My name is Kaori Nakakohji and I am from Nara, Japan. Since 2014, I have journeyed into making soutache embroidery and participated in all kinds of contests to challenge myself to improve my skills. 2017 is my third year in a row when I took part in one of my favorites - Fashion Colorworks Beading Contest.
Getting this contest experience, I am able to work with very interesting color combinations which I could never imagine before and indeed, I discover new ideas. Each year I'm very excited to wait for the Fashion Colorworks triads announcement featuring "the colors of the year".
In 2017 I chose the combination that I at once fell in love with. Those colors reminded me of a beautiful bird named "Lilac-breasted roller". Hence, a necklace reassembling the symbol of this creature was designed.
Nature is absolutely beautiful and I have so many things to learn from. Since I was a child, I have really loved to view book pictures of animals, birds and so on because it gave me joy and inspiration. In these circumstances I felt relaxation and new ideas have come to me from this natural beauty. Thanks to cutting-edge technologies, now we can easily look through amazing photos and images in social networks.
My "Feather" necklace consists of repeating elements. In my opinion, creating such a design is a simple approach because it allows you "to clean" the design and can cause very strong impact towards people. So, I tried to implement this idea by creating several designs and linking those using colors.
It was very funny, but embroidering each individual part and overall balancing was really hard. This process was a huge headache and I was very nervous for the fact that if the balance went wrong, it would ruin the entire look and probably the design wouldn't make success.
When this piece was completed, I felt really satisfied but the best thing was that "Feather" received first place and I was really speechless when I knew about this. I'm deeply grateful to receive such a great recognition and have no words to describe how pleased I am. From the bottom of my heart, a huge Thank You to Zoya for organizing such a wonderful contest, to the great sponsors and the amazing jurors!
The Fashion Colorworks contest is very special to me and the awards that I received are tremendously encouraging me in every aspect; therefore, I can enjoy creating more designs and challenging myself. I feel the contest is also really a great opportunity to boost my skills. Each time I create designs for the Fashion Colorworks, I'm very excited and want to challenge myself more and more. I will be definitely looking forward to the Fashion Colorworks 2018!
I was so motivated that I participated in other contests as well. My design "Gloria" for Swarovski Category in Bead Dreams 2017 received the second place. At the moment when I knew about that, I was really shocked and couldn't even believe it. I put a lot of effort into this piece, and indeed I'm truly honored, "Gloria" became a very memorable piece for me.
About the design of "Gloria". Flowers are the central pieces; I created one big flower in the middle with two flowers on the sides. The biggest brightly blooming one depicts the main symbol of "Glory", the side flowers are simply defined as "Hope" on the left and "Dream" on the right.
The design of "Gloria" is inspired by my previous Swarovski pieces. When I started soutache embroidery, my very first big work was the "Part Of Me Necklace with many Swarovski crystals. After I have managed to complete that piece its design really influenced my work in a very special way. Since then, I have created a series of designs closely relating to "crystal flowers" and "Gloria" is my third such a necklace.
Last year I also entered the Swarovski - Create Your Style Contest 2016 by Swarovski Japan. My entry was Butterfly Tales Necklace and it received the award for craftsmanship skills. This prize really encouraged me to keep on making and trying new ideas.
As a self-taught artist, I still don't feel confident about my skills. When I make a design for the contest, I always feel like I'm a beginner. Therefore, each time I need to work harder to shine my skills, discover new ideas and designs. So all these contests are projecting a positive influence on my crafting passion.
Finally, there is another crucial thing that I like about the Fashion Colorworks and other contests. I always think this is a great opportunity to get to know other artists from around the world and also introduce myself. We may speak different languages, but through the design we can share our passion and joy.
It's very hard to describe my feelings with just a few words, but I really appreciate it all and I'm so thankful to get this opportunity. I'm glad that I discovered this amazing beading world to keep creating and challenging to reach my goal someday. The most important for me is to enjoy hand making and I hope I can express myself with soutache embroidery.
My gallery on MyLovelyBeads.com
About author:
| Kaori Nakakohji, Nara, Japan | |
| Email: | kaorina.art@gmail.com |
| Facebook: | facebook.com/kaorina.art |
