do not forget Lynn Kelly

Lynn Kelly is a jeweller who's work I come across every now and then and think 'cool' but never jot down!
Silly really.
I really like how her pieces are a bit rough and organic looking, hinting at a texture ... which has been something I have tried to achieve in my own pieces in the past.
I also enjoy the use of colour in her Rosehip pieces (shown). She has used coloured thread and actual Rosehips to add colour in a way that is interesting, but without being overwhelming.

http://www.form.co.nz/artists/lynn_kelly.htm

Renee Boyd

My Mum saw this exhibition and took me along last week before it finished!
Saw NZ ceramicist Renee Boyd's gorgeous work at the NZ 52nd National Ceramics Exhibition, held at the Mt Eden Village Community Centre.
It was a stand out piece for me and I loved the layers, shapes, the cut-outs and the mute, natural tones.
Perhaps I should start piercing some of my charms? Could give it a go.
Would be interesting to find out Renee's creative process and whether she uses drawings as a method to help her create, and if she did, to see some of them!!!
Also interesting is the block colours I seem to be attracted to which is something I havent previously used in any of my pieces. But is also something I was attracted to in Julie Blyfield's work too. Need to investigate ways to colour my pieces in one, even colour....

Its Official!

I officially hold a Bachelor of Design - Three Dimensional (Contemporary Craft) 

Woohoo!!! So good to be done with uni and so nice to have an official ceremony to end it all with! 

Gives you a bit of inspiration too, makes you think about the past 4 years and what you've learnt and achieved.

Our guest speaker Yvonne Willering said there were 4 types of people in the world...those that hope things will happen, those that wait for things to happen, those that wonder what the hell is happening...and those that make it happen! The journey and the performance is more important than the success at the end. :)

Wicked chat :)

Good words.

Yay for graduating :) 

Julie Blyfield

Found an Australian jeweller the other day while browsing around the place.
She makes gorgeous pieces. I love how they are direct references to objects/plants she has found/seen/collected/photographed. Her process reminds me a lot of my own and it's encouraging to see people out there being successful in something very similar to what I want to be making!
I love the clusters of similar components in her pieces, the texture, the symmetry and the colours of her work.
Very inspiring.

This interview here on the JamPacked-JamFactory blog is pretty good in terms of outlining a few people and places that inspire her own work, as well as providing some insight into her thoughts and her process! :)
Cool!!!

We Live in a Vulnerable World

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html

I found the above talk while roaming around on The Big Idea website.
I really liked it.
I do exactly what she talks about. I'm terrible with emotions. I know it. I don't cry unless I'm having a break down or I'm so tired I don't know what else to do. Maybe thats not so abnormal.
Anyway, I do the whole 'I don't want to feel this way so I'm just going to numb it and stop feeling this particular feeling' and it really hit home when she said you can't selectively numb emotions. I had a wee think about it and it seems true. It appears feasible. It makes sense. So to be truly happy, I have to feel all the crap stuff too....but that's just part of being human. And its part of being human that should be celebrated.
Easier said than done folks.
But I'll give it a try aye?

She also said that every human strives for connectivity. And feeling vulnerable makes us shy away from situations because we feel as if we will damage connections already made or that we want to make. This also seems so true. And feasible. I look at my actions and why I DON'T do things....and usually its because I don't want o be embarrassed, or for someone to think something different of me. To not be accepted. Yet the things we do that set us apart make us who we are. And make us better people, and the more authentic we are to who we are, the more people we can connect with.

Gah!

My work is ALL about connections and I think its interesting to relate my making to this stage in my life. I'm growing up, I'm meeting new people, I'm trying to find myself, to figure out who I am and what makes me me and to accept and love myself for it,  and perhaps thats manifesting itself in my work...without me even intending it to :)

I Wanna Do My Thing

I've found a scholarship that I think would be AMAZING to be granted.
It's AMP's 'Do Your Thing'
I always feel silly applying for things like this but what do i have to lose by applying for it?
NOTHING!!

And imagine if I WAS successful!
I don't even want to think about it!
Because it will more than likely end in disappointment!!

Must write the most amazing application and get EVERYONE to vote!!!
There are no jewellers in the past who have won it, and no jewellers in the running for this year!
So who knows? Maybe something different will catch their eye and I'll get a helping hand and a monetary boost to allow me to do all the things I'd love to do but can't with my very limited income!

I can't even say how EXCITING the idea is!!!

http://www.doyourthing.co.nz

Authenticity

I was directed to a TED talk called The Three A's of Awesome. The talk itself was a bit boring (no offence!) but I managed to get the gist of it and two things stuck out:

1)
One of the A's in the talk was Authenticity.
It's something I think is super important.
To always do what YOU want to do and are passionate about, regardless of what the 'norm' is or what is expected of you. And to accept what you do as a part of who you are.
I wrote a list a while ago of some things that I love that keep me inspired that I usually don't yell about in public, because perhaps, they're not so 'cool'. But I realised that these quirky things are what separates me from the rest, and if I am to make it at any rate, its these things I need to pursue and continue loving and enjoying.

- superheroes (esp Superman!)
- cartoon/children's movies
- royal/majestic/powerful/mythical animals - lions, eagles, unicorns, tigers, horses, deer, bears, aligators, wolves..
- dinosaurs!!!
- walking
- collecting objects from places I visit (random things, like a stone, or a bottle cap, or a stick or a shell, or a leaf)
- funny little made-up creatures
- ancient Rome and Egypt - the jewellery techniques made so many years ago, the ruins, the myths, the gods...
- boxes and containers
- dusk...that time of night where the horizon is a silhouette against a sky of brilliant colours
- the sky, especially clouds
- Florence Broadhurst and William Morris wall papers
- trees
- water (in a bath, in a pool, the ocean, a puddle, a drop of rain....especially being in or under it, that silence that happens when you put your ears under and you're floating and the water feels silky and cool)

the list goes on....and on....but some things you look at and say...who DOESN'T like that? I suppose, when you look at it, we're all a bit funny. Normal is boring!

Something i want to be really authentic about in my work is hand-crafting, and making interactive jewellery. Its what I really love doing, and I can tell that I love doing it because I lose track of time, and things happen so quickly!!! And I'll whistle while I'm working :)

2)
That only his mum read his blog to start off and it skyrocketed to being the best blog in the world and being turned into a book! Big things start off small!!!! Positive.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/neil_pasricha_the_3_a_s_of_awesome.html

Growing Up

I'm growing up.
I guess we all do at one point.
I can feel it.
Not in a bad way.
But you know what I'm scared of?
What if one day I wake up and find I have lost the capacity to imagine?
What if I start to take myself too seriously and don't realise?

Got to make sure to keep Dr Seuss books close by for some doses of imaginative inspiration!

THE DREAM

My wonderful mentor, Lyn Dallison, asked me if I had any long term goals in my mind. And I didn't really. I've never been able to see beyond my Uni years, and now that those have passed...I have no idea where to go! So I sat down and had a wee think and this is what I came up with:

THE DREAM:

To own my own property/shop/store with a studio out the back where I can make, show, and sell my own work.

I will sell a few ranges/lines of mass produced pieces (still on a small scale) as well as:

- selling one off pieces, commissioned or just ones that I decide to make

- making work for exhibitions and shows and competitions

I want the focus to be on hand-crafted objects, keeping true to the craftsmanship of making and producing handmade objects.

I will attend courses/workshops/classes to further extend my skills and widen my horizons.

something to consider?????? 

 – share the property/shop/store with another artist/s? Jewellers? Other fields? Is a highly attractive option that I would strongly consider and seek out?

- A place to make, show, and sell our work

- Opportunities for collaboration

- Share the cost of running a workshop/shop/store...electricity, tools, water, insurance, security, rent? (would PREFER to have bought the place...) etc

- Erase the issue of having to sort out pricing with galleries/buyers that we would normally have to deal with

- Would have to generate our own exposure (ie. With a gallery/shop they already have a network and set structure for media and advertising...), we wouldn’t have that

- Would need to hire someone to take care of the money aspect of things so we can focus on work, but need to still be involved so know what’s going on

- Would need to hire and pay own shop staff?? Unless we took shifts to man the shop...ie...three people...two days each in the shop, three/four days making, Sundays closed... will also depend on location.  Would be able to work on things if they are on ‘shop’ duty if it’s quiet!!

- Set up a base rate or percentage of sale of each work that will go towards the running of the store/shop...ie...20%? Not sure?! Then the rest is kept by the artist as pay? Something that would have to be trialled or run by someone for advice!! 

Ambitious huh? But I like it. The more people say ...'oh, thats a bit ambitious.' it makes me even more determined to make it happen!!!

(check out this link to find a pretty interesting project (where I stole the above image from) http://observatory.designobserver.com/entry.html?entry=13238)

Dilemma-Ville

I'm having a dilemma moment. A lot of little things all piling up are just getting to me and i feel STUCK and I don't know what to do. 

I'm struggling to find harmony in the spaces I have set up to work in at home.

I have gone from having a space that I was comfortable in and that had EVERYTHING I needed in it, to having a disjointed space where my creativity is struggling to flow. 

It is a bit of a dilemma. 

I can't afford to hire a studio out, and the only desk space I have available is in my bedroom, and my bench is downstairs in the garage. So i have to work in my bedroom (not ideal!) and then go up a flight of stairs and through two rooms to go between the two spaces, when I'm used to just having to turn around on the spot! 

I know there will be people out there who say "oh youre not applying yourself hard enough, you shodu lbe more dedicated. MAKE it happen!" and I'd love to, but there is SO much to be said for having a creative space where thoughts flow freely and you are inspired to make just by simply being in that room/space.

I currently am struggling to get into the assignments  I have written for myself, and perhaps it's a lot more to do with lacking a constructive work space than a lack of motivation.

I'm starting to itch to get making but I need to buy new solder and a new hearth and I need hammers and draw plates and doming blocks and types of pliers and etc etc etc. And working less than 20 hours a week at my part-time job doesn't really lead to much excess money after such things as petrol, gym membership, presents for friends, and life in general. 

Job hunting is proving to be an extremely fruitless effort. I don't hear back from anything I apply for. It's the most frustrating thing in the world! My current job isn't taking me anywhere or teaching me anything thats going to help with my dream (don't think I've put The Dream up here yet...will do so next!) and its not even offering me enough hours to be able to justify it as a decent source of income.

Sigh

Its the catch-22 isnt it.

I need to start making so I can start selling my work and entering competitions and for my exhibition and generating an income, but I need some funds/materials/tools and a creative space to do so.

My overdraft and credit card accounts don't give me the best credentials when it comes to asking for a loan. And I don't want to go further into debt (lets not even MENTION the student loan) than I already am.

Life - sigh! 

Anyway, get on with it right?

I'll upload The Dream :)