MEGA CRAFT HATCH 23rd Oct,2010

Setting up my first individual stall at State Library of Victoria (experimedia) in the morning, I was very much in awe. There was so much talent around me and I was also honoured to be a part of it. I wanted to present myself informally to the customers so I drew my work on foam board and wrote by hand (instead of printing) for a display. This felt very amateurish but I got good feedback from the customers. Coming from Victoria mason " Display is good, very informative". My work was about kinetic jewellery, so I had to show movement to people so only displaying my work was not enough. Hence, I drew my work and showed how petals rotate with arrows. I also kept giving demonstrations on how to wear one piece with different variations. People really like the idea of movement and gave me some positive feedback.

The above picture was taken in the end of the day. I am still smiling which means that I had a very good day and I want to thank Craft Victoria for giving me this opportunity and my fellow stallholders for encouraging me. It was a really good opportunity to put yourself out in the market and see how people react. And when they say "wow", all the pain seems worthwhile. After I finished packing, I was very much motivated and more determined to deliver the promise that I made to all the people who appreciated my work.

Craft to Consumer: Craft Victoria

Finally, I was able to get Craft Victoria professional membership which i was putting off for numerous reasons. So the first session i attended was Craft to consumer. This information session was for emerging and established makers seeking to expand their market reach in retail sector. Gaye Naismith and Victoria Mason shared their experieneces in retail, markets and wholesale sectors.
It gave a useful insight to understand the difference between wholesale and retail markets. One really needs to know their product and its target market. Above all when dealing with retail sector, one needs to present oneself professionally-" always give an invoice and keep a detail record of your consignments".And before presenting yourself make sure you have enough stock to fulfill the demand.

My product is quite labour intensive and i can only produce limited edition range. The technique i am using is inspired from mokume-gane and I have been trying hard to make shakudo (copper and gold) and shibhuichi (copper and silver). The most difficult part is to configure how to melt copper to make alloys. Sometimes its such a pain!

GANOSKIN came to my rescue, it really has all the answers. Putting crushed charcoal besides copper helps preventing copper to absorb oxygen. I cant believe I produced 1083 degree celsius temperature and copper finally melted.

The above picture is a test piece. The black lines is shakudo ( I was so happy to see the black colour after applying patina).  I really want to call it black gold (instead of shakudo) as apart from having 4% 22ct yellow gold, it is enormously labour intensive. Now am making some more shakudo, need to get hold of the technique! 

Topography of MetaL

Curated by: Susan Skoczen (http://www.susanskoczen.com/)
"Topography of Metal" is and exhibition to investigate the manipulation of surface of metal. The exhibition starts 15th oct,2010 and runs till 19th nov,2010 at Tap Studios/Gallery M,USA. It is a unique studio and exhibition space dedicated to the creation and promotion of art jewelry.

I continue to explore the kinetic element in my work. I am very much excited for this first international exhibition , its a great motivation. I would like to thank Susan from bottom of my heart for appreciating my work. I really love her work and the way she incoporates metal with contemporary materials like flocking.

KINETIC JEWELLERY

Movement forms an important part in my work. I have started a series of Kinetic jewellery which will give the wearer different variations to wear one piece. The above work is a Kinetic Bangle which can expand and contract to any wrist size.

NCJA 2010- Finalist

National contemporary jewellery award is a biennial exhibition open to all jewellers in Australia. Last time I sent a ring to the competition and it was my first piece to sell. So this time I was more excited to enter. This exhibition is opening on 9th september 2010 and runs till 3rd october,2010 at GRIFFITH REGIONAL ART GALLERY,NSW.

Medium- Sterling silver, copper, mild steel, 9ct yellow gold, 22ct yellow gold, patination.

My work is a kinetic neckpiece so its shape can be changed by pulling it down or sideways. I have used around 190 petals, each of which is riveted together. I have used sequins in between to prevent wear and tear of metal and add friction. Layers of copper, silver, gold and mild steel are fused together and patina is applied for final finish.


Finalists include; Brendan Adair-Smith, Marina Antoniou, Kristy-Lee
Agresta, Jane Bowden, Melissa Cameron, Simon Cottrell, Catherine Da Costa,
Anna Davern, Christopher Earl Mibourne, Susan Frisch, Emi Fukuda, Linda
Hughes, Tassia Joannides, Jin Ah Jo, Puneet Jodhka, Erin Keys, Ingrid
Lockley, Chris Massey, Leslie Matthews, Claire O'Halloran, George Plionis,
Nicole Polentas, Jessamy Pollock, Phoebe Porter, Brenda Ridgewell, Amy
Robson, Regine Schwarzer, Mitsue Slattery, Bernadette Trainor, Linda Van
Niekerk, Kathryn Wardill, Andrew Welch and Katherine Wheeler.

Web: www.griffithregionalartgallery.com

Gallery Hours
Wednesday – Friday 10am – 5pm
Weekends 10am – 3pm

GOTYA 2009 VIC

" Honorable Mention in Jewellery design category" in GOTYA VIC 2009

Graduate of the year awards 2009 -GOTYA from victoria is organised by Design Institute of Australia. We were asked to send two images of our work which we did during the course of the study.

As I said in my previous post, I made vessels which can also be worn as jewellery. So the first picture present my collection of wearable vessels. The second picture shows the designing process. The renderings are made by hand using water colours and steadler pencils. It is very important to present a visual of the design with different variations to gain initial confidence of the customer.

Judge's Feedback:

My view is that the manufactured work presented is a clever expansion of an age old concenpt. I appreciate the transformation and particularly enjoyed the transformation of the color.

What I would have like to have seen more of a detailed view of the work to enable me asses the quality of the workmanship.

For the pear shape design-rendering i found it challenging to have a clear view. Understanding that this may be conceptual and from what I can see the collar looks potentially stunning, I note that I would be mindfull that these renderings do not fully represent the practicalities of manufacture and would not in my view accurately present the final piece to the client.

Congratulations on your entry and I commend you on your efforts and am ceratin that you have a bright future ahead.

Regards,

Shaylee Mckenzie.

I am glad to receive the feedback and will work more on the details of presentation. There was so much work I wanted to put it which made me compromise with the details, but I will keep this in my mind. Thanks alot for appreciating my work!

I genuinely want to thank my teacher " Lorraine White" who asked me to participate in first place. I am glad that I chose Box Hill Institute of TAFE to study and have such wonderful teachers.

For futher details please visit - www.dia.org.au/content.cfm?id=320

WEARABLE VESSELS

Inspired from the gold boxes of renaissance period, I intended to make boxes which can also be worn as jewellery. This was theme for my graduate exhibition 2009. Goldsmiths of 18th centurn Europe made gold boxes using intricate patterns in high carat gold and it alloys and enamelling techniques. To depict rich color of gold I used 22ct gold plated copper and to show enamelling colors, I used colors of polypropylene plastic.

The above picture is a small box, inspired from vintage purses. It is silver plated copper and when upside down (picture below), it can be worn as a ring and has a hologram beneath

Below is a small vessel which is made by powder coated copper. It can also be worn as a two-finger ring.

This 22ct gold plated copper is a small box and a pendant. I have used green polypropylene plastic to depict green enamelling color. This piece was exhibited in GRADUATE METAL 12 in Perth during 14th Biennial JMGA conference.

This is again 22ct gold plated copper and I have used red polypropylene plastic to depict red enamelling color. This is also a small box and when upside down , it can be worn as a ring (as shown in the picture above). This piece was also exhibited in GRADUATE METAL 12, Perth.

The above box is 22ct gold plated copper and sterling silver with peridot set in bezel. It is inspired from "snuff box" which goldsmiths made during 18th centruy in Europe.

The above piece is a solid sterling silver bangle and stands like a small flower pot.