Seeing Halloween from a ‘beady’ perspective

As an artisan, one has to always find ideas that go with the theme of a craft fair that one takes part in.  For Vandane Pande, that meant using gemstones that were the colours associated with Halloween, without going out of her jewelry style, which tends to be simplistic, yet bold. She used chalcedony for many of her pieces. As you can see, there are no pumpkin cutouts or witches in any of her pieces. Yet, she has stayed true to the Halloween colours, but adding a bit of her creativity to make some special pieces.

Go for a ruddy orange necklace, instead of the usual Halloween orange hue...

Go for a ruddy orange necklace, instead of the usual Halloween orange hue…

Instead of using black stones in the following piece, Vandana decided to play with the colours and use lapiz blue tones along with the orange colour. The piece on the right is also quite exquisite, replacing black with pearls for most part. So if you are a lover of pearls but generally don’t go for Halloween colours (namely black), this piece could be a winner for you.

Check out the orange and lapiz blue necklace on the left.

Check out the orange and lapiz blue necklace on the left.

An array of chalcedony, carnelian in various orange, red and black shades. Fit for a Halloween queen!

An array of chalcedony, carnelian in various orange, red and black shades. Fit for a Halloween queen!

Having diversified into making wooden art paintings (having a painting on both sides), Vandana’s heart is still in the midst of gemstones. “Since we were children, we were surrounded by gemstones, thanks to my father. I have always worn a ring with one gemstone or another, since childhood.”

Vandana shows off one of her new art wearable pieces to a customer. Note the stunning black/gold chunky choker she is wearing!

Vandana shows off one of her new art wearable pieces to a customer. Note the stunning black/gold chunky choker she is wearing!

In her corporate job, she found herself working as a fashion merchandiser. One day, her Australian boss decided to create a line of jewelry to compliment the fashion collection he was working on. He put Vandana in charge of the designing and instructing of the artisans, discussing what stones would be used. So you can see, that the rest is history. “I really loved the designing consulting bit, but hands on jewelry making was not in my mind then.”

It was only a few years  ago in 2007 that she decided to try her hand incorporating her designing experience, her love for sparkly gemstones and that’s when ARTE saw her joining as a member, who has stayed on ever since.

A mix of Halloween colour hues and sea colours for the latest wooden pendants ....

A mix of Halloween colour hues and sea colours for the latest wooden pendants ….

Visit Vandana Pande‘s collection on facebook.