Curtin Degree Show

Finally my degree has come to an end. Curtin University Graduate Art Exhibition will be opening on the 3rd of December and will run until the 12th. Be sure to come down and have a perve.

Julie Blyfield

Get yourselves down to Form gallery and see the amazing retrospective of Julie Blyfield's work!

Hanging Rock

I've come to decide on the direction in which to take my 'on-casting' - Peter Weir's film 'Picnic At Hanging Rock'. I love the contrast of victoriana with the Australian wilderness. I hope to reference traditional forms of jewellery with uncut gemstones and seemingly naive settings.

Down The Garden Path

Success!

My experimentation with the technique of on-casting worked! I was quite prepared for failure. The best results are the two rings to the back - lava stone on the right and uncut diamond to the left.

Fremantle, I Love You.

Cast Off

Three of my cast lace brooches have been selected to be shown in an exhibition in Sydney! It's a shame I won't be able to see them on display, I wish I could have scoped out how other artists use the technique of casting in their work too. The work will be on display in the Keeper Gallery at gaffa over October.

Stamp!

This semester I'm continuing to look into the impression of textiles into metal. I hope to cast wax impressions taken from of textile design stamps.

A Bit of Last Semester...

Cubic Zirconias Are Forever

Back to the work-bench! I'm now into the second week of my last semester of uni. For one of my projects I'm going to have a crack at on-casting. I've bought cubic zirconias and garnets to cast onto. I also want to try some alternative materials to cast onto. I've been told to expect some failures. I'll keep you posted...

The Melbourne Hoard

Treasures found in Melbourne: Bargain $10 retro earrings. A treat to myself, bronze ring by Natalia Milosz-Piekarska, and Mimco necklace.

Gallery Hopping

Ah, I've just returned from an extended weekend in Melbourne town. There is so much to do, eat, shop and see. Unfortunately I left my visit to Gallery Funaki to the very end of my stay (Monday) and it was closed - I had a good perve in the window though! Exhibitions and galleries I managed to get myself to included e.g.etal, Craft Victoria, the European Masters exhibition at the NGV, and the Tim Burton exhibition at ACMI. I must start planning another trip to get to the many places I missed!

The Jeweller's Hands

My final assessment for the semester is tomorrow morning. I will be celebrating the end of this stint of hard work with tasty beverages, hand cream and the hacking back of my now munted nails.

Sunday Morning

My little position in the studio is starting to feel more and more like home. I have been spending most of my Sundays there, madly trying to finish everything before the end of the year. Wish me luck!

Cast Away

In Jewellery Design we are required to produce 10 production pieces. I have successfully cast 9.5 circles of fabric that will one day grow up to be pendants. These castings are a far cry from my original concept that I had purchased the gold for (I'm sure it will be used at some point this year ). I'm so surprised at the detail I was able to achieve - even my stitches though to the backing have come up in the castings. Above is the fabric before casting, and below it is what emerged from the process, in sterling silver.

Chatelaine

Wrought silver chatelaine clip(3 1/2"W.) with 7 dangling chains with attached charms and objects including: 1 mother of pearl pocket knife, 1 clothing pin charm, 1 powder compact with mirror, 1 telescoping cigarette accessory and case, 1 monocle, 1 sterling mechanical pencil. www.dargate.com.

Elaborate Victorian silver-plate on brass lilypad chatelaine. 2 1/2"W. x 8 1/2"L. Includes: 1 lilypad covered mirror, 1 small coin purse, 1 small retractable pencil, and 1 celluloid writing pad. Condition: wear to silverplate. www.dargate.com.

Today I learnt what a chatelaine (sometimes referred to as equipage) is. The Dictionary Of Costume by R. Turner Wilcox states that it was popular in the'... sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and later, a long gold or silver chain or chains fastened around the waist and pinned to the skirt. It carried keys, mirror, scent box, smelling salts, handkerchief and sewing things, including a pincushion' It is often said that it was the predecessor to the handbag and pocket knife. At the moment I'm attempting my first locket; and it is the research into lockets, snuff boxes and poison rings that has led me to discover the chatelaine.

Art Deco - Enamel and Chrome:(1) Elgin green Chicago souvenir compact. (2) Yellow Evans made in Austria rectangular compact. (3) Green lipstick and powder chatelaine compact with red swan decoration. www.dargate.com.

Metrosideros Robusta

Hoorah! Finally the Karl Fritsch book (Metrosideros Robusta) that I ordered at the JMGA conference has arrived. I will be pouring over it for days.

Push The Button

Just when I thought I had my production range designed and ready to churn out, a series of sampling proved otherwise. I decided to abandon the idea and come up with a whole new concept for the range. Being slightly under pressure to find inspiration, I went to sift through my numerous collections of 'stuff'. I have always loved buttons - strange, I know. I particularly love buttons that are indicative of an era - the shapes, patterns and materials. This obsession is easily traced back to my childhood, when visits to my grandparents always involved time playing with Nana's Peters ice-cream tin full of buttons. Although my collections do not directly influence my work, they do remind me of what I like in design. Hopefully the next set of designs will be more successful!

My Junk.

Thanks to the wonderful sister, I now have some photos of the work I did at the Lisa Walker workshop. Here is a bit of an explanation of my experience at the workshop...

Lisa Walker: Environmental Adventure:

Lisa’s initial instruction before the workshop was to ‘Collect stuff you hate and you like’. We were told to not to think about jewellery, ‘… just to collect and obsess.’ Before the workshop had even started, I felt a little out of my comfort zone. I already collect what some would describe as rubbish, but to collect items that I don’t like was a concept that was foreign to me. I forced myself to pick up a number of pieces that I would normally not pick up from the roadside. I was glad that I had - I found myself deconstructing the broken sprinkler heads and plastic shards from cars, and it was these parts that made up some of my favourite pieces. It initially took me some time to learn how to ‘play’ with material, as I was used to doing a lot of research and planning before making, but once I learnt how to ‘cut loose’, I had a lot of fun. There are pieces that I made that have gone on to help me in my understanding of my own aesthetic.

I did not think about the piece of jewellery that these objects would become as I constructed them. I was interested to ask Lisa whether she always knew what her pieces would become as she worked on them. She told me that she did about half the time, and that the other half, she focused on the piece as an object, then how it would be worn.

It was insightful to see the type of collections that other jewellers brought to the workshop. Also to see the ways in which everyone grouped their own ‘rubbish’ together, colour coded bags of plastic, jars of toys and shoeboxes of hardware found at the back of the shed. It was even more interesting to see the numerous ways in which these collections were put together. The methods used for joining pieces together in the workshop with Lisa were stitch, binding with wire, and glue. I was most excited about the glue, as it is something we are taught to steer away from. The glue gave me great freedom with the materials I was using and allowed me to explore ideas more quickly than if I was working in a ‘conventional’ jewellery way.

By using materials that I had not invested a lot in, or felt a deep connection to allowed me to think outside the box, and again gave me a confidence in what I was working on – knowing that if my idea did not work, I could turn it into something else, rework it, or throw it back into the bin from where it had initially come from with out any guilt. Working like this has also has given me an understanding of the placement and combination of form, that I can use when working on more ‘precious’ pieces. Knowing that Lisa combines precious materials like gold with ‘found’ object, I was interested to ask her how she overcomes this idea of ‘preciousness’. She told me that she has come to accept that all materials have associations and histories attached to them. Lisa likened gold’s long history and uses to a Barbie doll’s head - both are loaded materials. The notion of Barbie represents and symbolises so many different ideas, as does gold.

Towards the end of the three-day workshop there was an opportunity for us to lay out everything that we had made and have time to discuss it with one and other, and get feedback from Lisa. I found it really inspiring to see everybody else’s approach. Lisa was very supportive. I was so pleased to hear that she thought I had an eye for working with ‘found’ material. She told me that usually when she sees someone working on the scale that I was, which was considerably smaller than everybody else’s, she feels she needs to tell them to work bigger. But she went on to say that this was not the case with my work - it worked. This positive feedback from the Lisa and the group has given me confidence in the work I do at university, and a greater understanding the direction I want my work to take.

Gold: Always Believe In Your Soul.

I have placed my first order for 9ct gold. I'm incredibly nervous and excited about using it, and can't wait for it to arrive. It is a very small amount, but it's enough for me to start thinking about living on Mie Goreng for awhile.

Presentation

Ingredients_Neckpiece 2008
Aquamarine, shell, linen, copper
22 x 29 x 3 cm_Archive No. 08-013

Ok, so it's Monday night, I've been at work for 11 hours and now I have no energy to complete the power point that I'm due to present tomorrow afternoon. The presentation is for my unit of Jewellery Design. I'm to show three examples of contemporary jewellers that use my chosen non-traditional jewellery material. I've chosen to work with thread/stitch. In my research I came across jeweller Iris Bodemer. I really connect with her aesthetic. At first glance, her work looks some what naive, yet she has used precious materials and complex techniques to achieve this look. I think I'll go to bed and finish my preparation before class...

It's Fun To Stay At The J.M.G.A.

So this past week, my mid-semester break has been totally consumed by jewellery. It has been fun and exhausting. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday was spent back at Curtin taking part in a workshop with Lisa Walker. It was a great experience, I'll ramble on about it next time. At the top is some of the rubbish that I put together.

The JMGA (Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia) biennial conference was held in Perth this weekend. I have been existing on wine and cheese, going from exhibition opening, to exhibition opening since Thursday night. I also had the pleasure of seeing my own jewellery in a gallery for the first time! I found the papers presented during the day inspiring, and found myself thinking and rethinking my designs as I listened. The second photograph is of some of the wishes posted at the Buddhist Festival, on the Perth Esplanade that we walked through on our way to the closing sundowner. I not only loved the concept of this wall of wishes, but also found it visually inspiring.

Melanie Bilenker

SUNDAY NIGHT

Locket (2007)
1 1/4" x 1 1/4" x 3/8" (locket), 20" (chain)
3.2 x 3.2 x .9cm (locket), 51cm (chain)

Materials: Gold, ebony, resin, pigment, hair
(Photo: K. Sprague)

Melanie Bilenker creates what I like to think of as a modern version of Victorian memento jewellery. Using hair, she recreates moments in time and sets them in resin. She states on her website:

The Victorians kept lockets of hair and miniature portraits painted with ground hair and pigment to secure the memory of a lost love. In much the same way, I secure my memories through photographic images rendered in lines of my own hair, the physical remnants. I do not reproduce events, but quiet minutes, the mundane, the domestic, the ordinary moments.

While her work with hair is amazing, I am more interested in her take on the locket. I really enjoy their simplicity, and the idea of a moment or memory remaining private and hidden.

'Matter Matters'

For my Art Minor unit, we have been given the theme that Matter Matters. I hope to look into the idea of memory and nostalgia - how our senses can trigger off a particular memory. Specifically, how a particular item of clothing can bring back a event, time and place. At the moment I'm experimenting with etching the pattern of fabric onto metal - above are some of the patterns I hope to transfer.

Lisa Walker

I am over the moon! I came home today to find a letter from the Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia (JMGA) saying that my application to participate in a three day workshop with one of my favourite jewellers, Lisa Walker had been successful! The biennial conference had offered grants for one TAFE student, and one Curtin student to attend some of the workshops on offer:

LISA WALKER

• Curtin University, 6, 7, 8 April, 2010.

The workshop will be an investigation into the materials we have in our environment, and the potential these materials have to be made into jewellery. I will be encouraging individual interpretation of the workshops concept, meeting regularly in groups to discuss progress.

At least 3-4 weeks before the workshop the students will need to start collecting materials. They may find them on the street, in the rubbish, at the pub, at their part time jobs, they might buy some things from their favourite shops, there might be materials around the art school, or they may already have a collection at home. It's very important that each person collect a good LARGE pile by the time they start the workshop. I would hope they get obsessed with collecting, and that some great, interesting things turn up.

Shall keep you posted!

Coon & Goon

Last friday was the opening of 'New Works New Faces' at Gallery East and Perth Galleries. I was excited to see that of the fourteen graduates shown in the exhibition, five were from jewellery design at Curtin. I urge you all to pay the galleries (and Sebastian the gallery dog at) a visit. It is also a good excuse to have a tipple at the delightful Mrs Brown's. The show runs till the first of April.

Studio

Here is my little space in the jewellery studio at Curtin. It yet to be used. Made the mistake of op-shopping in my break between classes today. I now own three more doilies.

Crochet

Last week, I came across the work of Nathan Vincent on Lost At E Minor. He creates 3D and 2D forms that question notions of masculinity and femininity. He does this by crocheting (a 'feminine' technique) traditionally masculine objects and symbols such as crushed beer cans and lawn mowers.

I really need to do something about learning how to crochet. Must buy Hookorama by Rachael Matthews.

Nerd Alert

Uni starts back in a couple of weeks and I've already started thinking about course work. I'm a nerd, I know. One of our units requires us to investigate a material that is not traditionally used in jewellery. So of course I've been ploughing through all my sewing boxes looking for ideas. I've also had a bit of a look at other jewellers who use textiles in their work.

Sally Collins is a Birmingham-based artist who incorporates textiles with metal work. I love how she uses the 'doily' silhouette with out making it look too prissy.

Another is Eva of Tinctory, a Czech artist living in the UK. She uses vintage and naturally dyed silk to smock wearable forms. They are almost a modern take on the Elizabethan collar.