handShake

handShake is a mentor ship project and show that will be held at Gallery 20/17 in Sydney.  The project is being curated and conceived by Peter Deckers.  The line up of New Zealand jewellers is comprised of eleven other emerging jewellers who chose their superheros as mentors for the year.  The project culminates in a show at Gallery 20/17.  I was lucky enough to be chosen as a participating jeweller and I in turn chose local artist Judy Darragh as my mentor.  She has been wonderful so far and I am sure she will give me a run for my money!


I have decided to send Judy post card updates on my making progress.  Above is post card #1.


The project is being recorded on a blog and will be updated continually for the year.  You can view the blog here:  Handshake blog.

New Ceramic Jewelry

Two worlds collide in an exciting exhibition at the Museum of Art and Design in NY.  Here is what the MAD website has to say about the show.

A Bit of Clay on the Skin: New Ceramic Jewelry

March 15 - September 4, 2011

Museum of Art and Design

A Bit of Clay on the Skin: New Ceramic Jewelry explores the manifold appeal of ceramics, especially porcelain, in jewelry. Organized by the Fondation d'Entreprise Bernardaud and curated by the renowned German-born goldsmith and jewelry artist Monika Brugger, the exhibition showcases the versatility and allure of the medium, which can be modeled or cast, used alone or with metal, wood, and stone, and vary in color and texture. Best known as the stuff of the luxurious and the mundane, of fine tableware and technical equipment, when used in jewelry, porcelain sparks the visual and physical sensations to become an object of desire.

Rian de Jong

n° 4 (brooch) 2007

The exhibition showcases the scope and ingenuity of the more than one hundred works on view and features the work of 18 cutting-edge jewelry artists, including creations by such notables as Peter Hoogeboom, Evert Nijland, Ted Noten (The Netherlands), Gésine Hackenberg (Germany), Marie Pendariès (Spain), and Shu-Lin Wu (Taiwan). While some make reference to traditional jewelry in materials and symbolism, others altogether redefine it in substance, form, and matter.

Mia Straka @ Masterworks

Mia Straka – Model/Jewellery

31March – 20 April 

as per the masterworks website: 

In the jewellery box programme this month is an exciting new experimental range of neckpieces developed by Mia Straka in response to a jewellery workshop she attended recently in Melbourne held by internationally acclaimed Manon Van Kouswijk. Come and see Straka’s exploration into the potential of PVC and silk thread in jewellery.

Lucky Charm: Making Good Fortune Happen

Lucky Charm. Making Good Fortune Happen, is an online auction fundraiser coordinated by Melbourne based jeweler, Natalia Milosz-Piekarska, in order to raise much needed funds in support of the Red Cross Disaster Relief and Rescue services.

In light of the recent bout of devastating natural disasters that have taken place around the world, in particular, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, it became apparent that humanitarian charities such as the Red Cross have become increasingly stretched for funds and resources which allow them to respond quickly and effectively in critical times.

The Lucky Charm fundraiser will see a cornucopia of amazing contemporary jewellery works auctioned off online as a means to show support and help raise much needed funds for the Red Cross - Australia.

All works have been donated by an incredibly generous and highly respected assembly of local and international contemporary jewellers who have banded together to create what organizer, Natalia Milosz-Piekarska calls, “An unstoppable force of GOOD nature”.

Established and emerging makers alsike have come together, with names such as Lucky Folk, Julia deVille, Nicholas Bastin, Melinda Young, Anna Davern in the mix. It’s a rare opportunity to view and bid on such a vast and varied collection of amazing jewellery works. What is even more amazing is that ALL pieces start at a reserve price of only $30!

Thank you for your support, spread the word far and wide, good luck, happy bidding, and may you yourself become a Maker of Good Fortune!

Bidding is open now, all auctions end on April 21^st at 11pm EST.                    

Go to: http://www.luckycharmfundraiser.blogspot.com

Octavia Cook @ Anna Miles Gallery

Art of Engagement reflections

 

White Night Auckland: Tonight

The Auckland Arts Festival is on full swing and a treasure trove of jewellery, craft, talks, and performance art.


Highlights as I see it:

MARCH 12 - White Night. For the first time the festival offers White Night, a special one night only evening which sees the city turned into a bustling outdoor gallery, adapted from the popular French Nuit Blanche where museums, public and private galleries open their doors throughout the city until midnight with special programmes of performance, music and other art events. 


My top picks include:
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MARCH 12 - Jim Allen @ Artspace 6pm

"Contact, Parangole Capes. At its core Contact speaks about a release from social alienation through collective activity—literally ‘making contact’. The three elements—Computer Dance, Parangole Capes and Body Articulation/Imprint—deploy formal structures in which the interplay of bodies use movement, form, sound and light to strive for transcendence. Parangole Capes begins from a point of restraint as bodies cocooned in fabric slowly move towards each other to find release." (text care of Artspace)

MARCH 12 - Ross Malcom talking @ Fingers 7-8 pm
From 7-8pm Ross Malcolm will be in the gallery conducting an informal discussion about his new work on display,
'Home Sweet Home'


MARCH 12 - Niki Hastings-McFall @ ArtStation:..Make lei with Niki on Saturday 12 March 6pm to
midnight, for one of her infamous 'Polynisation' installations that
will be in Artstation. Then help the 'Knitterati' knit for the
'Beanies for babies' charity in a glow-in the dark knit off. These two
events are part of White Night presented by Auckland Arts Festival.


MARCH 12 - Anna Miles Gallery open
MARCH 12 - Objectspace open


___________________________________________________________________
Other highlights include:


13 March: 4pm, Public Talk: Dr Rachel Carley on ceramics, still life and the floral. Plus Afternoon tea. 
@ Letting Space
14 March 14 - Easy Listening: Francis Upritchard in conversation with Tessa Laird 6.00pm 
@ Elam Lecture Theater
16 March: 6.30pm, Public Talk: Anna Miles on the invented and imaginary world of flowers on textiles. 
@ Letting Space
19 March - Jim Allen Performances 
@ Artspace  6pm