Old things - New things

It's a busy time right now in Wellington - Jemposium is on, the Fringe Festival is on, and my work bench is full of commissions and my calendar full of classes.
I am experiementing with Mokume Gane - not in fusing the actual billets of metal together, as I don't have a kiln at the moment, but definately having fun working out textures and patterns.
The process (I love PROCESS!) is very intense, and messy sometimes, but I like the methodical grinding and twisting and rolling.
I am making a wedding band for a good friend of mine with the results.

Twisted pattern in brass and copper



Grinding and drilling and rolling.....

 Jemposium is taking up a bit of attention as well for now, last night I  listened to Marcel van Kan , who  spoke for Atelier Ted Noten (NL); Manon van Kouswijk (NL/AUS);  - who I loved! Fabrizio Tridenti (IT) was a little harder to listen to as his interpreter was speaking quietly, but so very sweet! and also Liesbeth den Besten (NL).
It was VERY intense, and I struggled to stay awake after a sleep deprived night, but it confirmed for me that my instinct to experiment, experiment experiment this year is a good one.
Tonight I will go to a local bar to the Jemposium pin swap... I have no idea what I will make for it, but I need to make a pin, then I can go and swap it for another jeweller's.
Exciting!

The talks last night were great  but I wanted to hear more about the artist's inner process - why they feel, how they feel, what they see... rather than to simply look at pictures of work. Of course, when you try to fit a lot into a short time, this is always a pain!


on another note, it's always fun when you come across old exhibitions or events, referenced on the internet... like this one, a bit of a photo-montage of a show I did with a buddy of mine: Beauties and Beasties.

And speaking of Beasties... somehow I always end up looking after little beasties... this time a baby hedgehog that I found wandering around a dog park. Not the best place to take an evening stroll for such a wee thing - even if you are prickly!

New Year.

The turn of the year has given me a lovely time to breathe and enjoy life.
I have been spending time in my garden, time with my dog, and time with my friends.


And... back to the studio with new plans, and good exciting ones too!

Currently I am working on a piece for the Retrospect exhibition as part of the International Jewellery Symposium: Jemposium.

This is the work in progress. It's about the size of a golf ball, made from copper and that is a small lens on top. The finish will actually be a coloured patina, rather than the pinkish copper.
It is a neckpiece, and will sit on a wooden mount.

It is a re-work of something I did in one of my first years at school, under Peter Deckers. Not a terribly serious piece - but lord knows I can't be serious all the time!

Next  on the cards is a photoshoot for my commercial range "The Wild".
I produce this with my bestie Annie Collins - and we really need to get this shoot happening if we are to push the range properly this year.
We are working with photographer Nicole Freeman - who we have worked with several times over the years  - and who always does a beautiful job of capturing the ideas we have!

This is a photo that Nicole took of Annie on our last shoot! It's taken down on Oriental Parade just after 6pm.

And these are the feather rings from the range The Wild. They are proving very popular - with men as well as women, which is unforseen, and fabulous!

That's all for now, but I hope I will be able to post images of the finished work for Retrospect soon!
Cheerio
Vaune

Coming into the close

Coming into the close of 2011, I feel like my creative plans need some consolidation (is that a word?).

In the last month I have been very busy with commissions and making work for my Christmas season.
It's been amazing to be able to get back to the studio, and my bench.


The Grande Bracelet - with a hand forged silver band and cast solid brass marigold and sugar skull.

 I have been focusing on creating a comprehensive range of cast work that is very wearable - and I am very pleased with the result.

The Grande Skull ring



The Marigold Ring



As I mentioned in my last post, I have shamelessly borrowed from the Mexican culture - giving in to my desire to create a body of work based on the Dia Los Muertos holiday.
In an ideal world, I would have been travelling around Mexico during that holiday season, absorbing the sights and sounds for myself. That was not to be, but I have still really enjoyed reading up on this fabulous celebration, and the roots of the tradition.

You might ask why Dia Los Muertos?

I guess because it is one of the most colourful celebrations of death and life. I often work with the leavings of life - bones, feathers, dried up bodies of bugs and birds. In this, I am looking at the ideas and feelings that surround the subject of death. Dia Los Muertos is one of the few publicly accepted celebrations where the death of a human is not hidden away - where the leavings of the life, and the place of burial are not seen as scary or sad, but rightly as an honourific, a memorial, a keep safe.

Out of the dust....

The dust is settling, I have time finally to recollect my thoughts and get back to my desk and my long neglected jewellery projects.

Coming up on my calander is the Christmas jewellery project with my darling partners Annie Collins and Amanda Howley - The Jewellery Apothocary. This is a pop-up shop, where those in need of a little pick-me-up can find just what they need. We will be selling from November to December... and if you are very  lucky, we might just leave a web-shop up for the Apothocary's special clients.

Sugar Skull Necklace in brass

Of course, this means I have to get my fingers dirty again, and I have several new themes to look at.
The first of these is the Dia Los Muertos  - something that has fascinated me for many years. I am somewhat embarrassed to admit I have never been to Mexico, but it remains a dream of mine to one day be able to witness the day of the dead celebrations first hand!
it is the joyfulness of the relationship with death that I like - and the colourful and quirky decorations.


Bronze wings with silver-set black cz's

My apologies for the terrible photography here - you can't see the richness of the polished bronze on the wings. Those of you who have been following my work for some time will know that I have a long standing habit of using winged motifs. I love the ideas of transformation and trancendance that wings hold.
I have been having some fun with new ways to use the motif, and new and simple ways to include stones in my work.

If you are interested in owning any of my work shown on my blog, or would like to come to The Jewellery Apothecary, just flick me an email - vaunemason@gmail.com

In some other very exciting news,  the Museum of Art and Design (NY) has approached me about putting some of my work in an exhibition in 2013.. so I have been running around getting shots taken for their catalogue. It is for an exhibition that focuses on jewellery & photography combined. So I will keep you posted about developments there.
Hopefully this will mean a trip to NY: for sure that's what Annie and Amanda are planning for already!

Until next time,

V.

The Monstrous Drive to Create!

Modelling the Tui costume - photo by Stephen A'Court

In a few of my last posts (yes - very sporadic they have been!) I mentioned that one of my big projects was Monster Burlesque....

You can check out what is Monster Burlesque at that blog...

But essentially I deviated from my usual creative path of jewellery and objects to fulfil a childhood dream of creating and costuming a fantastical stage show.

It has been a huge push - and definately worth the effort - and has left me with a wealth of experiences, images, ideas and things never-to-do-again!

Here is a wee interview on the local Good Morning show - breakfast TV - which due to the mainstream nature of the audience, took the most "traditional" element of the show, the Tui dance.



The Avian Belle and Hugo Monster



If it had been my choice, I would have given them the monsters, my favourite costumes, and certainly the hardest to make!

Hugo, the giant blue headed monster from all the publicity shots, was the first of the monsters. He was a challenge for me, as much as I love carving, the huge jump in scale took me a bit to get a hold of.

Usually I am carving with an eye for detail and in millimeters.... this was all about broad brush strokes, and getting the size right in proportion to the human body.

There are also three other monsters, which I hope to post images of soon - when my computer stops hiding things from me!

Til then...

xx

Inspiration, food for thought... the next page?

I am fascinated by the decorative elements of such traditions as Dia Los Muertos... yes, the subject matter is also of interest. You will have seen themes of this in my last body of work, and I am continuing to look into this kind of imagery. These images are all ones that I have found that pique my interest.

It is something to do with the texture, the shape, and the sentimentality.

Colour... texture... layering... preciousness... sentiment... a touch of macabre. More on this later.

Images from the Auckland show...

In the flurry of all my other activity... and there is a fair bit going on at the moment... I have finally managed to get some images of the work from the Auckland show at Objectspace gallery.