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)

I wandered lonely as a cloud...(with kind regards to Mr. Wordsworth)

 Cloud Neckpiece. 925, 999, howlite beads.

I'm sure I had some followers but they all seem to have wandered off.

I remember blue sky

It's cold because it's winter. No use complaining. I took this photo of a glorious blue sky at the very start of winter. It definitely doesn't look like this today.

Not a Cloud in the Sky earrings. 

925,999, Australian blue sapphires, Blue Topaz 

The whale is singing to the camel

The whale is singing to the camel- Sterling silver, fine silver, sapphires, camel bone beads.

Detail.

I made this neckpiece in 2006. I saw a piece of scrimshaw in the National Gallery of Victoria, it was of a whalehunt. I thought about that piece a lot, I went back to look at it several times, I thought about the person who carved it and the whale whose death it depicted. It was a beautiful piece of work of a horrific event. I couldn't get close enough to that piece. I banged my head on the glass of the cabinet trying to get a closer look.Then one day it was no longer on display. I wanted to make something in response to that piece, something joyful. And this is it. It is made from fine silver, sterling silver, sapphires and camel bone beads. The gem merchant told me those camel bones were found in the desert and the camel died of natural causes. That is what he said... Across the land, across the sea the whale is singing to the camel!

Ship in a bottle

I made this back in 2007. It is about 100 x 40 mm and made from fine silver, sterling silver, 18ct gold and natural quartz beads. When I saw the  beads I thought they looked like they had been tumbling around in the ocean and then tossed onto a sandy shore somewhere.

The Potala in a whale in a bottle

This is one of my favourite pieces of 2010. The Potala is the former residence of  His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Tibet. This piece is 124 x 44 mm. It is made from fine silver, sterling silver, 18ct yellow gold and agate beads. The whale has a blue sapphire eye. Make of it what you will.

Ship in a Whale

fine silver, sterling silver, black diamond, inlaid Iranian beads. (112mm across)

While I may have been neglecting the www I wasn't neglecting my jewellery making. In 2010 I moved studios and this was the first piece I made in my brand new studio. Combining things that I love, Ships, whales, constellations, silver, diamonds, exotic beads...  Photo by e.getal.

Back on the Blog train

Looks like I've been lost in the woods but I've made it to the station and I'm back on the blog train. Full steam ahead!

Red

Bangle- sterling silver, coral.

Bird brooch- fine silver, sterling silver, felt, thread.

Bird, moon, blossom neckpiece- sterling silver, fine silver, 18ct rose gold, lacquered shell beads.

The Goldsmiths shop

Here's a display I put together for the window at Journal. Some of the artists involved in open studio have their handiwork on display. Journal is on Flinders Lane, right next to City Library. The picture in the background is a detail from a painting called A Goldsmith in his shop, Possibly Saint Eligius by Petrus Christus 1472 or 1473. I've added a coral necklace, a ruby bangle and a necklace with sea inspired trinkets. These pieces will be available for purchase at Open Studio.

Open Studios

My mate Vikki Kassioras has been hard at it organising another Nicholas Building Open Studio extravaganza. It's gonna be huge! This is a once a year opportunity to take a peek inside the building and see what all the Melbourne creative types are up to! You can also purchase some great handmade stuff. There really isn't a better way to spend your Thursday or Friday night (next week) That's where I'll be. See you there!

Spectacular Owl Neckpiece

I also made these earrings with my owl in mind. They are made from fine silver, sterling silver, 18ct gold, Australian sapphires, diamonds and blue moonstone.

Here's a neckpiece I recently completed. It is made from fine silver, sterling silver and set with Australian sapphires. The beads it is hanging from are grey moonstone. I worked on  this piece for quite awhile. It is repoussed and hand engraved.

Some recent work

Birdcage necklace with red coral beads, oxidised 925 and coral beads. That's the page from my sketch book with the initial drawing of the piece in the background.

Wing neckpiece with ruby. 999, 925, ruby on black agate beads. This piece is hand engraved.

desk light burning

... Gold in the seams of my hands
and the desk light burning.

This is from a poem by John Burnside called Prayer.

One more favourite

Here's a neckpiece I made in 2007. As soon as I saw the faceted blue moonstone drop at the gem merchants I knew exactly what I wanted to make with it. I teamed it up with some blue ceylonese sapphires to create this bird. I still think that blue moonstone drop is just stunning. It lives in a private collection.

I think I'm getting the hang of this blogging. I've got heaps of images of work that I want to post but I think I better go and do the dishes or something otherwise I could be here all day...

Silly bird in love with a sailor

Sterling silver, fine silver, diamond, shell, black coral.

This is a neckpiece I made in 2006. It is still one of my favourites. It's called 'silly bird in love with a sailor'.This piece is in a private collection. I'm glad I can share this image of it with you, I still get a big kick out of it and I hope it's owners are enjoying it.

One day out the window...

There was a big racket outside the studio window one day. I don't know what these two were up to but I hope they got to where they had to go safely!

Studio shots by Jessica Edgar

Photographer Jessica Edgar came to the studio recently and snapped these pics of my space and me working.

Enchanted Forest

I really am new to this blogging caper. I had problems adding images last night but its a new day and here they are . This is an installation that I did at egetal in 2007 called Enchanted Forest.

Stopping by the woods on a Saturday Night

Show Pony Bangle, sterling silver, 18ct rose gold, pink and blue sapphires.

I just bought a book of poetry by Robert Frost. Here's one of my favourites,

'Stopping By The Woods on a Snowy Evening'

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Snowstorm

I have some new work on display at egetal until 31 July. It is an installation of 8 necklaces and a brooch. They are made from fine silver, sterling silver, 18ct gold, sapphire, pearl, mother of pearl, diamond, felt and feathers. They are repoussed and engraved, each one an individual snowcrystal.

                                It is a wild and woolly night
                               The Intrepid ventures into the Snowstorm
                               Ever onward in search of the truth
                               Into the Eye of the Storm
                              To the floating kingdom of the snow crystals
                              To discover snowflakes of diamond, pearl, sapphire, felt, feather, gold and silver
                              Each one a unique individual
                              Never replicated
                              Such is the wondrous nature of the snowflake!

Sketchbook