Kids' Jewellery + Art Workshop in Glebe

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!

brown by a mi kim

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...

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

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!

tenmoregirls artist profile : bernadette trainor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

tenmoregirls artist profile : carol faulkner

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.

tenmoregirls artist profile : nikki majajas

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

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

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.

artist talks

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

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.

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