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Hot!

Hot

Yep, it’s hot here!  The heatwave is just starting, and I am so glad I am just finishing on the torch.  Phew!  So pleased that I have now made all of the beads for the “Resonate” exhibition at Gallery M.  Now I can sit in my kitchen “studio” and make all of the jewellery.  And the best part about that is…air-conditioning!

Actually, I love my little kitchen table studio here.  It’s one of my favourite parts of the house.  I’ll try to show you a picture soon.

I can’t remember the last time I have gone so close to the wire with an exhibition, I am usually a whole lot more organised than this.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that the next few days go well, and that I’ll be sharing some photos of beautiful jewellery very soon.

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Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc Beer Bottle Beads

KronenbergBeads

Nick was kind enough to try a new type of beer last year, it was Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc beer, and the bottles were this gorgeous shade of cobalt blue!  He has been wondering for ages what the glass would look like made into beads, and now we can see the result….beautiful!  I love this colour, and have embellished some of the beads with a little bit of silver so make them sparkle even more.  Again, can’t wait to make the jewellery!

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Bead by bead…

MakingProgress

I know the only way I am going to get this exhibition work completed…is by actually doing the work!  I am lucky that Finn is still having a lovely nap in the afternoons, and that he is now spending a whole day in childcare.  It has meant that I have made a lot of progress this week.  I am getting there…bead by bead…

I have created a little “spreadsheet” of the beads I have to make, and the types of glass I am using.  Every time I put a tick in one of the boxes, I am making progress!  I am trying not to think about how much work I have left to do after that.  It will get done.

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Stephen Skillitzi – exhibition at Gallery M

Gallery M invitation pix

Life?? It’s complicated!!

Yes, I agree, it’s even complicated telling you the story about this exhibition, and where I fit in.  Maybe I’ll just start at the very beginning!

  1. When I joined T’Arts in 2007, Stephen Skillitzi was also a member.
  2. Stephen left T’Arts a couple of years later, and continued working in his own studio.  He is a rather spectacular glass artist, you might have see his work in the Jam Factory?
  3. Stephen organised an exhibition with Gallery M, using half of their gallery space.  He contacted another glass artist at T’Arts to see if we might be keen to take on the other half.
  4. So now we get to exhibit in the same gallery together!  It’s very cool.

Here’s a little about what you can expect from Stephen’s exhibition:

For a plant to emerge a seed must first die! Hence renewals … often unplanned/unconfined, be they Vegetal or Human…. are crucial for generational change.  The Skillitzi artworks’ quasi-chronological titles hint at only one potential avenue for the contemplative viewer. Indeed, mature-aged musings tease out multi-leveled, tangential and often confusingly-complex lessons, retrospectively.

Here sundry regenerating mixed-media Glass/Metal dioramas set out naturalistic scenes for didactic life-relevant scenarios… so feel free to ‘navel-gaze’.

Passive but convoluted land/seascapes are peppered with lifeforms.  Fish, birds, plants unconsciously migrate throughout their three-dimensional environments… we Homo Sapiens do likewise but with cerebral evaluations perhaps over-cooked.  Sculpture echoes a life lived!

I’m really looking forward to seeing Stephen’s exhibition, and I’ll be featuring each of the artists from the Resonate Exhibition over the next few weeks.

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Bombay Sapphire Gin

BombaySapphire

For my exhibition at Gallery M, I am using 5 different types of recycled glass.

  1. Peroni Beer – bright green
  2. Coopers Ale – brown
  3. Banrock Station Wine Bottle – clear
  4. Kronenburg 1664 – cobalt
  5. Bombay Sapphire – bright blue

I have not used a lot of Bombay Sapphire Gin glass in the past, so I am really looking forward to melting some.  It’s a great colour, with a bit more blue than a wine bottle.

I’m looking forward to putting all of these collections together.

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What’s next?

Resonate

I am working on some new beads and jewellery for a group exhibition at Gallery M.  It is called “Resonate” and features work from Ivana Di Stasio, Cindy Durant, Sheryl Glassmith and myself.  We all work with glass primarily, so there will be lots of glass on display.

I am focusing on recycled glass: a few different varieties of glass, and a few different styles of necklaces and earrings.

I will let you know about opening nights soon!  Yes, there are 2 openings for this exhibition.

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Murray Bridge Artist of the Month

MurrayBridgeAOM

I am honoured to be the Artist of the Month at the Murray Bridge Regional Gallery.  The beads are all made from recycled glass, I have used wine and beer bottles, and embellished them with different coloured glass and gold leaf.  It was exciting to see my name in the window yesterday when we walked to Blockbuster to sign up for video membership!

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Hoop Earrings

HoopEarrings

I tried this new style of earrings (small hoops) for my Artist of the Month window display at Murray Bridge Regional Gallery, and I am so glad I did!

First…it’s good to try new things and push your work.

Second…I created a little hoop earring that even I want to wear!  I kept the prototype, and added a little red bead to it.

Third…this becomes an interchangeable pair of earrings!  You can take the drops off, and add different beads/drops as you like.  Or, just wear the hoops on their own.  I really like a versatile piece of jewellery.

The earrings are so comfortable and light to wear too (bonus).  I’m already looking forward to making more of these.