sharing the studio

Happy New Year.

I hope Christmas was stress free and happy for all.

I'm still working flat out to get all my work ready for the February show. Yes I'm still waiting for him indoors to scan my pictures but first things first - he's decided his bike needs servicing and what better place to do it than right next to the kitchen table....

You can just see some gum leaves I'm finishing off. To the left of the picture is my laptop where my day job gets done... the kitchen table is still mine - just.

I'm wondering - how many artists share their studio with a Ducati and cursing other half as they lose bits while learning how to service their own bike?

girls' afternoon tea

Christmas afternoon tea for the girls - from left, clockwise:
asparagus rolls (height of NZ old fashioned dainties)
the now-famous Malpas gingerbread in boxes to giveaway
lemon cupcakes with dusted icing (cupcakes had royal icing on them - made with uncooked eggwhite - not good for expectant mums)
bite sized chicken and ginger pies
tiny cupcakes - who are we kidding? we just eat more
gingerbread cookies

christmas tree - work in progress

OK

A truly environmentally-friendly Christmas tree....

1. Pick up a bunch of fallen twigs in the park - pick up a mixture: ones with lots of little branches plus some chunkier branches
2. Paint the sticks using whatever paint you can find - white house paint is good but I found some water soluble metallic paint in the shed. Give the sticks a couple of coats
3. Arrange sticks in a large glass vase and add baubles.

I will get some more baubles when I go to the supermarket tonight and add more twigs but not a bad and free effort.

summer downunder jewellery

December is all about giving.

This year I'm working on sea-themed jewellery. I have forged big silver circles and threaded recycled Balinese glass beads onto them. They are frosted so they look like sea glass. Of course the frosted quartz pebble has made a reappearance - once these are gone I don't know where to get more - I originally bought this strand in Hatton Garden, London.

I have a myriad of shells picked up on beaches from around the world - many with holes just waiting for something to be made from them.

Finally I hit on the idea of making them into silver circle and seashell earrings. These shell slices came from Thailand - but I think the sea worn shells I have in my collection will also make wonderful earrings.


These haven't made it to etsy or the website yet but if you are interested - please get in touch. The earrings and frosted quartz pendants will be around $35AU. Balinese glass bead pendants $30AU.

daisy chains

These are part of a trio commissioned by a contact on my website.

Daisy chains - just in time for Summer!

I hope she likes them.

Have a great weekend all.

painting painting

I've been a bit quiet on the blog of late.

Apologies. I haven't been inactive - I'm halfway through getting pictures ready for the February show.

Here is one in progress in the studio - OK, it's the kitchen table.

I went to the market on the weekend and bought kangaroo paws and a bromeliad. I sorta like the bromeliad more than the kangaroo paws - they're kinda stringy and scary looking.

cast silver pendants

These went to NZ today....

Well the gumleaf with the bite and rough garnet, the lace pendant with the amethyst drop and the right hand lace pendant - I added a grey baroque pearl as a drop at the end.


hope they like them!

gemstone cufflinks

I have neglected jewellery for men for too long so have started to make cufflinks.

These are made of sturdy sterling silver wire with the ends melted to form a 'head'. I like to think the slight 'wonkiness' of the ends adds to their 'crafty' appeal.

Have size tested these ones to fit through a man's shirt buttonhole - nothing worse than cufflinks that don't fit.

These are not on the website yet but will be $30AU a pair.

What do you think about that?

pictures of the Art Sydney Stall

Left to right: My sister Marie, yours truly, my sister Theresa, stepdaughter Louella

Taken one the preview night 22 October.

Thank you

to everyone who came to Art Sydney to support me.

It was a great show and fabulous exposure... will add pictures when I find some.

Now I have a lot of work to do for the February show

Art Sydney mailout

Hey...

The Art Sydney spam went out today and guess what... artwork by yours truly on it.

I'm so stoked! I need to send this home to my mum.

Have a great weekend all. See you next week at the show?

Pictures for Art Sydney 2009

Slowly getting there....

I must admit I've been looking at these too long now.

jingle jangle silver charm bangles

So here are my finished charm bangles in sets of three or five.

The colours of the stones appear to be a little random but I like them that way. I am using headpins I have also made myself - the soldered end looks so much better than looped wire.
The diameter of each bangle is approx 7 cm but will vary by a fraction.

Price details are on the website.

the excitement is mounting

On the ARTSYD website... the artists have their own little writeup in the studio section.

Gotta be happy with that.

cast lace pendants

Antique lace from a NSW county fair dipped in wax and cast in sterling silver.

I've welded little silver rings to the lace then onto larger, forged silver circles to make pendants.

wedding jewellery

My niece is getting married so naturally I offered to make her jewellery.

She has a lovely formal but simple long gown - peachy, honey tones with an all over pattern. I always think that pearls are best and simple simple simple rather than statement pieces.

So I made her a selection. I hope she chooses the wraparound bracelet - this is my favorite and imagine it on your wrist on honeymoon at a beach.

jingle jangle silver charm bangles

I've finished hammering my bangles.... I just need to add gemstones

Got a new shipment in today of some rough garnets, coral and frosted quartz. The garnets look like rough red diamonds. I think they are beautiful but I'm guessing they might be an acquired taste - will post more pictures when I'm done.

cast sterling silver gum leaf pendants

I finished my cast silver gum leaf pendants. I re-thought the original, hammered versions and changed them to sit on two hoops: one small which interlocks with a larger circle, giving the pendant a natural swaying movement.

I have decided against adding any stones to these pendants. I prefer to keep them as is - the elegant shape of the gum leaves can speak for themselves.... any addition would make the piece too fussy.

Am thinking leather thonging rather than chain.

Any thoughts?

I put some on the mf website here.

and it's card time again

"Christmas where the gum trees grow
There is no frost and there is no snow"


"...and a kookaburra in a gum tree"


OK, it's only September and I'm already making Christmas cards... you're thinking I'm either a Christmas lover or super organised...

Neither.

However, I am applying for a couple of seasonal markets around Sydney to sell jewellery, scarves and such so made up some card samples - hopefully they will catch an organiser's eye.

forged silver circles: pendants and rings

This week I've been concentrating on jewellery - more specifically, on silver smithing stuff.

Just in time for the Australian summer.



I'm a huge fan of the forged silver circle. It's such a feminine shape and fits so well with some rough or smooth pebbles. Look a little closer and you can see I've made the headpins for the beads. These look so much nicer than looped silver wire ends.

They're slightly kooky because I let the silver melt and form its own shape.

The chains are different lengths and thicknesses - chosen to suit the stones.

And on Wednesday we got our silver cast results back in our little community collage course.

A big 'wow'. The lace came out spectacular and who'd have thought star anise would be so cool - cast as is - without dipping in wax?

The gum leaves were a little disappointing - the thick coat of wax meant that the finer leafy details were lost so I've hammered these a little to thin them out a little more but also to strengthen the silver.




And finally got around to making stack ring sets. Does one bead add enough bling or should there be more?

My favourites are the rings - these carved wax and cast silver rings originally had little flowers on them - but they fell off before they were cast. Never mind, I thought these were pretty though him indoors said "Very impractical".

ranunculus - watercolour on paper

last images before my painting mojo died....

Ranunculus. I bought these at the market a week before I got around to painting them... in that time the leaves grew spidery and unruly and the stems got longer: some wilted and some twisted into new shapes.

Painted silk scarves

well it had to happen.... my three months of painting frenzy is over....

You see I lost my painting mojo. It is a cyclical thing - comes and goes for a couple of months then nothing for another few months....

but before it went I managed to paint some more silk.

Quite like turquoise/brown combinations.

Have a great weekend everyone.