Guest Post : Inge Marais on Her Amazing Brass Kingfisher

Inge Marais of Inge Marias Jewellery tells us where she got the inspiration to make such a gorgeous brass, silver & copper Kingfisher for our World Earth Day window this month:

When KIN asked me to take part, I immediately thought "yes!"

Projects like this give you the freedom to explore without economic constraints – i.e. I'm not stressing about whether it will sell because it's for fun and for a good cause (Soil for Life).

For this project I chose to work with the Kingfisher. I chose this little guy because this colourful short little cocky bombshell reminds me of my mom. That's her in a nutshell : “ colourful short little cocky little bombshell”

I'm clearly indulging in being massively sentimental in this project – focusing on memories and family – taking time for myself and things I care about. The next aspect I used as inspiration is an item we collected in Venice – on the weekend that I got engaged. Its a jack in the box – stringy pully man – because of this man my brass king fisher will have flapping wings.

To start to design this guy I packed my bag with my mum-in-law’s bird book – bird watching is massive in that side of the family – stencil, pencils and home brewed coffee – set off to the park with my spaniel, Henk, on a perfect day to draw my design.

I'd like to say a big thanks to the KIN gang for letting me be part of this project – its been personal and indulgent and needs to be done from time to time.

The Making of MOKO's Amazing Birdhouses

Dagmar hard at work

When Dagmar Grimmelikhuysen of MOKO first presented her idea for an Earth Day window, we were immediately captivated by her sketches for the completely unique birdhouse structures that she wanted to create. We had no doubt that her natural enthusiasm and love for what she does would result in the most beautiful window exhibition. The fact that she wanted to donate all the proceeds the the Non-Profit Organisation, Soil for Life, made us glow. We were equally delighted as ten KIN designers eagerly joined the exhibition with their colourful flock of hand-made birds. 

Each structure was carefully planned and assembled by hand by Dagmar. Her designs not only focused on creating exquisite design objects, but also on functional spaces for the birds who are to make them their homes. Size, angle and placement of the openings, space within the structure and durable, interesting materials and ways to hang them were details thoughtfully considered.

Bird houses in the making

Each house was carefully designed, cut, assembled and finished by Dagmar

A Few of the finished houses : (pop into KIN on Kloof before 25th April 2014 to see more!)

Faceted Geometric Houses made by joining together individual pieces wood. They hand on thick strips of white leather.

House with birdie door, with a front perch for cloud-gazing.

Wooden cube house with a crochet cover made from sturdy out-door twine.

The "Weaver's Nest" organically-shaped house hang on a length of thick outdoor rope.

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