Thursday, November 5, 2009

TEMPLE ST.CLAIR


Temple draws inspiration for her designs from varied and far-flung sources: a particular nuance of color in a Mannerist painting, the sky after a heavy rain, the architectural elements found in buildings from Venice to Istanbul to Srinagar, the shifting shades of the sea, the temples of Kyoto, the eyes of her children. In many ways, Temple is her own quintessential customer — an educated, well-traveled working woman who blends her modern aesthetic and lifestyle with her love for culture and history.
It began with her parents' understanding of the spirit's need for beauty and their deep reverence for the past, which moved them to take Temple abroad at an early age. Her youthful explorations instilled in her what was to become a lifelong fascination with far-away places and ancient cultures. After college, she returned to Italy to study literature and art history. It was there, immersed in the masterworks of Renaissance painting and sculpture, that the inspiration for her jewelry arose — an inspiration derived from elements of 16th-century Bronzino portraits and other Renaissance works at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Like an artist, a painter, she examined the early classics, studying line and shape and color with a distinctly academic approach, before developing her own language.
Today, Temple's blending of ancient Florentine, Etruscan, Byzantine and Anatolian elements with a uniquely modern sense of style has become her hallmark. She is a brilliant colorist, traveling the world selecting only the most uncommonly perfect gemstones, which are the muse behind some of her most extraordinary designs
Her affinity for rare colored gemstones set in 18-karat gold and platinum reveals an enduring love of beautiful materials and exceptional craftsmanship. But it is her imaginative mixing and matching of breathtaking hues of fine stones with timeless motifs that give her designs a contemporary, timeless sensibility that resonates with the romance of ancient times.

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