Mike Bigland
designer-maker sculpture jewellery
Jewellery commission
This silver hair-comb has been my most challenging piece of work.
It was commissioned by Vlad Levitsky for his girlfriend Simona. The inspiration was a design by Alphonse Mucha dating to circa 1900. The drawing was part of a centenary exhibition, which displayed not only his paintings but also some exclusive jewellery designs.
Testimonial from client:
I approached Mike to create a bespoke modern interpretation of an art nouveau Mucha hair comb design for my partner. With his experience in floral metal garden installations, modern jewellery, and with his engineering background I was lucky to have found the right artist to create exactly what I wanted. With a lot of experimentation and consultation, Mike produced a stunning piece of jewellery, a real work of art. Specifically for this project he developed a unique process to beautifully curve and combine metal wires to simulate flowing wisps that also gave real depth to what would have otherwise been a flat composition.
I really appreciated Mike's creativity and passion from the start of the project. He kept me involved with photos and descriptions at every step, taking the time to explain the design challenges, the finish, and his creative direction to make me feel part of the artistic process.
His organisation and discipline in generating and sticking to a project timeline meant he met every milestone and delivered on time. In the end we were both enormously proud and pleased with the result. But most importantly, my girlfriend loves the beautiful, original, very personal work of art that was her present.
Thank you, Mike. Vlad Levitsky
Simona wearing the hair-comb as a pendant, as she prefers it to be seen.
Note the 'tatoo' which was also inspired by the same Mucha design.