!) The finding was excellent, and I never worried about losing it on a seatbelt etc. So once I pinned it on, I was quite casual about wearing it
    - Finn

    ReplyDelete