So travel broadens the mind, well why am I still taking pictures of flaking paint? The truth is, it still excites me. Yes the truth is out, but I have come to realise that life is just one big contradiction. Now I know this is not rocket science, but from all the images I have taken over the 6 weeks of travelling with the family. I have realised there is a great deal of variety that makes me go ‘ooooh’ about.
Three bangles that were shown at the Fingers Gallery as part of the Graduate Show, July 2013
All surfaces are manipulated by hand and then covered with liquid enamel.
The surface draws the eye to the beauty found in impermanence and deterioration over time the underlying surface will reveal itself to the wearer,
This indeterminate nature of finish intrigues me.
Off to Brisbane I go.
This piece is part of the Graduate Metal 13 Exhibition
which is in conjunction with the 15th JMGA (Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia)
Very exciting
Vent
This was the piece chosen for the Masterworks Neckwear 10 Exhibition.
After some 20 years I recently got the opportunity to visit San Francisco again. It truly was like meeting an old friend again, you know the ones you don’t speak to for ages and when you do it was like yesterday.
Well here I was smiling again as I walked those crazy hills, this time hunting out this amazing gallery with husband in tow ( last time we were travellers together with added benefits!) As part of a family ski trip I had said we had to spend time in SFO, and I needed to find this gallery. So children been looked after by friends (times change) I dragged him along on my mission. Thankfully, sun was shinning and the city so welcoming there were few complaints.
After about 30mins walking we found the gallery. How fortunate were we, it was the last weekend of Ferrous.
I was in a state of pure excitement, that just got better. Mike was so accommodating and interested in what I had achieved I truly felt like a girl in a sweet shop.
The show had a wide range of jewellers represented along with the gallery’s permanent collection. I had the wonderful opportunity to get up close and personal to a piece by Ramon Puig Cuyas. It really was just sublime. Everything from size, weight and craftsmanship was there. I have a long way to go in this new career. Also an added bonus was seeing work from Timothy Information Ltd. the timing was perfect and both my husband and myself just laughed, fortunately so did Mike. It was days after the death of Margaret Thatcher and the work of Timothy suited our politics completely. I want to meet this man.
Velvet de Vinci is a wonderful airy gallery with a vast array of contemporary jewellery displayed it was a great find and I will be back and dare I say to deliver some of my work! Well if you don’t put it out there,
It is said, ‘truth will out’ and I can no longer hide what I truly love. Earrings !
They may not be the main focus in contemporary jewellery but I am always drawn to them and the making of them.
So here are some examples of earrings recently made. They are made from oxidised silver or copper with enamel. They all reference my interest in imperfection and so no two are the same.
It has been so long since I posted anything I will be amazed if anyone is still remotely interested in what I am up to. But never the less it is a new year, a new phase in my life so it is time to make this blog work.
Firstly a quick résumé of what has happen since grad show. Five students from Unitec were selected for Best in Show, currently running at ObjectSpace in Auckland. I was one of the 5 and a selection of my work is on show, along with graduating students from AUT and Hungry Creek. The show is an opportunity for emerging makers and designers to be promoted in a Gallery space, it is a curated show and a great experience at the beginning of the creative journey outside of college.
To complement this award, I am still coming to terms with being nominated for the Graduate Fingers Gallery Award.
Fingers Contemporary Jewellery Gallery is a prestigious gallery in Auckland, next year 2014, it celebrates its 40th year of operating! It is the third oldest Gallery of its genre in the world. An amazing achievement for any gallery especially one situated this side of the world. So I am presently working on a body of work that further develops my approach to enamelling along with my continued fascination with impermanence, imperfection and incompleteness. It is a great personal achievement for me, one that I intend to make the most of. For me it proves that hard work and doing what you love can pay off. My aesthetic will not be for everyone, but it allows me to address questions of value and worth that the wearing of jewellery has done for many, many years.
This was made early in semester 1 2012. It was my first exploration into folding the copper, engraving and covering it all up with enamel. The driving thoughts were what lies underneath is as important as to what the surface shows. There is a great deal under all this that you have to believe is there because it will only become visible when the enamel chips. A revealing of a beauty. The worth of deterioration.
The Big Trip to Northern India
KTH Royal Institute of Technology: Spring 2017
Contemporary Jewellery
Just like last time... but with two kids
Jeweller. Designer. Maker. Researcher.
