Art Deco, smithing, embroidery and gradients

Some current inspirations...

I would love to learn blacksmithing so I could make spectacular gates, fences and chandeliers. Saw this magnificent gate attached to a grand Art Deco building the other day. Epic.

There is a blacksmith living in the Dandeong Ranges (where I live) he has a beautiful works in Belgrave, called Braumuller's Decorative Wrought Iron it's located at the Belgrave Art Stockade, nestled on the edge of Sherbrooke Forest near the Belgrave Puffing Billy train station. A while ago I went there numerous times to visit but it was always closed and the only person there was a man selling chestnuts out the front who told me he was sick so hopefully he is better by now and the Art Stockage is up and running again. Even when it's shut you can see through all the giant windows all the gorgeous pieces.
http://braumuller.com/index.html
It's in a really magical mountainous spot too, across the road is a gnome sized wooden house right out of a fairy tale with a trickling creek, a little hydro power water wheel all surrounded by lush green mosses,vines ,ferns, wild plants and giant trees YUM. So Definitely worth a sticky beak.

Other current inspirations...

1930's embroidery on satin.

I've always had a fixation with colour gradients and various visual effects involving colours blending, mixing and over lapping. So now that I've learnt this neat trick using a cosmetic sponge to gently stipple colours fading one into the other this obsession can now spread to other areas of bodily decoration.

Exhibition, travels and studio plans

Our grad show is now over, but here is a few pics of my work for those that missed it....









So now my Box Hill jewellery Advanced Diploma is completed and it's time to start working on building my home studio. I've already compiled lists of items to get and tasks to do... currently I'm planning, so soon will be time to start doing. I'll be jetting off to Sri Lanka and India for a 2 and a half week summer holiday very soon but when I return all my studio plans will become actions. I've had an art studio at home for sometime but now it needs to be converted into a jewellery workshop. It's a huge task which will take years to fully complete and will be an ongoing work in progress but it's all very exciting~! Wish me luck!

Award from last night's opening

Thank you Box Hill Institute and Koodak jewellers supplies!

Preview

Some of the jewellery I've been making over the last few months.. you can expect to see some of these at our graduate show this coming Friday 25th Nov @ 1000 pound bend.

so if you'd like to have a closer look, please do come along :)

Also here's our updated invite with the changed date:

The class facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002131853744&sk=wall

Letter head

Click to see bigger, there is a lot of detail in this.

Business card and postcard

I have actually since I made this, had ideas for improvements, so I will update them further.. but this is the progress thus far..

Oh Dear! Date change

Due to a 1000 pound bend double booking mix up, whoops! Our graduation show opening is now changed to the day after which is Friday 25th next week 6-9pm. So same venue same time just Fri instead of Thurs, see you there!


Oh and here's a progress shot of a postcard I designed which will hopefully be available in time for free at the show, I've completed the design since this stage but this is the only file I currently have access to... I'll post the completed the version soon.

Click image to see bigger

Swingin' tags

Front and back, some jewellery swing tags I designed for a range.. I have had ideas for improvements since I made these but this is the progress so far.
They will be wee little dears with holes punched in the top corner and some twine attached to jewellery items.

Graduation show flyer

Click to see bigger.

It's on next week, Friday (not Thurs anymore) evening come along to see some handmade jewellery and objects. The amazingly talented David Neale will be opening our graduation show!
http://davidneale.com.au/
http://www.thegoldensmith.blogspot.com/

Aquamarine

Beautiful stones which are now part of a necklace I've made with a hand fabricated silver chain, out of silver wire I made myself out of recycled scrap, a very labour intensive and time consuming process but very rewarding and earth friendly.

Hallows eve clown chic and fragrant velvet orbs

Pierrot and Peaches, these are a few of my favourite things...

Carnival game vogue.

New

Finished rings, ear studs and toe ring.

A couple of these and one of my holographic fluorite pieces are in an exhibition at Federation Square's Ignite: student showcase tomorrow 12pm-6pm in the BMW edge glass theatre. These are some of the many new pieces I've finished recently. Cast sterling silver with handmade shimmering gems.
http://www.fedsquare.com/events/ignite-student-showcase/

preparations

Shimmery lavender moons on milky blue heaven hoops with sterling silver ear posts. My previous moon hoops were made to fit stretched ears so I made these to fit normal gauge earholes.

At the jewellers bench in the studio...

My double ring with triple gems! Fresh from the casters before it's been filed, sanded and surface treated.


After its been cleaned up and whitened with depletition silvering or "bleaching" which involves repeatedly firing with a flame torch, dunking in acid "pickle" and cleaning with a scrubbing pad. My handmade jewels were added. Here I was trying out different ones, but I ended up swapping the smaller blue for a greenish one.

Silverspun

Click images to see them bigger. It's hard to tell from a photograph but in real life these stones are a gorgeous blue with purple streaks and a holographic rainbow shimmer underlay, that catches different colours in different lights and angles. Oh and they're naturally ultra violet reactive, so they actually glow. My exhibition work is about the magic of the earth, natural phenomenas.



Some sneak peeks at some of my pieces that will be at the Silverspun Box Hill contemporary jewellery graduation show on the 24th November at Thousand Pound Bend. I also have 2 other finished pieces and thirteen others I'm putting the finishing touches on currently.

Add us on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/people/Whitehorse-Jewellery/100002131853744
Check out our venue:
www.thousandpoundbend.com.au
Follow us on Tumlbr:
http://whitehorsejewellery.tumblr.com/

at the bench

setting a stone...

Pleochroism

I'm furiously working in the studio at the moment, preparing for our upcoming graduate show... some clues to what you should expect to see there from me.

In continuing my ongoing theme of crystals and materials that have different kinds of light effects... some Pleochroic pieces are in the works.

From Wikipedia:
"Pleochroism is an optical phenomenon in which mineral grains within a rock appear to be different colors when observed at different angles ..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleochroism

Basically, they're multicoloured crystals! They look different colours in different light and when you move them.. oooh magic.

An example of pleochroism:

horns

Making Alice

I like every version of the story, but these are a couple of my favourites...

Follow the white rabbit...

Anyone who knows me well knows I have had a life long obsession with the tales of Wonderland. As a child I loved to make believe I was Alice running around my yard in poufy dresses with aprons and mary janes quoting lines from the book to imaginary white rabbits (not too far off from what I still do till this day). My first tattoo many moons ago at the age of 19 was of the original illustration of Advice of a Caterpillar, a lithograph by Sir John Tenniel. I've collected various additions of the book over the years, and so on and so forth.
So to my delight I had the opportunity to make 3 metal smithing items with a Mad Tea Party theme that will be displayed in our graduation show in November. I've almost completed them, just working on the finishing touches.
Curiouser and curiouser...



`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Progress from the workshop

More Fluorescence range samples in development.... this one is still a work in progress but you get the idea! Please excuse the messy studio hand ;) This sucker has quite the hefty silver base in real life, it's got a bit of weight to it, also the stone has a more distinctive blues and purples than are visible in this photo.
Cast and bleached sterling silver, raw ultra violet reactive mineral, holographic underlay.




And Alice's chair, with the final coat of paint ready to be flocked...

pastels

Fluoresence

Working on my new Fluorescence range, made a few samples.
Cast and fabricated bleached sterling silver, raw ultra violet reactive Fluorite minerals and holographic underlay.

Furry, shimmery, scallopy

Things in the works...