The Jewel in the Lotus and Radiance

    

  Two more rings. 18ct yellow gold, pink sapphire and diamond.

Enchanted Forest Ring

             I've added this ring to my collection at  egetal
             I8ct yellow gold, 0.75ct Ceylon sapphire

MFA Graduate Exhibition 2012.

Here it is! The RMIT Master of Fine Art exhibition! It was a huge challenge but immensely rewarding. Check it out if you can.

Whale looking at you.

925, 999, black diamonds, apatite beads.

Hummingbird Chronology

2012

925,18ct yg, pink sapphires, tsavorite garnet.

2010

925, 999, pink sapphires, rose quartz, black onyx.

2008

925, 999, 18ct yg, rubies, carnelian, black onyx.

2006

925, 999, emeralds, sapphires.

Spring and a giant bee.

Magnificent blossoming plum tree.

When you stand under this tree you can here the buzzing of hundreds, maybe even thousands,of bees going about their pollen collecting business.

925, 999, gold dust, stocking, stainless steel pin.

I was moving things around the studio (otherwise known as tidying up) when I came across this all wrapped up and tucked away in a drawer. It's a giant bee brooch. I think I made it about 8 or so years ago. I can't remember why I put it away. I must have felt a bit unsure about it. Hmmm, still not sure. 

Lion's wing bangle.

If a lion had a wing...
925, 999. (modeled and photographed by me, at the same time)

Room with a view

This has been a most delightful winter view as the wattlebirds visit  the camellias outside my window. I'm not feeling so enamoured with them now as they start their warbling at daybreak and it really is not the most pleasant of birdsongs.    

Retrospective 2- ...she really couldn't sleep a wink (with acknowledgement to Mr. Anderson).

This is an exhibition I had at egetal in 2006. It was based on this text (which is based on the Hans Christian Anderson tale The Princess and the Pea) and it is the pre- history of the 2005 exhibition.
...so far they had all been phoneys, fakes, counterfeit princess's. All glitz, all bling & sham (not to mention their ridiculous wigs) Where was the real & true princess. The old Queen ranted & raved throughout the palace, cursing & cussing as only true royalty can."What will become of my only son? He cannot sit alone on the throne" (actually she was really over this whole being Queen thing & just wanted to retire & go on a round the world cruise)
Little did they know that galloping through the deep, dark forest was the Princess Mirabelle (affectionately known to family & friends as small yellow plum). She had become hopelessly lost. Luckily though a nightingale took pity on her & she followed its song out of the forest all the way to the palace gates. The bedraggled Princess was given a bed for the night but not before the old Queen thought "We'll find out quickly enough if she's a true princess" (how?) Well she placed a pea on the bedstead then stacked twenty mattresses & on top of the mattresses twenty eiderdown quilts. Princess Mirabelle had to climb a ladder to get to the top of the bed. Having always been taught to be gracious & polite she didn't mention her aversion to heights. Not only did she suffer from vertigo the Princess also had terrible insomnia (why else would she be galloping around the forest in the middle of the night). So poor Princess Mirabelle spent the night tossing & turning & clinging on to the bed for dear life. The next morning when the Queen asked her how she had slept she replied rather haughtily "well actually I couldn't sleep a wink". Before she could go on to give a detailed account of her insomnia & vertigo the trumpeters started trumpeting & the Queen started bellowing to the cooks in the kitchen to begin sifting the flour & cracking the eggs for the tallest, royalist wedding cake ever.
...And so the pea became world famous
   The Prince & Princess DID fall in love
   And the old Queen got to kick up her heels
   on a round the world cruise for over 35s. 
(I must have thought 35 was old  in 2006)
 Katherine Bowman helped me install this exhibition and the previous one. She is soon to have a solo show at egetal and it looks like it is going to be absolutely stunning. Definitely something to look forward to on the jewellery calendar.


                 

I typed this text on a very old type-writer & it took a long time.

Phoney Princess's pendants. 925, 999,18ct gold, felt, pearl, diamond.

Nightingale pendant. 925,999, 18ct gold, cognac diamonds.

View of the castle as the Princess leaves the forest.

World famous pea (set into a ring) 925, 18ct gold, emerald, diamond.

Bird brooches 925, 999, 18ct gold, ruby, sapphire.

View of castle and room the Princess stayed in.

Pile of feathers.

   

I really am some kind of bird nerd.

 I've been keeping an eye on this nest. It seemed to be enormous. I really wanted to know what was in it.

 I had a plan to climb up a ladder and then climb the tree so I could have a look in the nest. I was telling a friend about my scheme and he said he didn't think it was a good idea as the tree looked as though it was unstable. I gave it some more thought and decided it was totally unnecessary for me to look into that nest, actually none of my business.

 I did keep watching it and I am sure I saw this baby magpie fly out of the nest. He/she is still very clumsy and has been hopping around the garden. My new neighbour! I probably won't be so thrilled with him/her if  he or she starts swooping.

                          Neckpiece. 925, 18ct gold, Chinese turquoise.

                         Earrings. 925, pearl.

                               Necklace. 925, 18ct gold, pearl.

Retrospective 1- Treasure trove of the Princess Mirabelle (small yellow plum)

This was an exhibition I had at egetal, Little Collins Street in 2005. The Little Collins Street store is no more. The exhibition was based on this text I wrote...

...whilst the crew of THE ROYAL SHIP THE PRINCESS MIRABELLE (small yellow plum) were cavorting on a nearby island, the cook bitterly resentful of recent jibes at what he considered High Art Conceptual Cuisine& fuelled by copious amounts of hard liquor, set fire to the ship. He then made a hasty escape in a rowboat to a nearby harbour town where he subsequently became incredibly famous for a dish incorporating seagull feathers, fungi, barnacles & a piece of old rope.
The crew, quite frankly, were tired of life on the high seas & the appalling food dished up by the crackpot cook. After their success in an island karaoke competition they formed a singing, dancing troupe & toured the world to great acclaim. 
THE PRINCESS MIRABELLE (small yellow plum) alas, sank regally to the bottom of the ocean where she lay with all her booty for years. Until discovered, quite recently by that intrepid adventurer JENNIFER.T. MARTIN. ( The underwater discovery recreated here using actual photographs & physical evidence of the incredible find!)   

Auction

            Swan Necklace, 925, 18ct yg, pink sapphire.


I have been studying a Master of Fine Art  degree at RMIT for the past two years. We are holding an auction to raise money for the end of year exhibition. This is the piece that I have contributed. There are all sorts of artworks on offer and you can bid online. Check it out www.rmitmfartauction.com

Butterfly

                            18ct yg, ruby, sapphire, diamond.



                                 May all beings be awake
                                 May all beings be happy
                                 May all beings be at peace

                                - Universal Prayer for the Welfare of all Beings.

                               

A good stick is hard to find

                                           one of  my collections

                   stick ring, 925 with 18ct yg setting, Aust. sapphires
 

                                           ruby twig ring, 9ct yg, ruby

Raiders of the plum tree

Bird in love with a rose

I got the idea for this piece from the Australian sapphire briolette. I thought it looked just like a drop of  lifegiving water. The bird is carrying the drop of water to its love, the rose.

                     

I999,925,18ct yellow gold , lapis lazuli beads, Australian sapphire briolette 

                                         Reverse


A Birthday 
My heart is like a singing bird
Whose nest is in a watered shoot:
My heart is like an apple-tree
Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit;
My heart is like a rainbow shell
That paddles in a halcyon sea;
My heart is gladder than all these
Because my love is come to me.

Raise me a dais of silk and down;
Hang it with vair and purple dyes;
Carve it  in doves and pomegranates,
And peacocks with a hundred eyes;
Work it in gold and silver grapes,
In leaves and silver fleur-de-lys;
Because the birthday of my life
Is come, my love is come to me.

Christina Rossetti  (1830-1894)