Summertime - Shows
The hot weather seems to be truly here! It makes me think about the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair. Sadly, you won’t find my work there this year (boo!), but I will be there - a number of my friends will be there exhibiting their jewellery (and other art). Anyway, in honour of not being able to show you new jewellery, here’s some of my favourites!
A selection of my M pendants on postcards by Lamellopodium Art - I love using them as backgrounds :)
If you find yourself wanting to get out this weekend, venture out and see some art! It will make your heart sing.
Fun with embroidery
It seems that summer is really here! I’ve been working a bit on creative self-renewal and building some new skills that I thought might be useful in new work in the future. I feel this is so important, but it can also be quite difficult to manage with so many other demands on my time. So, this time around, I enrolled months in advance, put it in my calendar, and when it finally came around, somehow made it work (although it was a bit of a frantic couple of weeks!!). So, what did I do, you ask? I took a two-day course in “Haute couture embroidery techniques” at the Contemporary Textile Studio with a lovely lady artist from Montreal, Tamara Rubilar. It was a bit of a gallop through a sampler of a number of different techniques, as well as an eye-opening experience with different materials.
Make it stand out
This roughly what I’m eventually aiming for - we’ll see how close I manage!
It was a pretty intense two days, and I had a kilt order on at the same time, so it was two days of ALOT of sewing, but I so enjoyed learning the techniques, and getting some insight into the thought behind the way some things work, and how to address some technical issues.
Make it stand out
Even just getting ready to start, was a bit time consuming, but so cool! We used a silk panel with a cotton canvas support underneath. Then you have to attach it the frame with two different techniques. It was ready to go when it felt as tight as a drum top!! This is to provide more stable support than an embroidery hoop, and once I started working with it, I could see the necessity - you really have to be firm with some of the materials we used!!
First element started! Just the edging to go. I really enjoyed this one, and to be honest, it’s probably the one that has turned out the best so far!
I didn’t get much farther than this the second day - see all those sequins? A good number of them get sewn into an element that I have to applique to the main piece - I started one, decided I didn’t like my technique execution, so I started the second one, which is better but not perfect. Now I have to go back and re-do the first one so they match!
What do you do when you feel like you’re in a bit of a creative rut? Or maybe that never happens to you!! Anyway, I loved the workshop, even the frustrating bits! And I’ve already been thinking about how I’m going to incorporate it into a special kilt idea that has been rolling around in my brain. It also involves some screen printing, which I haven’t done for a while, so that will be a bit exciting too!
It will probably be awhile before I finish this sampler, but I’m chipping away at it little by little, so I’ll share it with you when I finally finish it!
-Robin
Joy in the twirl.
Sometimes you just have one of those weeks, you know, where you find yourself overcommitted, and working, literally, every hour you can possibly manage. Last week, that was really me! One of the things was a kilt order. I thought I had loads of time, but apparently I don’t know how to read a calendar! Anyway, it was a bit down to the wire, but I got it to its recipient, and their reaction made everything worth it! The joy on his face, the jumping and twirling. It was amazing. I love these reminders of why I love making kilts!
MacKay Ancient - how cool is that lining? It’s such a lovely pop of colour, and has special meaning for its owner!
Make it stand out
Pleat - o -Rama
Happy Kilt Action!
This is a repeat order - he liked the first one so much, he came back for more! There might even be more kilty action in his future! Looking for your own bespoke, handstitched traditional kilt that you can leave your own stamp on?
Remodeling can be fun!
This week I’m sharing a pair of custom earrings I finshed recently. They came from a pair of old fashioned kind of cluster earrings with a centre sapphire and tiny diamonds all around. The brief was to make a new pair of earrings. The client likes an art deco kind of vibe, so I riffed off that and suggested a few different designs. We landed on these, carved in wax and cast in 14kt yellow gold, which came from the original earrings and some other miscellaneous jewellery that was languishing in her jewellery box!
They look even better in person! They’re cute little earrings, with a bit of bling.
M#
hand carved wax models for the earrings
Earrings finished, ready for stone setting.
I really enjoy bringing new life to jewellery, and it’s a great way to make the most of what you have, you get a lovely new piece of hand crafted jewellery , and you’ve upcycled bits that you already had! Have jewellery that just isn’t doing it for you anymore? Drop me a line, and let’s talk about how to do something with it that you will love again!
What is this?
Are you asking yourself what is this?
This is the start of a new project. It’s made from canvas stretching bars (who knew this was a thing?), and if you look closely you can see small dots. Eventually I’ll manage to put some nails there. This is what it has looked like for about 3 weeks. Sadly, it will probably still look this way 3 weeks from now. I’ll come back and celebrate when I’ve made some progress with it, and tell you what it’s for, if you haven’t guessed yet :).
Enjoy the fine weather we’re having (since it seems like summer actually HAS arrived!
Remodeled Jewellery Part II
Awhile ago, I shared a ring that I made using all the stones from this brooch
So, we were left with the carcass of the original brooch, which is a lovely shape, and beautifully constructed. The client doesn’t really like yellow gold, and it now had a gap where the stone and setting had been, so we did a little updating on it, by choosing a new stone for it, and giving it a rhodium makeover to change it to a lovely white surface instead. What a difference these two things made to the overall look of the brooch!
What do you think?
Sometimes you have to make time for you
So, this past weekend was a public holiday. As an artist/maker who works for themself and work additional jobs to make everything happen, actually taking time off is often difficult. In an effort to have a bit more work/life balance, my new resolution is to take off public holidays. I generally still work at least part of the time, but I give myself permission to be a bit more relaxed. Or that’s the theory anyway. In reality I spent part of the weekend making a start on transforming our concrete balcony into a haven. It’s still very much a work in progress, but it’s nicer already!
See? New flooring, a bit of furniture, it’s like a whole new area! Next up, plants. This should be interesting, as neither mom or I are particularly inclined to keep them alive, so we’ll see….
What do you do to decompress, and what’s your idea of a place to retreat to?
Regular post probably back next week :). Enjoy some nice weather!
Cells, cells, cells
I’ve been working on making more of these teeny-tiny wax blood cell clusters- keep an eye out for the new jewellery I’m excited to make with them! Including something for myself (for once!).
Fancy something of your very own? Email me, and ask me about it!
New Ring - Help me name it!
So, I can’t remember if I posted anything about this one, but I’ve finished (finally!) a new ring. It’s super fancy in 14kt rose gold with a star sapphire and a lab created diamond. It’s embellished with some tiny new elements I’m starting to use in a new series of jewellery, modelled after red blood cells. They’re sculpted, and put together to give the impression of flow and subtle differences in shape, but still with that characteristic “donut” look to them.
I love the hexagonal shape of the sapphire, even though the star is not very discernible with ths kind of cut, and I think it looks amazing with the colour of the rose gold!
I envisioned it as my interpretation of a “Toi et Moi” ring (which seem to be pretty popular at the minute, and is usually two stones together to represent you and your partner), so it could be worn as an unconventional engagement ring (and there’s cleverly space for a wedding band to snug up against it from either side!). However, it doesn’t have to be an engagement ring, I just hope it will eventually go to someone who loves it as much as I do!
Here’s how it looks on my finger - don’t you want to see it gracing yours?? ;)
I made it with a created diamond, rather than a natural one. Apart from the price difference, created diamonds don’t have the same ethical issues, and so I’ve decided that, as a goldsmith, the work I make for my own personal designs are going to be made with re-claimed diamonds or from lab created diamonds. The interesting thing about lab created diamonds is that because of the process that is used, you still get different grades of stones, so the “C’s” (cut, clarity, carat, colour) still apply!
So, I like to give everything names, but I haven’t quite landed on one for this ring, yet—any snappy ideas come to mind? Hit the button below, and let me know!! Or, if you just want to tell me how much you love this ring, that would be awesome too!!
Networks, Immunity, and Vaccination, oh my!
You may remember that I exhibited last year at Science Rendezvous, at University of Toronto, as part of their SciArt Gallery. I had a blast! It was so fun meeting loads of the public, and talking about my work, and finding new people to geek out with about science and immunology, it was awesome. I also met a load of other fascinating sciartists and enjoyed their art. So, I am excited about exhibiting again this year, on May 11th, in a slightly new venue.
You might already know about this, but if not, Science Rendezvous is a fun, familty-friendly day out with lots of STEAM-related activities and exhibitions, including a Science Fair, a Science Chase (a science experiment obstacle course, how cool is that), something called SR Hacks (a coding and engineering competition), and, of course, the SciArt Gallery - which is where you'll find me!
Whenever I do an exhibition or a show, I try to have new and fresh work. This year, I’m hoping to share the collaboration I did with Carolina Reis last year (you can read about it in the blog I wrote), along with the artisti writeup about the piece, called IMMUNITY, and the story of how it came about. Alongside the art piece, I made a series of mixed media jewellery. I hope that mahy will see it and experience it. If you miss it next Saturday, it will take up residence in the windows along Roncevalles at the Jewel Envy Studio for a while.