tenmoregirls

Tenmoregirls get crafty again

2011-11-07T12:51:00.005+11:00

Saturday October 29th saw Salerno Gallery in Glebe bursting with craftiness yet again as we held our second Kids' Jewellery + Art Workshop as part of our latest exhibition, 10 Girls. 10 Colours.

In a frenzy of colourful craftiness, members of tenmoregirls were joined by local children and their parents, creating fabulous wearables, from the cute, to the beautiful, to the weird and wonderful. We even had a spot of impromptu millinery, in honour of Spring Carnival Race weekend.

Our workshops were generously supported by funding from the City of Sydney Council as part of their Matching Grants Program. On Saturday we were excited to welcome Ashley Heath, from City of Sydney Council, to visit the workshop and be part of the crafty fun.

Visit us on FaceBook and tell us which is your favourite crafty creation!

Kids' Jewellery + Art Workshop in Glebe

2011-10-26T20:40:00.022+11:00

Salerno Gallery lit up last Saturday, October 22nd, with the first of our special tenmoregirls jewellery and art workshops for kids.

Our participants included local kids and their families, visitors to the nearby Glebe Markets and one crafty dog. The workshop was run by several members of tenmoregirls who, naturally, couldn't resist the creative urge. As well as assisting the participants, they also turned out a wonderful collection of 'quick jewellery' made from repurposed materials.

Called 'The Silhouette Project', the workshop gave each participant the chance to create some great pieces using their own silhouettes, that were photographed and printed on the day.

Our next workshop will be held this Saturday, October 29th, from 12pm. Join us at Salerno Gallery, 70 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe for heaps of crafty fun!

10 girls. 10 colours. opening night

2011-10-24T18:15:00.003+11:00

Thank you for everyone to make it all happen.
It was such a great opening.

from tenmoregirls.

bump in

2011-10-17T16:16:00.004+11:00

tenmoregirls started to display exhibition works from 10am at the Salerno Gallery today. Everyone attached pieces to the canvasess already to save time this year and roomsheet looks like pretty much done, too.
There is visual equipment to show tenmoregirls' concept, images & making process, and artist talk on 3 saturdays. 22nd, 29th of Oct and 5th of Nov from 11am & kids workshop on two saturdays. 22nd & 29th of Oct. from 12-2pm.

Come along our opening tomorrow at 6pm Salreno Gallery, 70 Glebe Point road, Glebe.
If you miss the opening, gallery opens till the 5th of Nov, tue - Fri 10-5:30pm, sat 10-3pm, sun & mon by appointment.

brown by a mi kim

2011-10-11T15:56:00.007+11:00

well, when i chose the colour, BROWN, my brain went blank for a few second.

what can i do...what can i start with first...

Although i didn't have a clue how to make it when i first picked brown, i started to investigate why things turn brown.

brown is the colour of autumn. when leaves & flowers get old and wilted, when things get dirty, when things burn, their colour changes to brown. This influenced me to create wearable pieces using papers, bronze and reticulated silver for this exhibition, 10 girls. 10 colours.

visit kamidesignstory for more about my making stories...

The Patina of Age - Tenille Evans explores the colour yellow for 10 girls. 10 colours.

2011-10-05T16:40:00.005+11:00

The colour yellow is the patina of age.

It is the colour of sickness, jaundice and degeneration. Yellow is the colour that our skin, teeth and nails turn when we grow old. Yellow is a stain. It is the colour of our bones as we decay. It is also the mark of age on the domestic objects we keep. Books, fabric, clothing and paper all turn yellow as they deteriorate. There is some beauty and comfort to be found in the realisation that our treasured household objects and furnishings all yellow in the same way our bodies do. The inevitability of each of us, as individuals, changing and decaying in the same way is a universal truth. Recognition and acceptance of this certainty gives us the ability to unite.

Existing comfortably with our mortality and impermanence links us to, but at the same time lifts us out of, the everyday domestic spaces we inhabit.

Using this concept as a starting point, I have experimented with various domestic materials, eventually exploring the aesthetic effect that can be achieved by folding antique book paper. I enjoyed the consistent yet unique way each piece was formed. It is a representation of the inevitable and continual process of generation and decay, something that occurs over and over again, in similar yet distinct patterns.

10 girls. 10 colours. - two weeks to go!

2011-10-05T14:08:00.006+11:00

10 girls. 10 colours. is on very soon! Please make sure you put our opening night - Tuesday the 18th of October, as well as all of our other great events in your diary now!

Inspiration: The Power of Purple

2011-09-13T11:14:00.005+10:00

Danielle Butters is working with the colour PURPLE for 10 Girls. 10 Colours. Her exploration has taken her through history, examining manifestations of power and the people that wield it.

"Some twelve thousand mollusks for barely more than a few drops of colourant... Among the most complex dyes to extract and, therefore, the most expensive, purple has seduced the powerful, from Roman emperors to Church dignitaries." - Anne Varichon

The history of the colour purple is entwined with the history of power.

Innate power; power misused, misdirected, abused; people power; influence, authority, coercion. For centuries, power has been wielded on the world stage by charismatic people, with a genius for provoking extremes of emotion: faith, envy, desire, loyalty, rationality, fear and hatred.

In my work for 10 Girls. 10 Colours. I explore the relationship between powerful people and the emotional tools they use to wield power.

Everyone will have their own list of favourite powerful people; leaders who have changed the world, inspirational icons, ruthless dictators - people we love or love to hate. My list is, of course, subjective, it might only makes sense to me, and is populated by people whose influence I have experienced, through history books, movies, religious teaching and TV.

I love reading about philosophy and arguing about the nature of things so it makes sense that my list began with the power that makes our society work - democracy, and the most visible expression of that power - the law. We've all had a parking fine or voted in a local election; both side effects of a democratic political system.

Going in search of the source of democracy, I landed in the world of the ancient Greek philosophers. I researched Pythagoras, Parmenides, Democritus, Socrates, Plato, Plutarch, finding not only the roots of democracy, but the seeds of much that we take for granted in our modern world: philosophy, politics, mathematics, music, religion, law, astronomy, chemistry, logic, ethics and poetry. All firmly based in the process of rational thought, they seem to me like shards of power traveling around the world and through time, influencing minds, societies and the political shape of the world.

Using words, the tools of rational thought, I made the first piece in this series from thoughts on paper - the pages from a book of Greek history and philosophy. The shape is inspired by colossal tribal statues, ancient symbols of personal power, giving the piece a monumental volume that belies its small size. Even though it's made of paper, the object evokes weight and substance, expressing the immense contribution of Greek philosophy and rational thought to the progress of the modern world.

So that's the start of the story. Coming up: Adolf Hitler, Marilyn Monroe, Jesus, Angelina Jolie, Queen Elizabeth, Osama bin Laden ...I'll see how far I get in my search for power of purple.

Inspiration : What does the colour blue mean to me?

2011-09-03T15:17:00.012+10:00

Radka Passianova talks about the inspiration behind her work for 10 Girls. 10 Colours. Blue.

What does the colour blue mean to me?

Water, ice, snow, air, bubbles, glass, cold, fresh, quiet, balance, stability, safety and communication.... these are the terms that are popping into my head when I think of the colour blue. All these terms are forming shapes in my head. Rather round, smooth and simple objects inviting to be touched and played with. Almost like air bubbles in the water. Objects that would make a sound that talks to us. Sound of wind, falling water or breaking glass.

To find out more about Radka's work check out her website http://www.radkapassianova.com.au

Australia Council Grant Application Successful!

2011-08-19T14:27:00.004+10:00

We have some amazing news! Our application for a $10,000 new work from emerging artists grant from the Australia Council has been approved! The grant is for the creation of new work for our exhibition 10 Girls. 10 Colours. which opens on the 18th of October 2011 at Salerno Gallery in Glebe.

This is so exciting! The financial pressure of creating work for exhibition can often mean that emerging artists like us have to reign in our creativity. Government funding bodies like the Australia Council for the Arts make it so much easier to bring our ideas into reality.

Our exhibition 10 Girls. 10 Colours. is looking to be our most successful show yet, so make sure you stay updated by subscribing to recieve our blog updates via email, liking our page on facebook and following us on twitter.

Our new website www.tenmoregirls.com will be completed very soon too!

10 girls. 10 colours. dates announced!!

2011-07-12T10:26:00.005+10:00

We have some exciting news to share about our 2011 exhibition....

We have now officially confirmed the date and location of the exhibition and are pleased to announce that 10 girls. 10 colours. will be showing at Salerno Gallery from the 19th of October until the 6th of November 2011.

Our opening night will be on Tuesday the 18th of October, so make sure you save the date! We will also be running 'meet the artist' events each Saturday that the exhibition is open.

Salerno Gallery is located in the vibrant inner city suburb of Glebe at 70 Glebe Point Road. It is an amazing space that will really showcase our work to the highest standard. We are so excited to be exhibiting there!

Making Do with Music and Mashed Potatoes in the Southern Highlands : Inside Carol Faulkner's studio.

2011-07-05T10:37:00.011+10:00

In today's blog post, tenmoregirls artist Carol Faulkner shares an insight into her making process for Ten Girls. Ten Colours.

As the title suggests I have recently relocated to the picturesque but chilly Southern Highlands. Fortunately for me my studio is the warmest room in the house and the addition of my Bose docking station is a joyful and (often) loud addition to the workshop.

I have long believed in the right tool for the job and during my studies was always excited when a new, “can’t live without” tool seduced me into a purchase. Over the last few years I have been acquiring whatever was needed at the time for my own studio, along with a few things that weren’t as well!

Having a husband that makes furniture and who possesses an impressive range of tools himself, has been an added advantage to my own tool philosophy. You can imagine my frustration, when recently, the right tool for the job did not appear to be at hand. Fortunately this quandary coincided with a regular Tenmore Girls meeting and it was Majella that suggested I look no further than the kitchen sink for the item I was looking for. After a hasty clean a pot came in very handy for forming the external structure of the neckpiece I was working on for the Ten Girls. Ten Colours Exhibition. PS – I have since bought a swage block ooooh!

Check back here every week for more studio insights, as we share sneak previews our works in progress for Ten Girls. Ten Colours.

tenmoregirls artist profile : bernadette trainor

2011-05-25T17:19:00.006+10:00

This week Bernadette Trainor talks to us about her inspirations.
For tengirls tencolours, she is exploring the colour ORANGE.
For more info about her works go to bernadette trainor's website

What materials inspire you?

I like carving timber, because I love the versatility and warmth of wood. There’s something lovely about taking a raw, splintery piece of wood and making it smooth and lustrous. I have stacks of timber off-cuts, bits and pieces that have a beautiful grain or colour, I just wish I had some more time to turn them into something…
I also enjoy working with glass, as you can achieve great depth and colour. I’d like to experiment more with large cast pieces.

What is your favourite tool in the workshop? Why?

I hope it doesn’t come across as corner-cutting laziness, but I love my micromotor. It has all the great characteristics I wish I possessed myself, like being very efficient and good at multi-tasking. It was one of the first pieces of equipment I bought and I find it invaluable. I use it for carving timber and wax, drilling, sanding, polishing…

Where do you think your creativity comes from?

”Work only starts when the fear of doing nothing finally exceeds the fear of doing something badly.” – Alain de Botton

What is your favourite colour?

I’m learning to embrace many colours, and I’m not sure if I have a favourite. I’m always surrounded by a lot of orange and red, but I find different situations call for different coloured neckerchiefs. At the moment I’m in love with bright blue and turquoise, and I’ve been hunting for vintage jewellery, art glass and furniture to satisfy this obsession.

Who inspires you?

I appreciate the work of people like Robin Boyd, dedicated to education and innovation; like Alain de Botton, who help to make life a little easier to understand; and Archer Lambourne, age 3, and his tireless efforts striving for workshop safety.

tenmoregirls artist profile : tenille evans

2011-05-17T16:22:00.011+10:00

This week Tenille Evans talks to us about her inspirations.
For tengirls tencolours, she is exploring the colour YELLOW.
For more info about her works go to EELS jewellery + scrimshaw + objects

What materials inspire you?

I love warm organic materials like buffalo horn and bone. I enjoy materials that have their own history before I start working with them. The unique surface fluctuations and colour variations in a piece of horn inspire me the most. I am also conceptually inspired by traditional materials like gold and silver. I find myself continually drawn to ideas of permanence, mortality and decay in my exhibition work. So often, the juxtaposition of metal with things like paper, fabric and string allows me to explore these concepts in a very tactile and direct way.

What is your favorite tool in the workshop? Why?

I love my custom-made scrimshaw tool. It is probably the tool I use the most! Its is really just like a very heavy scribe, with super sharp interchangeable steel tips. The man who made it specialises in scrimshaw tools and has definitely perfected the art! It makes my scrimshaw work so much easier. I know a lot of jewellers and metalsmiths might shudder at this, but I also really love emery and sand paper and the process of sanding down and polishing up a piece of metal, horn or bone. Even though it can be a tedious process, the pleasure I get from seeing something shiny and smooth emerging from the dirty mess that polishing makes is just divine!

Where do you think your creativity comes from?

I'm not sure what has driven my creativity. My family are mostly corporate types, in terms of career. Although they are certainly not boring and are all wild and creative in their own way! I do know that I have always been creative. I have been drawing for as long as I can remember and knew that I would eventually try to make an arts career of some kind. I fell into jewellery design by accident. I studied other fields of design, arts, art history, literature and sociology before dropping out of uni altogether. After a wasted year working in a pub, I decided, "I have to do something!", google searched tafe courses and stumbled on Jewellery and Object Design. I thought I may as well give it a go. As soon as I had finished cutting out that first piece of metal into a tiny perfect square, I was hooked!

What is your favorite colour?

This is a hard one now. Had I been asked this question a few months ago, I would have said red. After exploring colour for 10 Girls. 10 Colours. my experience of colour has changed. The spectrum of shade and tone within each colour is infinite. I have noticed now that there are actually some shades of red that make me feel quite ill. There are also some shades of purple that I find positively delightful and while I love some incarnations of green, others make me shudder. Colour is such an emotional thing. It is linked to memory and personal experience.

Who inspires you?

Since giving birth to my son a year ago, I'd definitely say him. As well as the rest of my family and close friends. Without trying to sound too sentimental (or like a hippy!) I feel connected to the collective consciousness of humanity through the people I love. Inspiration for me, comes from the complex interconnectedness of all of us and the world we live in. More simply, I feel at my most inspired and creative when I feel a deep sense of connection with those around me. Nurturing these connections, nurtures my creativity.

tenmoregirls artist profile : majella beck

2011-05-10T11:27:00.005+10:00

This week Majella Beck tells us what inspires her.
For tengirls tencolours, she is exploring the colour RED.

Majella Beck is a jeweller, object designer and teacher based in Sydney.
She combines precious and non-precious materials and sees her work as a constant exploration and evaluation of what makes jewellery precious.
She currently teaches a variety of courses relating to contemporary jewellery and objects. Majella participates regularly in exhibitions and has work held in private collections.

What materials inspire you?
Working with metals is very challenging and inspirational to me.
I enjoy combining precious metals with everyday non-precious materials. For me a lot of enjoyment comes from working with a material I haven’t worked with before.
I have used felt for my first piece for our upcoming show. When I starting working with felt I was so excited about my new material and the felting techniques. Followed by a short-lived period of hating it. As I was learning more and more I enjoyed felting again and have developed a great respect for the craft of felting.
Experimenting and learning about a material is very delightful to me.
Silicone is next…

What is your favorite tool in the workshop? Why?
I really love filing. I find it very soothing and I enjoy the control it gives in fine-tuning your designs. In saying that I also really love my jewelers saw and I get a great pleasure of using hammers for all kind of purposes from shaping to texturing.

Where do you think your creativity comes from?
(eg family? background? have you always wanted to be an artist/designer?)
I have always been creative, curious and inventive using my mind and my hands. Originally born in East Germany, I was lucky to have limited toys. I spent a lot of time reading and making things…I always have been (and still am) a bit of a bowerbird and find immense joy in things that other might see as rubbish…
As a child greatly enjoyed repairing household appliances, but I think you could say I was breaking them by taking them apart and re-assembling them.
In my family we always made presents for Christmas and birthdays.
I never wanted to be a designer, but as a child I dreamt of being an inventor.
Making jewellery and objects combines the head, the heart and the hands, it feels very liberating to me.

What is your favorite colour?
Funnily my favourite colour is red, which also is my allocated colour.
I love the primary colours red, blue and yellow, but seldom wear yellow, as it really doesn’t suit me. Working with the colour red was initially more difficult than anticipated, as I just wanted to make things in red, anything as long as it was red…
It wasn’t enough of a concept to start a body of work for an exhibition.
So for our upcoming 10girls 10colours exhibition I looked at red being the colour of blood.
We are all the same colour on the inside…

Who inspires you?
Passionate, curious, honest people who remember the child within.

tenmoregirls artist profile : jo piper

2011-05-04T13:20:00.002+10:00

This week tenmoregirls artist Jo Piper talks to us what inspires her. For tengirls tencolours, she is exploring the colour BLACK.

What materials inspire you?
Any material can be inspiring if it relates to the idea and concept behind the piece. I especially love it when artists juxtapose seemingly unrelated materials together or manipulate the material to appear as though it defies its natural characteristics. Such as when metal appears to float in the air or hair is woven into a fabric that appears as precious and soft as silk.

What is your favourite tool in the workshop and why?
Parallel pliers are always handy but if I had to name one thing I think the thing at the top of my list would be the hydraulic press.

Where do you think your creativity comes from?
I have never really thought about it. I grew up in a house full of paintings, as my Dad was an avid art collector. My Mum and sister are creative people and so I have always been surrounded by creativity. I think my sense of creativity has developed over time. I also think I was a gypsy or something in a past life as I find it hard to stay in one place for long. This constant change and influences from different cultures has probably had a lot to do with it.

Have you always wanted to be an artist/designer?
I actually started out with a degree in science but the idea of becoming an artist/designer was never really something I considered. I ended up on this path purely through a love of working with metal – the artist/designer element is just a label that hides the real desire of wanting to see how far I can push the characteristics of metal.

What is your favourite colour?
Hot pink - Just because it’s very rowdy with a slight tendency to be obnoxious which I find very amusing. Followed closely by lime green for very similar reasons. My colour for the exhibition is Black and I love black for too many reasons then I am able to list here

Who inspires you?
Anyone who is a bit left of centre. I find normality very uninspiring. I love quirky eccentricity and anyone who has the courage to go against the norm to do things differently.

tenmoregirls artist profile : andrea iglesias

2011-04-27T12:10:00.005+10:00

This week Andrea Iglesias talks to us about her background and what inspires her.
For tengirls tencolours, she is exploring the colour GREEN.

Andrea Iglesias is a Sydney based Jewellery designer/ maker. She started her Jewellery making journey in 1997 in Colombia. Started her own business called Andrea Iglesias Diseños.In 2006 she arrive to Sydney to study Jewellery & Object Design at the Design Centre Enmore, were she graduated in 2008.

What materials inspire you?
Silver, to see this material evolve is magical. All the processes is an adventure, melting, bending, hammering, connecting it all together, and in the end I encounter a piece that has become “alive”.Even in its purest form is exquisite. When I am working with it, I start to imagine what texture, elements or components would be a good partner for this chemical element.

What is your favorite tool in the workshop? Why?
Oh that is a hard question. Like I said before every process is an adventure in my own words... “delicious”.But if I have to choose I would say the Jewellers Saw. To be able to cut through metal and give any form I desire to a flat sheet is freeing.

Where do you think your creativity comes from? (eg family? background? have you always wanted to be an artist/designer?)
A bit of everything, but I think my family has been a great influence; singers, writers, architects and a decorator. So when we get together nothing normal will happen.I never thought of being an artist or designer, I just wanted to MAKE, I never thought of putting a name to it.

What is your favorite colour?
Right now Green. I got green for this year exhibition, and realized how much I being taking it for granted. So now I am exploring all the different representations, expressions, tones, hues and textures. Definitely enjoying it more.

Who inspires you?
People, experiences, happiness, tranquility or just a feeling of drawing in to a paper and just let go.

tenmoregirls artist profile : radka passianova

2011-04-20T10:11:00.006+10:00

This week tenmoregirls artist Radka Passianova talks to us what inspires her. For tengirls tencolours, she is exploring the colour BLUE.
For more info about her works go to radka's website

What materials inspire you?
The most inspiring material for me is stainless steel. I am attracted to its cool gray colour, strength and durability. I also find it challenging material to work with as it always tests my capability of cold joining and its finishing.

What is your favourite tool in workshop, why?
My favourite tool is probably jewellers saw and hammer. Jewellers saw is a tool which allows me to cut out shapes out of almost any material I have ever been working with. Sometimes preparation of the metal and cutting it takes long time and the process relaxes me. This basic hand skill requires full concentration and focus on the correct technique and posture.
Hammers I find to be interesting and underrated tools. Depending on the different shape you can achieve different results. You can either use it for simple effects like hitting centre punch before drilling or you can create amazing raised objects.

Where do you think your creativity comes from?
I have never thought about where my creativity comes from. I have always been creative in one way or the other. When I was little I wasn’t planning to become artist/designer but I have always dreamt about it. My brother and mother are very creative, but not professionally. In addition to that I do come from Prague – very inspiring place.
These facts might be an origin of my creativity.

What is your favourite colour?
Blue

Who inspires you?
There are many people who inspire me. Often it is people who don’t have anything to do with design but they are fully passionate about what they do and how they live.

Exhibition Update: Busy Busy Bench Bees

2011-04-15T13:24:00.003+10:00

Our ten little benches are buzzing with activity!

Hopefully you've been catching our regular artist profiles here every Wednesday. We have been talking about our work, our inspiration, the materials we use and where we come from in terms of our creativity and art practice.

In a few weeks we'll start showing you some images of our 10 Girls 10 Colours work in progress. There are definitely some exciting things going on already. At our last meeting we continued a discussion into the wonderfully diverse concepts that we are all exploring. If the results are as inspired as the ideas, 10 Girls 10 Colours is going to be amazing!

Although we haven't announced the official date and the gallery for the show yet (but are very close to doing so!) and opening night is quite a few months away, there are some very good reasons for us to be working so hard on our pieces already.

Firstly, we have a photo shoot planned for the first week in May. That's only a couple of weeks away! The photography studio has been booked and that means we have to show up with something awesome to take pictures of. A macro lens is NOT kind to unfinished solder joins or dodgy polishing. Trust me! We need to photograph our work so we can use it in our promotional material, on our website and for any editorial exposure we get.

Another reason we are so busy at our benches right now is because of stress-enforced time management! In the weeks leading up to the exhibition, we will have SO much other work to do for the show. None of us want to be trying desperately to file an edge straight with all of the other deadlines looming. And Murphy's Law of jewellery making says that if you leave it to the last minute, it will inevitably fall apart. Literally. Your piece will melt under a hot flame right before your very eyes. Devastating.

But thankfully, this won't happen because we are all working hard and are well into our making processes (*gulp*).

In addition to the updates you'll be seeing here, you can also learn more about and follow us individually. Many of us are posting updates, sneak previews and insights into our making practice on our individual websites and blogs. Click on our names to follow the links and find out more.

a mi kim

andrea iglesias

bernadette trainor

carol faulkner

danielle butters

jo piper

majella beck

nikki majajas

radka passianova

tenille evans

Check back next week for some pictures of our next meeting and a few thoughts about marketing an exhibition.

tenmoregirls artist profile : danielle butters

2011-04-13T10:31:00.006+10:00

This week tenmoregirls artist Danielle Butters talks us about her inspiration. For tengirls tencolours, she is exploring the colour PURPLE.

What materials inspire you?
I enjoy working with materials that are a challenge to manipulate. Stone and steel are a couple of my favourites. I think the sense of uncertainty is what I enjoy – welding steel and never being quite sure whether it’ll warp in an unplanned direction, or whether the weld will be a good one. I like pushing materials to their physical limits, like carving a piece of granite so thin that it breaks, to find out what it’s breaking point is. If I find its limit, the next time I carve it, I can stop just before I reach that point. That’s the plan anyway!

What is your favourite tool in the workshop? Why?
I think parallel pliers are one of the most outstandingly useful tools in my studio, and I love the endless possibilities of working with my torch, but for a favourite tool, I can’t go past the hydraulic press. I love a tool that can put 20 tonnes of pressure onto a piece of metal and transform it in a matter of seconds. Does that mean I have a short attention span? I don’t have a hydraulic press in my studio yet, but having access to one in the workshop at Design Centre, Enmore keeps me happy.

Where do you think your creativity comes from? (eg family? background? have you always wanted to be an artist/designer?)
I’ve always been creative - a maker, a writer, the queen of the dress-up box. From my early days of daisy chains and mud pies I graduated to drawing and writing short stories, a little bit of acting, the weird creativity of scientific research and finally, designing and making jewellery and objects. What I make has changed, but I’ve always felt as though I was making treasures, and that’s still the feeling I have when I’m in my studio, making. I feel like a bit of an alchemist, I guess, creating treasures from a weird and wonderful range of materials.

What is your favourite colour?
My favourite colour is Red. Red, red, red. Always red. It does something for me. Maybe it’s the energy that radiates from something that’s the perfect shade of red. It’s powerful, passionate, alive.

Who inspires you?
I am inspired by people who see no limits, who have a dream and chase it, regardless of setbacks. I’m inspired by strong women, like my Mum and by artists who are authentic, articulate and successful.

Money money money! Exhibition Update Part 2

2011-04-08T10:02:00.009+10:00

It may surprise you, or not, that being an independent artist doesn't pay much. Well, at least in the beginning. When you are starting out as a designer/maker, the rewards are few and far between. It is hard work that usually requires a supportive 'bread and butter' income. If you are lucky you may be otherwise employed in the arts, design or teaching industry, like a number of the tenmoregirls members. But more often than not, you have to make a few sacrifices, working in a job you don't love, to support your passion. At least for awhile.

Putting on an amazingly professional, awesome, successful exhibition isn't cheap. And as we have already established, us tenmoregirls artists aren't rich! So how do we do it? Thankfully, there are also people who are as passionate about what we do as we are. Our funds can come from a variety of sources.

Firstly, we apply for grants. The National Association for the Visual Arts, or NAVA, have a number of grants available for individual artists and groups like ours to help with the costs associated with putting on an exhibition. The Australia Council delivers over $160 million dollars every year to artists and groups from all disciplines to help with projects like ours. These organisations, supported financially by both the government and private sector, see value for the community in art and artists projects. The help of grant systems like these ensure that Australian art and cultural groups remain thriving.

We also talk to our industry and community about helping us through sponsorship. Sponsorship could be a one-off financial contribution, or it could be in-kind, through the supply of free or discounted goods and services. Sponsorship from passionate businesses that value emerging artists and new design is SO important. A good sponsorship partnership is multifaceted and mutually beneficial. We offer businesses a really unique opportunity to promote their product in their target market. It is not simply a donation, everyone gets something from the partnership! The businesses that sponsor us are passionate about emerging designers, the design community and particularly, the future of our contemporary jewellery industry. Which brings me to the big announcement....

tenmoregirls have confirmed their first sponsor for our 2011 exhibition, 10 girls. 10 Colours!

Peekays Findings! Peekays sponsored our Girls Around The World show in 2010 and are returning to support us again for 10 girls. 10 Colours. We are so pleased to have them on board again. Peekays Findings are an Australian owned company supplying the jewellery industry with beautiful high quality products. For a jeweller, getting the details right is so important and in our production work, good quality findings make all the difference. Visit their website www.peekays.com.au to find out more about them.

As the exhibition planning goes forward, we will hopefully be welcoming more amazing sponsors on board and hearing good news about the grants we have applied for this year. We will make sure to keep you updated. Every little bit of help we receive is very much appreciated. If you think you can assist in some way with 10 Girls. 10 colours. through in-kind or financial sponsorship, publicity, advertising, display materials or any other creative way...then send an email to sponsortenmoregirls@gmail.com and we'll be in touch with a sponsorship package!

tenmoregirls artist profile : carol faulkner

2011-04-06T15:54:00.006+10:00

This week tenmoregirls artist Carol Faulkner talks us about her process & inspiration. For tengirls tencolours, she is exploring the colour WHITE.

Having chosen white out of “the hat” or in our case a plastic zip lock bag, my first reaction was one of disappointment and yes, even rejection. White! Such a non colour. I realised that my strong reaction meant that I should definitely embrace this colour. Perhaps get out of my comfort zone or at least away from the ideas that had already formulated in my head even before I chose a colour. That’s me to a tee, always putting the cart before the horse. Does anyone except my husband say that anymore? Anyway, far from being a non colour white light possesses within it all other colour bands and so the world of colour once again lies at my fingertips. That coincidentally brings me to the underlying concept for my work in this exhibition. Not my fingertips per se but the energy field around my entire body. I am referring to the aura and my growing interest into my own spirituality. I have started my research with a photograph of my aura. And what does this have to do with white you ask?. You might say, I’m getting to that!.

What materials inspire you?

I don’t think I am inspired by any particular materials. Instead, I try to choose materials that support the story I am trying to tell with my work. For me, the material choice also acts as a focus when my imagination wanders off in an altogether different direction to my concept. I often have to ask myself, so how does this relate to the concept?

What is your favourite tool in the workshop? Why?

If I am working on a long project then whatever tool I am using most often becomes my favourite. Use a tool for long enough and it becomes a familiar extension of your hand. The weight feels right; the action is harmonious with your intention. Having said that I am very fond of the nylon hammer and the titanium solder pick given to me by my mentor Ragnar Hansen during my studies at Enmore. Whenever I use them I like to think that there is a little bit of magic being channelled through to me.

Where do you think your creativity comes from? (eg family? background? have you always wanted to be an artist/designer?)

Hmm interesting question. I don’t know where it comes from. I am just grateful I have an opportunity to see where it will take me, although that sounds like I’m looking for a destination, which I am not

What is your favourite colour?

For many years my favourite colour has been orange. My apartment is accented with orange and I also carry a little bit of orange in my wallet. My work however since day one has predominantly included blue. I find that strange because I don’t particularly like blue, yet when I was dying the cable ties for Mr’s K’s gown I felt that I could swim in the dye pot. No doubt a cliché induced by too many fumes!

Who inspires you?

I can say that I am inspired by stories, by learning, by light and shade and all the colours in between. And dogs. Yes, and I’m a cat person. But spend some time sitting in the park and watch the total focus of a dog chasing a ball. I find that kind of abandonment inspiring. As to “who”, ............... still thinking.

Exhibition Update Part 1

2011-04-01T10:29:00.005+11:00

Being an successful artist or designer these days means you have to be truly multidisciplinary. Unfortunately, we can't get away with just sitting at our benches all day making pretty things. Although some of us would certainly like to! We have to get involved, stay connected and pool our numerous other skills and resources to get our work out there. This is one of the reasons why we are committed to coming together and exhibiting as a group every year. The process of putting together a contemporary jewellery exhibition is fun, difficult at times and fascinating. So this year, we thought we'd share a little bit of it!

This is the first of our regular weekly Friday posts about our exhibition ideas, planning and coordination. Our 2011 exhibition, 10 Girls. 10 Colours. is really starting to take form. We have had several group meetings so far and have finalised a few very important things.

The name, obviously. But not so obviously, we had to decide on the specifics. How is it written? 10girls10colours? tengirls tencolours? Ten Girls. Ten Colours? 10 GIRLS 10 COLOURS? It may seem silly, but these details are VERY important. Not to mention, we are jewellers. Which means the details are everything!
The location. The gallery application process has been completed. When it is (hopefully - fingers crossed) approved, we will be able to share this very exciting information. Once you've booked a gallery, thats it, there's no turning back!
The branding. Our event, like a business, label or artist, needs a brand. We need a cohesive look, feel and overall aesthetic that will help us to express to YOU what we are all about. The things that build our exhibition's brand are the logo and flyer, the typography we use, the way we talk about ourselves in press releases, the types of contact points we have on the internet..... basically, everything that connects us with our audience. You!
A really fun part of this aspect is the flyer. Which we have also finalised! We voted on a really awesome design and look forward to sharing it with you in the next few months.

So as you can see, to put on a successful show we need to be more than just jewellery and object designers. We need to be graphic designers, web designers, marketers, social media managers, writers, PR experts, builders, photographers and overall, multitaskers!

Make sure you check back here every Friday for more exhibition news and updates. We'll also share resources and tips that we pick up along the way.

tenmoregirls artist profile : nikki majajas

2011-03-31T20:18:00.007+11:00

Nikki Majajas talks to us about her process and what inspires her.
For tengirls tencolours, she is exploring the colour PINK.
For more info about her practice
go to nikki majajas' website

What materials inspire you?

Impossible to choose! Different concepts and intentions require different materials. As much as I admire the way other makers work with organic materials, I think my work often has a sense of artificiality, a look of having been manufactured and that's reflected in my use of materials: metal, plastic, paint, glass etc

What is your favorite tool in the workshop? Why?

It always comes back to the basics: jeweller's saw and needle files. These are the simplest & most essential tools for creating just about anything at the bench, probably used for a couple of thousand years by artisans throughout the history of time! No technology required, just your basic jeweller skills, they're the first tools you learn how to use & for me the most satisfying.

Where do you think your creativity comes from? (eg family? background? have you always wanted to be an artist/designer?)

Yes my family is all creative which is fabulous and inspiring. I'm basically a glutton, I have a passion for life & live for pleasure! So I feel driven to surround myself with beauty: gorgeous objects for the eyes, delicious food for my greedy appetite, travel for the soul & crazy & loving friends to make me happy. I guess I had no choice but to try & contribute to the world's cacophony of good stuff by becoming an artist.

What is your favorite colour?

When in doubt, think PINK!

Who inspires you?

People who live fearlessly & passionately with honesty & style, regardless of age, race, income or gender.
Check out www.advancedstyle.blogspot.com

tenmoregirls artist profile : a mi kim

2011-03-28T13:02:00.006+11:00

This week tenmoregirls artist A MI KIM talks to us about her process and what inspires her. For tengirls tencolours, she is exploring the colour BROWN.
For more info about her making story go to kamidesignstory

What materials inspire you?
I've studied the Diploma of Textile Design in Korea which created an interest in different materials besides fabric and working 3D on larger scale. I like various materials like metal, wood, thread or paper which can create their own characters with its colour, pattern & texture.

What is your favorite tool in the workshop? Why?
files? i think it's beautiful & helpful tools that can make rough to smooth surface while sitting at the bench & listening music. It is the most relaxing time among all making process for me.

Where do you think your creativity comes from? (eg family? background? have you always wanted to be an artist/designer?)
i've always wanted to be a designer although i wasn't sure which designer. I've been interested in pretty much every designing area like makeup & hair designer, fashion &
interior... but then after my Dip.of textile design got make me into this jewellery/object field finally in 2002.

What is your favorite colour?
red red red

Who inspires you?
i like Alexander Calder as a general inspiration in term of simplicity & movement. Theseday I often visit Katherine Bowman & Marian Hosking blog/web for my pieces, influenced by my daily lives.

tengirls tencolours

2011-03-23T12:49:00.001+11:00

First of all, welcome our new members of tenmoregirls,
Carol Faulkner, Danielle Butters, Jo Piper & Tenille Evans.

The title of tenmoregirls' exhibition 2011 is tengirls tencolours. each artist randomly selected a different colour to make pieces for this exhibition and 10 colours with each artist are;
a mi kim : brown
andrea iglesias : green
bernadette trainor : orange
carol faulkner : white
danielle butters : purple
jo piper : black
majella beck : red
nikki majajas : pink
radka passianova : blue
tenille evans : yellow

we had our meeting last week talking about each colour and where we are upto. everyone had great & different idea based on each selected colour. We look forward to designing/making wearable pieces or objects for this exhibition.

we also have twitter account. Come and check our general making process @tenmoregirls as well as this blog.

girls around the world 2010, janis valdivia

2010-12-20T21:45:00.001+11:00

wave series, rings & pendants, 925 silver, oxidised 925 silver, 2010

girls around the world 2010, bernadette trainor

2010-12-20T21:43:00.003+11:00

the bricks of waikiki and bougainvillea, light, stainless steel, polypropylene, halogen fittings, 2010

girls around the world 2010, radka passianova

2010-12-20T21:42:00.002+11:00

snowflakes, neckpiece, 925 silver, stainless steel, 2010

girls around the world 2010, jasmine matus

2010-12-20T21:39:00.002+11:00

a cat, a chemist and an industrialist, neckpiece, collected plastic bottle tops, 925 silver, electroplated coloured wire, 2010

girls around the world 2010, natasha marcus-taylor

2010-12-20T21:38:00.002+11:00

salusalu no.2, neckpiece, silver plated copper wire, fresh flowers, 2010

girls around the world 2010, nikki majajas

2010-12-20T21:36:00.002+11:00

roads to nowhere, neckpiece, 925 silver, souvenir spoons, 2010

girls around the world 2010, a mi kim

2010-12-20T21:34:00.003+11:00

daily walk, neckpiece, 925 silver, red cedar, tasmanian oak, brazilian wood, ebony, stainless steel cable, 2010

girls around the world 2010, andrea iglesias

2010-12-20T21:33:00.002+11:00

no boundaries, object, 925 silver, buffalo horn, 2010

girls around the world 2010, jenny daskalakis

2010-12-20T21:31:00.003+11:00

the sume of her parts series, eye pendant, 925 silver, topaz, cubic zirconi, 2010

girls around the world 2010, majella beck

2010-12-20T21:28:00.003+11:00

AUX-X4, brooch, 925 silver, titanium, aluminium, tape deck parts

artist talks

2010-09-21T20:16:00.010+10:00

We had a very first artist talk on Sat the 18th of Sep. It was beautiful sunny day and there were ourselves, families & friends, and visitors to join our artist talk.
Radka started first with how & when tenmoregirls is made, exhibition histories & promo/sponsors. A mi explained a bit of NAVA grant and began to explain her three neckpieces. then, andrea, natasha, jasmine, majella & radka.

radka introducing tenmoregirls' history

a mi explaing NAVA grant and her works

andrea having a talk with her gesture

Natasha showing her three neckpieces

jasmine presenting her neckpieces

majella telling her works & display story

radka explaining her works

bernadette (who didn't speech on her works but photographed well), shane , carol and stewart

thank you so much who came along and gave us cheer & applause.

see you all next year

opening night

2010-09-13T20:59:00.006+10:00

The time has come, finally! All of our hard work, effort and passion were revealed on our opening night, the 9th of September, at 6pm. We were proud of ourselves and had lots of interest and compliments from others. Thank you for all who came along on that rainy and gloomy day. It made us even happier!

Even though this show is coming in to land on the 20th, you have plenty of time to get along and see the show, or visit us for an artist talk on Saturday, 18th September at 2pm.

Come and meet the makers!

setting up day on the 8th of Sep.

2010-09-13T20:42:00.008+10:00

Last Wednesday, the 8th of September, tenmoregirls started the epic set up our exhibition work, from 10am until around 8:30pm.

We were coming and going all day, with some of the girls making the mammoth effort of being at the gallery all day for set up!

What a team! We finally made it!

Everyone, stamp your passports and fasten your seat belts! :)

08_09_2010 @ gaffa

tenmoregirls on web

2010-09-04T20:24:00.006+10:00

http://www.sidestreetsydney.com.au/
http://www.visualarts.net.au/noticeboard/girlsaroundworld
http://www.australianblogs.com.au/dir/art-culture/ten-more-girls
http://www.intermedianews1.com.au/jewellery-world/Girls-display-global-talent
http://www.designfederation.net/page/2/
http://kitandcaboodle.ning.com/profiles/blogs/girls-around-the-world-by
http://spitpress.com/

tenmoregirls for peekays

2010-09-02T13:11:00.008+10:00

We had a fabulous opportunity to display our works sponsored by peekays findings during Jewellery Fair Sydney 2010 from the 29th - 31st of Aug at Darling Harbour.

Have you missed the jewellery fair this time?

don't worry. You can also check this out at Gaffa gallery opening on the 9th of Sep.

two weeks left

2010-08-24T13:08:00.005+10:00

an exhibition of jewellery and objects inspired by the world around us.
Come and enjoy the opening night on Thursday Sep 9th from 6pm to 8pm
and meet the makers on Saturday Sep 18th at 2pm.

Exhibition is held from the 9th to the 20th
at Gaffa Gallery, 281 Clarence St. Sydney CBD.

NAVA grant successful!

2010-08-20T16:57:00.002+10:00

We've been working so hard, we nearly forgot that we applied for grants...nearly.

We have heard some very exciting news from NAVA that two of our applications were successful!

Marketing grant $2500 & Janet Homes $1000!!!

With thanks to our generous sponsors...

2010-05-06T12:40:00.007+10:00

Girls Around the World is going full steam ahead, not just making, but organising an amazing exhibition.

We are so appreciative of the sponsorship we receive from the industry. Their generous donations are a great help towards putting on our exhibitions each year.

Our thanks to...

gaffa gallery

2010-02-10T21:29:00.000+11:00

gaffa has re-launched in the heart of Sydney's CBD. Our exhibition in 2010, 'girls around the world', will be held at gaffa, opening in September and we are looking forward to seeing this re-launched creative space this Thursday!
Gaffa Gallery
281 Clarence St.
Sydney CBD
N.S.W. 2000

Ash Street - Pablo Fanque

2009-11-04T14:22:00.000+11:00

we pulled down our pieces from blank_space last wednesday.

BUT, our show hasn't been finished yet as we displayed our works at the new place of Pablo Fanque on Ash street, at the back of ivy hotel on george street near martin place in Sydney.

you don't know where ivy hotel is?

simply click here to find out and no excuse will be made then. :)

This window exhibition on ash st. will be running until the 8th December 2009 and please contact pablo fanque regarding to purchasing pieces or email tenmoregirls@hotmail.com for any other inqueries.

Thank you.

17 oct 2009 - opening night for girls against gold

2009-10-22T20:11:00.000+11:00

After all our troubles & stress, we made it!

The opening was packed with our friends, families & visitors and we had a lot of positive feedback!

Thank you to everyone who came along to our opening night and...people who couldn't make it on last sat, don't worry... we are still at blank_space everyday from 11am to 6pm till the 28th of Oct 2009.

14 oct 2009 - setting up day for girls against gold

2009-10-22T20:03:00.000+11:00

on setting up day, we actually could see everyone's works for the first time and it was all stunning! we finally finished our setting at 12am!!!

well done everyone and let's keep going to the sparkling opening night on sat! yeay~

MX on Mon. 12 Oct 2009

2009-10-12T18:43:00.000+11:00

girls against gold is in MX on Mon 12 Oct 2009.

we had a photoshot on Fri the 2nd of Oct for MX newspaper and we are finally on MX today!

Girls Against Gold e-flyer

2009-10-05T15:02:00.001+11:00

exhibition is running from Thursday the 15th of Oct at blank_space gallery on 374 crown st, with a sparkling saturday opening to be held at the gallery on Saturday the 17th of Oct from 4-6pm.

The exhibition will be running daily until Wed the 28th of Oct.

news news news on web

2009-09-23T18:40:00.001+10:00

check it out the links below.

noise
kit and caboodle
design federation
you can also be a member of tenmoregirls group in facebook!!!

grants, sponsors & donations for girls against gold!

2009-09-23T18:20:00.000+10:00

First of all, as we mentioned earlier, we achieved $10,000 grant from Australia Council for this exhibition , girls against gold.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Much of the work will be available to purchase and 5% of all sales will be donated to Breast Cancer Australia. We also have sponsors, Peter W Beck & Inkassoulwho are generously supporting our exhibition this year 2009. Peter W Beck is one of leading precious metal companies in Australia and sponsoring $500 cash to us, and Inca's Soul is donating 10 bottles of sparkling wine!

Thank you to Peter W Beck , Inka's Soul for their great supports.

girls against gold 2009, janis valdivia

2009-09-23T18:07:00.000+10:00

simplus, triangle ring, 925 silver with painted black gesso, 2009

I’m a Sydney based designer/maker and the main source of inspiration for my work comes from abstract paintings and the sea. In particular I’m interested in capturing shapes and forms. I like the asymmetry of objects that connects with basic things in life and finding the special in the ordinary.
My work is predominantly hand fabricated using sterling silver. It also incorporates other materials such as delrin, perspex, felt, bone, glass and 18k gold. I use traditional metalsmithing techniques to form each piece but employ contemporary methods to create unique and textured surface.

girls against gold 2009, bernadette trainor

2009-09-23T18:05:00.000+10:00

wallpaper one, brooch, 925 silver, american walnut, 2009

I never knew true love until I found mid-century modern design. After World War II products not usually used in construction and decoration took housing in a new direction and economic growth brought style to the suburbs. A new kind of dream home was affordable and accessible.
I am inspired by both the spirit of innovation and the aesthetics of mid-century design. The graphic qualities of wallpapers, fabric patterns and sculpture from the fifties and sixties are the basis for a series of brooches, made from sterling silver and a variety of timbers.

girls against gold 2009, radka passianova

2009-09-23T18:03:00.000+10:00

petals, pendants, 925 silver, stainless steel, stainless steel cable, 2009

What is precious?
Jewellery and materials become precious once they have the right look, colour and feel.
For some, it may be gold or platinum, or something much more common and affordable, like flowers, which people have used as decoration for thousands of years. So for these people I have created Petals, inspired by the lovely yet sometimes tricky and intricate details of flowers. These have motivated me to represent their forms in materials precious to me, and capture their beauty forever.

girls against gold 2009, jasmine matus

2009-09-23T18:00:00.000+10:00

moon flowers, brooches, 925 silver, recycled cream bulb canister, base metal, 2009

Taxidermy of a Modern Road Kill and Moon Flowers hint a subtle reminder that life on earth is precious and impermanent; our natural resources are being readily depleted and most are unable to be replenished. The scrap metal used has been collected by the side of busy road intersections. These scraps of metals have revealed to me some interesting characteristics; the scratches from other vehicles driving them into the road, odd shapes, they tell a story.
By combining the scrap with precious metals I am giving a new life to otherwise useless trash waiting to be swept up and lost into the abyss.

girls against gold 2009, natasha marcus-taylor

2009-09-23T17:58:00.001+10:00

untitiled, brooch, 925 silver, bone, stainless steel pin, 2009

So how am I “against gold” when I work with gold everyday?
Well I’m not against gold, as a ductile and malleable metal for making jewellery, but I am concerned with what gold has come to represent. Gold prices continue to rise, becoming unattainable and unaffordable for many people. Gold represents the high-end market of jewellery, not what most can afford.We wish to challenge this thought. I wish to produce jewellery how it used to be made, well designed, well crafted, and made for a meaning.

girls against gold 2009, nikki majajas

2009-09-23T17:52:00.000+10:00

bling ring, the gold digger series, brass, swarovski crystals, 2009

Just for the record, I am in no way ‘against’ gold. How could anyone be? It shines and sparkles, never tarnishes and always looks great with a tan. My only gripe with gold is the price tag. In a global financial crisis should you fake it til you make it? Perhaps the answer is to put aside feminist principals and try your luck as a gold digger…
Those who chose the latter option have inspired my range of jewellery, and I wish them luck in their pursuits.

girls against gold 2009, a mi kim

2009-09-23T17:48:00.000+10:00

ginkgo, brooch, 925 silver, 2009

I am very interested in playing with various materials and love their different forms, patterns and colours. What I have considered for girls against gold was the preciousness of time, I thought about my life. The most precious time in my life was my childhood and I had a look my old pictures. I collected some elements from old photos which reminds of memorable moments and applied their motifs, colours & materials to jewellery and object pieces.

girls against gold 2009, lisa furno

2009-09-23T17:46:00.001+10:00

madonna, neckpiece, 925 silver, 2009

The Madonna series is inspired by my earliest childhood memories
of gold. I vividly remember my dad, nonna, uncles, aunties and cousins all adorned with gold rings and religious emblems worn on gold chains.
The Madonna series is originally sand cast from my nonna’s gold Mary pendant, which she wore most of her life. Sterling silver casts of casts were made to slowly deteriorate the initial preciousness of the original gold piece. The intrinsic preciousness lies not in the materials or casting quality, but in the piece’s emotional value.

girls against gold 2009, jenny daskalakis

2009-09-23T17:43:00.000+10:00

love is more precious than gold, heart rings, 925 silver, 2009

Love is more precious than Gold. If love was a commodity, would it be more precious than gold?
I would infinitely answer...YES! My personal interpretation of the universal symbol of love, 'The Heart' in this series, is what I believe love to be...Simple and Joyous!I enjoy the process of creating wax to silver.Carving my passion and emotions into the pieces I make is both meditative and rewarding! My ultimate desire is for my pieces to be worn as amulets and remind the wearer of the purity and the truth of love.

girls against gold 2009, majella beck

2009-09-23T17:13:00.000+10:00

garden of suckulents, brooch, 925 silver, stainless steel, silicone, 2009

In my practice I have begun to look at the notion of value in interchangeable contexts.
The notion of material, the tactile sensibility and determinism of utility inform this irrevocable displacement of what we traditionally deem as valuable. I combined precious and non precious materials, in this sense my work is a constant exploration and evaluation of what makes jewellery precious. This series of works are tactile, evoking a sense of exploration and interaction.

GRANT approved!

2009-08-18T18:53:00.000+10:00

We submitted our application to Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council for the Arts in May and Lisa was collecting all necessary documents from us and organising these so hard.

When we were almost about to forget this in Jul, we heard the greatest new ever from Australia Council saying that our application has approved $10000 (exclusive of GST) for the following purpose: Create jewellery for a group exhibition

Our application was successful in an increasingly competitive environment and we are so proud of ourselves and of course big thank you to Lisa for doing this in (very) professional manner! wow!

new members and the title for exhibition 2009

2009-08-18T18:32:00.000+10:00

We have new members this year which are;

A Mi Kim, Bernadette Trainor, Janis Valdivia, Jasmine Matus & Jenny Daskalakis.

Our first meeting was in Mar and we made the new title for the exhibition 2009,

Girls Against Gold

Now, ten more girls are busy for thinking, designing & making!!!

girls for boys 2008 - display day

2009-08-18T18:24:00.000+10:00

ten more girls' first exhibition in 2008, Girls for Boys, was successful and this is snap shot taken on display day.

girls for boys 2008 - natasha marcus - taylor

2009-08-17T19:04:00.001+10:00

When I first started to think of what and how boys around me adorned themselves, I didn’t see jewellery. What stood out to me were tattoos. Boys proudly display a tattoo to identify who they are. “Many members of today's military have their identification tags tattooed onto their ribs; known as "meat tags". Most sailors would have tattoos to show “where the sailor had been, or how long the seaman had been travelling. This was a way for sailors to bring tokens from their voyages back on their own skin”.

I have found the technique of scrimshaw, inking a design into bone very similar to tattooing.

girls for boys 2008 - georgina pattinson

2009-08-17T19:03:00.000+10:00

Naked truth, stacked, full flush…

Just the other day my Nan told me that it was about to become illegal to wolf whistle at a woman in public! What sort of padded cell have we been forced to live in? Soon it will be illegal to look at another person in the street and we’ll all be living in plastic bubbles for fear of catching a conscious of our own.

Bring on the hedonistic lifestyle I say! Where pleasure is every pursuit and appreciation for beauty even on the streets is revered as a national pride.

This doesn’t mean I’m advocating every male to become a cad or a chauvinist. It’s the subtly in the execution that’s important. The connotations of the sound alone, is enough and should not be followed with a sleazy remark or any boisterous obscenities.

Women like to be looked at, we like to be appreciated, we like to feel sexy and be flirted with, in the appropriate situation of course. Beauty, as they say, ‘is in the eye of the beholder’ and why not express it. For there is nothing more beautiful than the female form and as Mae West aptly put it, ‘It is better to be looked at than to be over looked’.

My Nan later explained to me the thrill of the moment she remembered as a young girl ridding her bike down the street, when someone whistled at her. She got so excited her foot caught the pedal and she ‘fell ass over tit’ onto the footpath. Not the most glamorous response but at least she loved every moment of it!

girls for boys 2008 - pamela suares

2009-08-17T18:54:00.000+10:00

I think it’s safe to say that nearly all boys love their cars. If you were to reduce a car to its component parts, it becomes a box full of fascinating shapes and objects; when you put it back together again, it becomes “the machine of a dream.”
I have chosen car jargon as names for my pieces in an effort to evoke some of the sensations of belonging to this loosely formed boys’ club, where in-depth knowledge of the details sets the pecking order. I am completely seduced by beautiful colours, so it’s natural for me to use colour in my work. I try to reduce complicated forms to the simplest shapes possible, and my painting background urges the use of texture to emphasize this.

girls for boys 2008 - sonya scott

2009-08-17T18:43:00.000+10:00

Son, someday you will make a girl

very happy, for a short period of time.

Then, she'll leave you and be with new

men who areten times better than you

could ever hope to be. These men

are called musician.

girls for boys 2008 - tamahra prowse

2009-08-17T18:39:00.000+10:00

What is it about boys and their collections of ‘stuff’? Treasures that are obsessively hunted collected and traded, far beyond the scope of female understanding.
My goal for this exhibition was to identify items important to today’s grown men when they were kids. A selection of these have been translated and re-modelled into objects of desire and value for men.
Polls conducted amongst family, friends and random strangers alike, revealed an amazing array of childhood obsessions. They also revealed the boys behind the men, boys with a wide-eyed enthusiasm and an unyielding belief in the value of their treasures. A past age of innocence where crabs claws were lined up in the sand for judging by a serious panel of peers, and where certain marbles had the power to make or break friendships over playlunch. Sticks had a multitude of uses, stamps were cool, and bottle caps…well, I guess they were colourful, cheap and fun to drink first!

girls for boys 2008 - radka passianova

2009-08-17T18:37:00.000+10:00

In these pieces created for “Girls 4 Boys” I have used a combination of sterling silver and separate parts from crashed motorbikes. These pieces of jewellery are made for people that are deeply attached to their much loved “two wheeled beasts” and are often unable to part with them once the machine has crashed or is ready to be sold.
I have created several pieces that carry memories and parts of bikes. The idea is that anybody can wear them and at any moment be reminded of the good times that they have spent on a bike.
People are often deeply attached to their material belongings and I am hoping to find the answer to ‘why?’ through the process of making new and different objects from the old.

girls for boys 2008 - nikki majajas

2009-08-17T18:33:00.000+10:00

I have taken inspiration from the most practical of items: the humble toolbox and its contents. Here are 3 mini stories that play with the themes of usefulness and identity. Nine wearable objects serve valuable functions such as finding direction, measuring small distances or assessing surface level. One series acts to classify the wearer as belonging to a manly and practical club where a screw head or a bolt identifies their organisation. Then again chunky bands, which can be worn as rings or pendants double as tools and when stacked, create a handy trio of DIY essentials, inspired in part by Swiss army knives.

girls for boys 2008 - natalie klave

2009-08-17T18:30:00.001+10:00

Prompted by the generic philosophy that men will always be boys, I couldn’t go past the long favoured fascination of the toy car.

Generations of men have whiled away their childhood, racing about smashing these miniature cars into trees, houses, and kerb edges. All the while dreaming about the real thing and picturing themselves driving or owning a fleet of expensive rarities.

No matter how much trauma and abuse these toys endured, they continued on. So to, did they steadfastly remain favourites in many hearts, bringing forth smiles and fond memories.

My aim for this collection was to return these warm and fuzzy feelings to the now mature men, allowing them to sneakily spin the wheels and reverse back to a time when their imagination ran wild.

girls for boys 2008 - lisa furno

2009-08-17T18:28:00.001+10:00

A tribute to the hard working lives of the vibrator/dildo. A new beginning for these tools, out form behind closed doors. Could society do without them?

I work with a variety of precious and non-precious, colourful and second hand materials. Through physical manipulation I transform these forms not only into visually appealing pieces but also functioning wearable objects.

These three neckpieces are all inspired by this exhibition theme ‘Girls for Boys’. Initially designed solely for the sexual satisfaction and enjoyment for both men and women.

Here I have altered and manipulated these original bundles of joy to create a new and vibrant life for them as a series of wearable pieces of jewellery.

girls for boys 2008 - majella beck

2009-08-17T18:22:00.001+10:00

Inspired by boys
The opposite sex, the hairier sex, they have more hair, everywhere…
My designs are inspired by male hair, hair and more hair from the big moustache to the bald spot to the amusing yet sad comb over and the question to shave or not to shave.
The works combine traditional materials with non-traditional materials, to question the idea of what we perceive as precious. The use of the fishing line has a second aspect of preciousness attached to it; if you like fishing that is…
I have coloured the nylon fishing line with commercially available cloth dye and I have chosen constructed aesthetics, multiples and screws to reflect on the antiquated perception of traditional roles in society, bringing together mechanical construction from ‘his’ shed and hand dying from ‘her’ laundry.

girls for boys

2009-06-15T20:56:00.000+10:00

'ten more girls' was originally created by 2007 graduates in 2008. Ten female past and current students/staffs of the Jewellery and Object Design from the Design Centre Enmore had the first exhibition, girls for boys, on 28 Aug 2008 at Gaffa Gallery.

Participants 2008 were; Georgina Pattinson, Lisa Furno, Majella Beck, Natalie Klave, Natasha Marcus – Taylor, Nikki Majajas, Pamela Suares, Radka Passianova, Sonya Scott & Tamahra Prowse.

These ten girls had created an exhibition, girls for boys, of quirky, unique and handmade contemporary jewellery and objects, made for, and inspired by boys.

To view images of girls for boys' grand exhibition opening night, visit http://www.gaffa.com.au/wordpress/?p=109