Wearing the right jewelry has the power to highlight a woman’s best features and make her look extra glamorous. A well-chosen necklace on its own is enough to completely transform and elevate the entire appearance.
Taking a step further, the power that a beautiful jewelry set holds is unparalleled. When it comes to unique creations centered upon organic shapes, a combination of matching earrings, a necklace, and a bangle highlights the impression that the person wearing them is confident, knows and understands what they want, and isn't afraid to just go for it.
Using flowers and plants as her source of inspiration, Athena Barda transforms these natural creations into simplified organic shapes, creating outstanding jewelry. The Greek artist prefers organic forms, though she sometimes yields to geometry if this serves the design she has in mind. In many of her creations, we can notice bold, contrasting colors.
Though an English teacher by profession, she has been in the jewelry field for about twenty years now, mainly out of her inner need for creation and expression. Virtually self-taught, she initially and for a long time created jewelry using silver and semi-precious stones
Later, when recession struck her country, the trends changed, so Athena turned to other materials and techniques like felting, needle tatting, macramé, papier mache, crocheting, and needle weaving. In her constant research for more potential and possibilities, she discovered ceramic clay and porcelain, which she immediately fell in love with. However, the Greek artist was soon disheartened as working with these materials required special workspace and equipment.
It was then that she stumbled upon polymer clay, which until that moment she had known as a material for children's creations. When she saw what masterpieces artists created from this medium and its endless potential she was infatuated.
“I got into a frantic marathon of study and research, collecting whatever information I could obtain concerning techniques and artistic work,” she recalls. “Later I attended workshops with renowned artists like Jana Roberts Benzon, Bettina Welker, Ana Belchí, Olga Chernyshova, and Anna Rudaya, always hoping to be taught by many more!”
For about six years now Athena has been creating jewelry almost exclusively from polymer clay, experimenting with its endless possibilities and working out new techniques frequently combining them with other ones, originally meant for other mediums. “Such experimentations led me to the creation of my faux felting technique and the combination of polymer clay with threads, either using the needle felting technique," and undoubtedly, the future holds great promise for her, with much more to unveil!
