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New in October 2019

We have recently joined a new market "Handgrown & Handmade" which will be holding regular markets on the 4th Sunday of each month in 2020 at Speers Point Park on Lake Macquarie. The inaugural market was held on 27th October. It was a sunny, calm day and the market stall mix was well curated and the attendance excellent. This regular market will be augmented over the next few months by some special Xmas twilight markets.

We sell homewares, sculpture and accessories at this market.  

The focus of this market is on operating eco-consciously - reducing the market's environmental impact.  "Homegrown & Handmade" is run by team, Lauren & Lewis who run THE STATION Homegrown market in Newcastle. Remember: this is a SUNDAY market, open from 10am until 2pm.

Yvonne and I have always included a few homewares in our display along with some small sculptures.  The last few weeks have been spent prototyping vases and other small bowls to expand our range. Sometimes we cover existing glass or ceramic forms and other times we build our own forms. The highly decorative pieces are mostly small -bud vases designed for a single or few stems - and trinket bowls. The large sculptures are clay or limestone. For Xmas we have focussed on bowls and charms - the charms can be pendants, earrings, wine charms, keyring, purse charms etc.  Here are some of the items Kay has made for this market. Yvonne will get me her photos next week. ENJOY!

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New in September 2019

 I am trying to integrate into my local community a bit more so I rather foolishly agreed to enter Lake Macquarie's Sustainability Festival - Waste to Art. I researched possible directions and returned home from Europe inspired. Unfortunately, my skills and tools let me down but I did make some interesting jewelry from bike tubes and PET bottles.  I combined the "beads" with seed beads harvested from a discarded lampshade in one case, and a discarded necklace from an OP shop.  Findings were also OP shop finds.

And just for a change of pace I am sharing a WIP - a clay sculpture - titled "LIPS" for obvious reason.  The stands have yet to be fired. Another WIP is a group of tribal masks.  I intended to have them marching up a squarish totem pinned by nails, wire wrapped or something else.  But they would look good as wall art.

To finish here are two sculptures I am working on: the first is a split hemisphere inspired by Barbara Hepworth. Each hemisphere weights about 10Kg and is over 40cm high. I started it a year ago but was not satisfied with the shape or the mounting. I refined the shape and with the help of my brother I have mounted each half on a metal rod.  Now all I have to decide on surface texture and seal the surface of the limestone. 

The second sculpture is a polymer clay marquette for a largish (40cm) clay figure I have been building in the potter's workshop.  This will be the biggest clay sculpture I have done and I have had a few false starts.  

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New in August 2019

I was inspired earlier this year by an exhibition of Pattern & Decorative Arts - "Ornament as Promise" in Mumok, Vienna. I was particularly taken with the fabric panel composites by USA artist Kim MacConnel. The first 2 images are bowls I made after I returned.

Composing these strips of patterns I was reminded of the compositions we made in the 1970s and I made a series of large pendants that hang below the chest. Only the first pendant is finished - the others are wip. The last two pendants were made to go with striped T-shirts!

I made a couple of bowls as well and then I could not resist a little bit of brightness so I made a bowl of stripes - graduating colours from red to ocre separated by charcoal and "bits".  The result has a primitive feel - of the earth!

The last image I will share is a sculptural earring. It is a composite but going in a different direction.

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New in June 2019

May is always busy with finalising pieces I will be taking over to my friend Ondine in June for her shop Terre Sauvage in Belves, France. Ondine spent a lot of time and energy last year getting together a global collection named ZIMWABI -SABI. Wabi sabi is a blend of two concepts: wabi is about living in tune with nature and it’s focused on the art of simplicity. Sabi is about beauty and natural cycles of growth and death. When combined, wabi and sabi unite to create a feeling of serenity and harmony. The original design concept came from supplied much of the organizing muscle.  The first image is of the material which underlines the collection. The second some of the collection and the remainder the pieces that can be worn with the collection.

I could not resist earrings and a little bit of colour crept in - to match a neck piece, of course but really because I love the combination.

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New in April 2019

Easter markets and the Dobell Arts & Craft Festival kept us busy during April.  Kay entered jewelry and sculpture into the Dobell Festival and was delighted to have won "Highly Commended" for her ceramic and a necklaced set. Lots sold too!  Only one prize per category was awarded and I saw only one "highly commended" per category so I was delighted with the result.

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New in February 2019

We are still on "holiday" from our markets.  I took the opportunity to make a few pinched petal necklaces to enter into a local fair and won third prize. The judges were excited about the colours but the pieces that won first and third prizes were superbly executed and deserved their placing. I also entered three of my clay sculptural pieces and won a first (the hand) and third prize (the waxed clay figure).  I will also post a few images of my recent sculpture including two in progress. Expect to see more as I have enrolled in a course this term at the Newcastle Potter's Studio.

 The pinched petal necklaces

Here are the clay sculpture entries.

Here are some of my explorations into sculpture. The first is a portrait, the second a 4 faced figure in limestone with polymer scales and the last is the rough of another 4 faced sculpture in clay - the faces will be the 4 primary emotions.

And here are 2 candle holders. The second sculpted piece has 5 niches and each niche contains a mystical/mythical figure. The base is limestone and the figures polymer clay. Both sculptures need finishing. 

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New in January 2019

We don't run our market in January and early February because of the heat. It is an opportunity to recuperate or "play" with new designs and methods.  I took the opportunity to expand my range of free-form resin jewelry. It took a while but I think I am on the right track. The first image is my new design, the others are existing designs. 

I lovved the use of veneers made by fluid art either in resin or on polymer.  They are flexible so a flat resin shape can be twisted (as above), poured over a sculptural piece (green necklace below) or cut to a shape. I bought some pouring paints but my first tries ended up with the colours blending more than I liked so I added an overlay of splatters and strings. The results were interesting with a lot of depth to the colours.

The twisted resin necklace and the snake bar in green above were two of my new necklace designs. The next two images are also new designs (new to me, I mean).  They are prototypes and both labour intensives but with experience maybe that will improve.

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New in December 2018

Our Last market of the year was cancelled due to flooded grounds and wet weather. So disappointing! I thought I would share a few of the new items I had created for this event. The pinched petal is one of my customer's favourite and I noticed I did not have a single black and white necklace left in stock. (It sold the first time I showed to a visitor!)  The aysmmetric cone necklace is a prototype. I have very happy with this sample and will contemplate how to attach the cones to basic necklace -I had enough problems working out a template for the cones - not straightforward.  The colour is an acylic pour of blue, pink, gold on white with a black swipe. The skin in adhered to polymer clay.

The last two photographs are wine charms - there are polymer clay swirls and image transfers into resin. This method of image transfer has a significant failure rate and usually the singles become pendants but now I have another application - wine charms. 

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New in November 2018

November is when Yvonne and I have our best markets so we focus on making some interesting small items for gifts for Xmas - wine charms for instance as well as lots of Xmas earrings. What makes manning our stall interesting is that we never know who will be visiting the market - it is a tourist destination - people may be visiting the wineries, hot air ballooning or just getting away for a weekend. While we have had the usual interest in the Xmas earrings my large asymmetric hollow beaded DISPLAY necklaces have had a lot of interest and many have sold. Here are some of those I made this month.

The last image is a large hollow tube necklace - the beads act as hinges and the necklace flows in spite of its size.

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New in October 2018

This month I continued with my experimentations with surface treatments. In particular I played with "crackle" techniques where the top surface is stiffer compared with the underlying material so that it cracks reletive to the underlying layers. Controlling the cracks is the challenge. This month I have also played with new pendant styles, small bowls (mainly cane work) and big earrings. More to come

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New in August 2018

As always the first month after I return from holidays my creativity is not focussed.

First we have some limestone sculptures that were begging for embellishment. They are tea candle holders and I have gained a lot of knowledge finishing them.

Next came some experimentations in surface treatments. I tried some fluid art experiments using acyrlic paints and conditioning medium. There are many ways of achieving different effects but I have at least started! The second surface treatment is alcohol inks on foil.  It produced some good results very quickly and I was delighted that the surface held an application of doming resin. The challenge will be to produce results that look different and to protect the edges. 

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New in May

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New in March 

There is a nice play of shadows within the white stone. I was prompted to explore this shape by some of Barbara Hepworth's work. (The shape improved a little during removing the distracting background!).

I am excited about the potential to design sculptures in stone or clay including surfaces or inlays of polymer clay. As some artists have included glazes to contrast the stone or wood I want to use polymer clay. During my researching for my sculpture inspiration I was also struck by the knowledge that I have enough skills to design scultural "plinths" for my figurines. 

I have completed my second limestone sculpture - a prototype yin-yang design with an 'embroidered' or 'enamelled' ribbon, wound round the clean smooth river-stone contours. Maybe, rather than Asian, look at it through Celtic influences, bringing up to the subconscious pathways in time and pathways in landscapes.

I have a lot to learn but am rather pleased with the result.

I have been enjoying the "whole" body experience of sculpturing larger pieces so I decided that I was going to make my big beads mini sculptures. These are my first attempts. As neckpieces they are delightful but the results lack sculptural integrity. I want to achieve a sculpture that just happens to be wearable. The bursting beads remind me of an adventure in one of the Narnia books, where, down in the underworld kingdoms living gemstones exist - 'not the dead stones you find near the surface, but rubies growing that you can pluck and squeeze yourself a cupful of juice'. Fun and fantasy!

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New in Febuary 2018

I am experimenting with different strings for multi stranded neck pieces. I want some more natural products for those who don't want the black tubing (rubber, plastic, silicon? Who knows?). Here is a prototype using waxed cotton cord. The beads are to give the cord "weight" and I have tried a different pattern on each side.  I will next try rolled leather and maybe translucent beads on the stringing cord. This left over "hippy" prototype I will colour with alcohol inks to achieve a variegated effect. it would be nice to try some braided leather for the large hollow bead asymmetric necklace....

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New in january 2018

I wanted to explore the hollow bead asymmetric neck pieces a little more. Here are 3 variations. The organic textured version with connecting trumpets or cone beads did not suit the asymmetric stringing and has become, instead, a soft but large necklace. The red and grey neck piece is subtle but the silver and russet mica glow when the light catches them. I was inspired by a neckpiece I saw at Maryvonne Millon's market stall in Cap d'Adge in 2017.  Maryvonne uses glossy smaller ceramic beads and metal washers strung on steel cable enclosed in clear tubing.

A friend suggested I use graduated pinched petals instead of hollow beads. The colours form a subtle gradient from fuchsia to cyan and the petal size also decreases along the length. I have made the sides different lengths so the petals trail up the neckline. Each strand can lie separately or be snaked around its partner. 

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New in December 2017

I opted to run a Xmas market stall at my local town, Toronto.  The markets were twilight markets and I had to scramble for lighting.  More importantly I wanted to handcraft some low cost xmas gift or novelty items.  Yvonne and I focussed on resin earrings encapsulting xmas images - some cartons, some religious and lot, historic.  For example Christmas cards from the 19 century. There is no paper in these earrings so discolouration does not happen.  Of course with resin manufacture you loose quite a few - so we have Xmas pendants as well. We made some hair binders using handcrafted larger beads and no-snag eleastic and some small bead elastic bracelets.

New designs

I enjoy the results of image transfer onto resin but my real love is designing new and interesting pieces.  So between resin pours I sneaked some time designing and making.  Here is an asymmetric design inspired by the work of an artisan from the Cap d'Adge street markets in France.  I have used different material, different dimensions and, in this example, created a comptempory aboriginal design on some of the hollow  beads. (The background is my new kitchen bench - very red!)

I noticed that I had sold most of the bright/strong pinched petal necklaces and tried to find time to made some more - well I have made the petals but still to string them!

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New in October 2017

I came back from Europe with a need to accomplish 4 things: One was to make some "display" pieces to attract the eye of potential customers: Two was to design a "new" standard" necklace. Three was to integrate beading into the braids. Four was to create some more figurines - All eleven I took over to France sold as a single installation.

Display pieces

These are all very large necklaces and hae already attracted a lot of attention at my market stall. The second piece, made of hollow beads sold the first day it was displayed. The first piece inspired a commission - "similar colours and shapes in the assymetric style, please."

My new "Standard" necklace design

I forgot to photograph the first few I made and they sold as soon as they hit the stall.  But these are also nice. The necklace has a centre focal area of 7 to 11 cm of feature beads connected to braid or thick rubber "statement" string. In general the feature beads hang lower than more traditional neckpieces.

Cluster beads

I spent a long time making 8 braided round cord incorporating beads in many patterns.  However, in the end I designed an 12 bead "cluster" strung on stretch stringing.  These can be hung on braid, normal chains (although Omego chain looks best) or combined in groups.  Here I show single colours or a graduated blend of bead from burgandy to yellow. In fact variations look stunning and I had a young girl thrilled with a grey, pink and white cluster - some plains and some patterns.  

Figurines

I was entralled by some dance routines found on YouTube.  Many of will may recognise these poses.

I have been accepting commissions for figurines but will not be taking pieces to the markets as they are difficult to pack.  Instead I will look at completing installations and approaching galleries.

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New in May 2017

I moved house in early May and, in preparation for the annual migration to Europe I focussed on a range of jewelry for Terre Sauvage in Belves, France. As the shop features a lot of sculptures and decor items from artisans in Zimbawee I wanted to evoke a synergy between the works on display. I had just designed a few canes - not all of the them met my brief - when the owner of Terre Sauvage raved about how successful the monotone pieces I had made in 2016 were proving to be in the opening of the 2017 season. As a result I produced a few canes in black/white monotone.

The monotone examples ranged from greys to stark black and white.

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New in April 2017

I have finished lots of fun twisted resin shapes ready to show my local galleries but I sell pieces before they I go on the road and before I have photographed them.  

However, I have remembered to photo some commissioned pieces.  My figurines have caught the imagination of some viewers at my market stall. One father wanted a footballer for his daughter. After discussion we agreed that the footballer should hange from his daughter's car's rear vision mirror, His daughter has since received her father's gift and enjoys most of all the uniqueness.  My next commission was for some figurines in sprint kayaks - all done in Australian Olympian colours. Initally I thought nothing of it until I realised I had to model the kayaks as well!  My first kayak was too wide and the finished kayaks rely on optical illusion to increase their length.

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New in March 2017

I have been working on a display case for resin pieces. I have chosen two colour schemes: one is a soft pastel abstract leaf and the pieces featuring this image go into the base. The other is a striking purple with lime green line work and the pieces featuring this image are attached to the lid.

The examples I am showing below are all images which have been trapped between layers of resin but I will be including cast pieces in my display case as well. I have selected the more unusual shapes to show you but my examples include many earrings in geometric and organic shapes. Some pieces I applied a third layer of resin over the white so that when the back showed it complimented the image. On other pieces, particular when I didn't want to add thickness as in the case of the twisted shapes, I used alcohol inks to create an abstract colour background.

The collar was a little underwhelming until I added the sead pearls on chains.  It was snapped up within minutes of it being set up on display - whereas without the added detail it had not gotten more than a glance. There is a lesson to be learnt there!  Maybe the twisted resin necklace would benefit from some dangles like its original in polymer clay that also sold very quickly to a customer who liked the unusual.

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New November 2016

For the last few months I have been focussing on Collectible gift figurines. One line features "Action" Figurines which showcase figurines in motion - pole dancing, climbing, surfing and yoga (zero movement!). !

Another line features "Antique" figurines which (usually) showcase figurines treated with metal coatings and then aged with patinas (real oxides). I took some figurines I had modelled a few months ago and coated them with metal. I then applied patinas. They are more successful in this finish than plain black. Most of the pieces have loops on the back and can be pinned on a scarf, jacket, curtain or rope (for hanging on a wall or from a rod). The pair of haut relief figurines will work best as fridge magnets or mounted flat against a wall panel.

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New September 2016

Since finishing the pinched petals for Terre Savauge  in Belves, France I focused on three directions. One: complete any pieces littering my studio. Two: Develop new designs using pinched petals. Three: design a commission necklace for a client who wanted something to wear with denim jeans and white shirts for summer.

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New August 2016

I arrived home in Australia aware that I needed to produce some pinched petal necklaces for Ondine to sell. They needed to show different styles. I had 2 weeks to finalise the necklaces and I was jet lagged. Here are some of those I produced. They got to Ondine in time along with a group of earrings showing styles I think I could produce wholesale.

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New in July 2016

July was a busy month for StudioKY. First I attended an interesting conference run by the International Polymer Clay Association in Bordeaux, France. The focus was polymer clay used in art, whether its use was incidental or the focus.  Some of us displayed our work during the conference. My display was "Celebrating the human figure and the Australian landscape". Examples of the figurine brooches are shown in the blog entry "Life Modelling" but an example of a landscape brooch with some details from other brooches are below the photos of the display.

I next visited my friend Ondine, owner of Terre Sauvage in Belves, France. Ondine was just opening a shopfront and asked me if I would like to leave my jewelery with her. We were very pleased with the result as we had limited materials - just what I brought with me from Bordeaux and an antique show case.

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Figures modelled from Life Drawings

These figurines make unusual brooches, pendants, knick knack, curtain tie backs or just mini sculptures. They have rubber hoops on the back that makes pinning or hanging an easy process. These are the brooches I took with me to France. I like the figures on their own but recognise that the unsupported limbs are more fragile.

These figures are sitting on shapes. They are 3-D sculptures or really "haut relief".  They can be a brooch, a pendant or a knick knack sat amongst river pebbles. They can be mounted on spikes so they sit in a pot plant, tied to a cord and used as a curtain tie back.  They are fun, always unusual and make a stunning statement piece of jewelry.

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European Charm Beads and hanging charms.

Interchangeability and customer choice are the key features of this new range of Art Jewellery. From the discreet to the statement this range of Art jewelery is, often unusual , sometimes sophsticated but occassional brash. 

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Viking knit, braids and rubber necklaces

Interchangeability of charms was to be an essential feature of the new range of neck pieces featuring European large charm beads and hanging pendants.  

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