Something is afoot ....

Sneak  peek ... Pop up etsy shop happening! Starts Monday 26th August. Five days only. Finishes Friday August 30th.

Flatwear ...

,So the last of my work is installed ... Sooo happy to not have to keep making list so I stay on task and focuse ( that will be enough heckling from the stalls thank you - you know who you are!)  it really didn't take long to set up and I to to some lovely people who were very interested in the provenance of some of the elements in the necklaces. I am not sure how I can remember where all the stuff comes from when I can't even remember to buy milk when I am out but there you go ... Perhaps it is "selective memory syndrome"!

It was tricky to photograph but I guess this gives you an idea of the space. It is a museum-like cabinet in a gallery/shop. Lots of South Australian artists are represented here...

I typed up a little story for each piece. Not sure anyone else will get the reference to the Batty Koda Rap (Fern Gully people aside!) but I was indeed brain-fried by then and there was a bat in the piece - and well,it just kinda happened!

This is all one necklace. It looks great on even if I do say so myself! I am proud that I made a bezel for the dolls eye and the skull! I couldn't do that before I started preparing for this show ... Ah the joys of being a self taught jeweller! That gorgeous turquoise blue chain is some vintage Swarovski that I was lucky enough to get my hands on when an old family business in Adelaide closed its doors.

Detail of one of the bits I made. I cut this cross from an old silver plated coaster and added the little brass Herat. I do love combining different metals...

And the eye. It freaks a lot of people out but I really like the talismanic allure of an eye you can wear! I made the bezel (eyelashes and all!) and mounted it on a vintage teaspoon. Now I am planning to play with some colourful beady stuff for a minute. Some simple threading is just what I need!

Oh and just in case you have a burning desire to discover (or rediscover) The Batty Rap ...

http://youtu.be/XaTFgY8kZcU

Been a little busy ...

I feel a bit like I have been holed up in my studio for ages ... Well I guess I have been in there a fair bit. August is a busy art month here with a statewide arts festival that I love being a part of. On Sunday my show "BrinyDeep" opened , today I set up a joint display of my jewellery and my daughters papercuts and on Wednesday I have a "mini cabinet" opening at a gallery in the city ...  After that I will be having a little break I reckon! So here are some pics of what has been moving out of my studio ...

Briny Deep set up in a beautiful cellar door, Tscharkes Place, in the Barossa Valley. Great opening, great space and lots of red dots - yay!

Ellen's amazing paper cuts (pics don't really do them justice) and the set up in Nuriootpa. 

Love being busy but I won't be complaining about a little downtime!

My definitive decade?

According to Meg Jay,Phd, your twenties are a defining decade. Apparently you can even maximise brain development in this decade - of course you need to buy her book ( The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter--And How to Make the Most of Them Now),to find out how! I haven't read the book so can't comment on its veracity. I do know that I hit my twenties in the early Eighties and I also know that I am always drawn to music of that decade. Don't judge me - well perhaps you should because I am not particularly discerning! When it comes to music I am the proverbial pleb who says "I don't know much about music but I know what I like ... All this came to mind because I scored some great (to me!) vinyl  at the op shop...

 I plated several of them at full blast night and luckyily there are no accompanying images of my lounge room dance moves ... Does anyone remember Eddy Grant? Electric Avenue ringing any bells? Ah 1982 ...

http://youtu.be/NK3y6g6xUPQ

And some home grown talent - well they formed in Melbourne so we claim them even the lead vocalist is a Kiwi ... I scored their 1986, self-titled album. Here is one of the tracks.

http://youtu.be/IA-1PbsAZnU

Ah the eighties ...

Spooners ...

No, I don't mean cuddling couples! I am busy making charms and jewellery from vintage spoons etc. I am having a ball and layering up lots of fun elements. So far I seem to be producing slightly gothy- steampunky things - GothPunk? Well apart from pretty Alice that is ...

Skulls on a rose bed ....?

Lots of layering and a bit of bezel making practice too ...

"Forktopus" and his spoon company - more to come I'm afraid ...!

bah ha ha ...

It's "forktopus"!

I crack myself up ....!!!

Busting out a bezel - oh yeah!

After some fairly intense resistance (and a whole lot of trepidation! ) I have finally done it! Yep, I made a bezel. Now it is far from perfect - in fact so far from perfect that I added some dings and dents to enhance the effect - but I am dead pleased with it! It houses a piece of beach pottery that was not completely flat and I was reluctant to try and even it up to create a flat cabochon so I think I was starting on the back foot ...

I read through heaps of my books and in the end kinda squished all the info together and just had a go!

I used brass from an old tray and I had to anneal the strip I cut before I could bend it to shape. Course I only remembered about the annealing deal after a number of frustrating attempts to make that strip bend the way I wanted it to!!

 

I have a question for you now though ... Because the pottery is uneven it sits in the bezel unevenly. Should I pour resin over it to even up the surface. I don't want to do one of those rolled over edges. I quite like the way it looks ...

 

Do you think it looks weird with the gappy bits? 

It is secure ...

...and I am thinking that the matte finish of the pottery is pretty nice ... I also have to decide what to hang it from. Believe it or not I was thinking about these lovely vintage pearls ....

 

but maybe leather would be better? Or silver chain ..... I hope the doubter voice takes a holiday tomorrow and I can maybe make some decisions! sigh