Artist profile: Julia Storey

A little while ago I was thinking about who to write about next in my Artist Profile series, and naturally I wanted to continue with the theme of makers I went through university with. As such, it is with great pleasure I introduce Julia Storey.

I’ve written recently about Julia – her cufflinks have now made it into my collection!

All images used with permission of the artist; not to be reproduced without permission.

Julia at her (super-fantastic) bench

1. What have you been up to since we graduated from our RMIT undergraduate degree (at the end of 2006)?

“In 2007 I began studying my Masters of Fine Arts (Gold and Silversmithing) at RMIT. In that year I had my work shown at Gallerie Marzee in The Netherlands, Buda Contemporary Australian Silver and Metalwork Exhibition in Castlemaine and I was a finalist in the Kaiserman Prize for recently graduated students. I also curated a small exhibition in Fitzroy featuring the works of two photographer friends and my jewellery.

After a year of the Masters Degree I realised it wasn’t quite right for me at that time so I took time away from it and began working at Makers Mark Gallery in Melbourne where I became the Artistic Adviser and Merchandise Manager.

I started missing making jewellery, so along with three other girls from the undergraduate course, set up a studio where we could come together, bounce ideas off each other, and make jewellery again!

Recently, I have been working alongside a wonderful goldsmith with an amazing wealth of jewellery knowledge and technical skills, and who is a mentor to me.”

One of my favourite pieces Julia made in her final year at RMIT is the Wedding Group below – where mesh has been formed around little ceramic kissing figurines, carefully cut to release the original model, and then painstakingly rejoined. I especially loved that our friend Lucy Hearn had one of Julia’s little sculptures on the top of her wedding cupcake-cake!

Wedding Group

2. What has been your most exciting / rewarding experience over the last few years?

“Last year, two friends of mine asked me to make their wedding rings. It definitely scared me at the start, but I really enjoyed custom designing the two rings with them, incorporating their ideas with mine and then the technical challenge of creating them. Making the rings involved teaching myself a whole lot of new skills and when they were finished I was really proud of how they turned out. 

The icing on the cake was going to the beautiful beach ceremony and knowing when they were exchanging the rings that I had been part of something wonderful.”

Such a lovely story!

Below are some of Julia’s more recent work – Continuing Neckpiece and Sapphire Continue Ring.

 

3. What do you like most about making?

“Getting my hands dirty! I like the immediacy of metal and how it allows me to see my ideas come to life right before my eyes. When I get inspired or excited by something it kick starts the imaginative cogs in my mind and gets me thinking of textures, techniques and forms.

It’s amazing how many ways you can manipulate metal and just how much this can change its appearance.

Most often I have many pieces going on at the same time. I like that when working with metal if something isn’t quite working at that time, or if I need more time to think over its design, I can continue on with another piece and come back to it with a fresh mind. Over time I have trialled and worked with a variety of materials and you don’t quite get that luxury with a lot of resin, silicone or clay.

Construction fascinates me too. When looking at other examples of gold and silversmithing I am always trying to figure out how it has all come together. I have been to a lot of exhibitions so I could see jewellery in real life, and not in textbooks. I really feel that helps you learn about the artist and expand your own creative and technical boundaries.”

During our degree I always thought Julia was one of the most courageous and exploratitive amongst us – always happy to experiment and learn new techniques in order to bring her imagination to physical existence (where many of us often restricted our design due to our undeveloped skill-level).

Neckpiece from 2007

I hadn’t seen the above piece before – it’s so lyrical, a little mystery landscape…

4. What is the next step for your work / What does the next year or two hold for you?

“I have spent the last year or two making jewellery to sell through galleries and would like to continue to develop this. In conjunction with that I will be getting my website up and running (www.juliastorey.com.au).

It has also been a little while since I’ve made exhibition work and I would love to get back into that. I have a few ideas of the pieces I want to make and now I just need to set myself the challenge of making them.

Oh and hopefully buying more tools (I’m completely addicted!!!)”

Time Apart 2007

Also, check out Julia’s kit-and-caboodle page; her profile on Breathing Colours site (which has an image of her lovely ‘cage’ necklace); and of course we await for more to come on her website.

Many thanks to Julia for being so generous and sharing so much about herself.

I now share the studio with Julia and two of our friends from uni. I love spending time with her in the studio, and especially talking with her about jewellery – she always has amazing ideas on how to see something I’m working / stuck on and suggest other things to consider (respectfully of course!); and naturally, her tool collection is a huge bonus!

All images used with permission of the artist; not to be reproduced without permission.

Update (20th September 2011): I am happy to say that Julia has provided an image of her makers mark / hallmark … please also see my Makers Mark page for other artist marks!

Julia Storey; with permission of the artist

… last artist profile: Michelle Taylor …

Artist profile: Michelle Taylor

It’s been a little while since my last post in this series, on Lucy Hearn, and I thought it was about time to remediate the situation. Again I have turned my attention to jewellers who were in my class at RMIT, and I’m happy to say that Michelle Taylor has agreed to be my subject.

All images used with permission of the artist; not to be reproduced without permission.

The Point of the Matter, Michelle Taylor; photograph by Tom Roschi; courtesy of the artist; image not to be reproduced without permission

1. What have you been up to since we graduated from our RMIT undergraduate degree (at the end of 2006)?

After graduating from RMIT I moved to Adelaide to take up an associate position at JamFactory Contemporary Craft and Design. This two year program was a fantastic step forward after graduating, with a focus on developing the careers of emerging artists and designers. The facilities available were very well equipped and the immersive creative environment was an inspiring place to be, an enjoyable place to work where everyone is so involved in producing work for many varied projects.

Adelaide in itself is a very artistically orientated city, I think the small size of the city has a great impact on the thriving arts community – It offered me a great starting point in my making career.

After finishing the position at JamFactory I moved to Gray Street Workshop, as I was in Adelaide already I could not miss the opportunity of experiencing the renowned studio. I loved my time at GSW; it is such a great place to work. It is a space made for making, where you can either feed off the people around you or be focused on your own making which I found was a good contrast.

To depths unknown; Michelle Taylor; photograph by Tom Roschi; courtesy of the artists; not to be reproduced without permission

2. What has been your most exciting / rewarding experience over the last few years?

There are a couple of moments that come to mind the first of which was being invited to participate in COLLECT 2008 by the Italian gallery – Alternatives. The gallery director had seen my work in Talente in Germany and contacted me to ask if I would be interested in representation at COLLECT, that was a very exciting. Through receiving a grant from Arts SA I travelled to Rome to visit Alternatives and then across to London to attend COLLECT at the Victoria & Albert Museum. To see my work on show in that space was very enjoyable, if a tad surreal.

Another moment that stands out is when I was contacted by Schmuck museum in Pforzheim who was interested in purchasing two of my brooches. I was thrilled, and didn’t believe it would happen as it is a lengthy process, fortunately it did!

Wow Michelle – so much success, especially internationally! Very much deserved too.

A few links for readers:

• Alternatives gallery in Rome [link]
• some images from Collect 2008 [link]; and the Craft Council [link] and the Victoria & Albert Museum [link] where the exhibition was held
• an RMIT news article about the five students accepted into the 2007 Talente [link]
• I think Michelle may also have been in Collect 2010 earlier this year – see this page on Klimt02
• Smuck museum [link]
• and a profile of Michelle on CountryArts [pdf]

Drifting Ranges, Michelle Taylor; photograph by Tom Roschi; courtesy of the artist; not to be reproduced without permission

I really like the above piece!

3. Wood has become an important part of your work – can you tell me about the progression and the significance of the material for you?

Timber has been a revelation in my making of objects – the immediacy of the material is very appealing, being able to make marks and create dimension quickly works well for me.

Initially I used wood for these reasons but as my work progressed the material became a direct correspondent of the ideas I was representing through the object.

Late in 2010 I undertook a mentorship with contemporary jeweller and maker Catherine Truman, with the aim of developing my skills and understanding of wood as a material. While also looking at my relationship with the material and my reasons, intuitive or deliberate, for choosing to work with wood. This was an enlightening process and one that has moved my ideas and thoughts on making forward and enhanced my technical capabilities.

After several months of working with the techniques of carving I am thinking again of drawing back on some past uses of the material, combined with carved elements and who knows what else. I am always searching for materials to contribute to the landscape of the objects I’m making – I like thinking that anything is possible.

4. What do you like most about making?

Being utterly absorbed in what I am doing, the material the process, having an idea and figuring out how to make it work. I find this very satisfying and it quite simply makes me happy. Using my hands and relying on your skills to adapt materials, working both within the bounds of an idea but allowing for the intuitive nature of making to push things along.

Between the gaps it grows, Michelle Taylor; courtesy of the artist; photograph by Tom Roschi; not to be reproduced without permission

5. Where are you currently represented? Any upcoming exhibitions?

I am currently represented by Blackfinch Gallery in Melbourne, Workshop Bilk in Queanbeyan (soon to be moving to Manuka space in Canberra), Zu Design Jewellery + Objects in Adelaide, Metalab in Sydney, Neuer Schmuck in Hannover, Germany and Alternatives Gallery in Rome, Italy.

Upcoming exhibitions include a couple of group Christmas shows – at Studio 20/17 in Sydney and Zu Design Jewellery + Objects in Adelaide. Next year I will again be represented by Alternatives Gallery at COLLECT 2011 at Saatchi Gallery in London.

That’s a fantastic collection of galleries – congratulations again! And the upcoming exhibition sounds great.

Some links are below:

• Blackfinch in Melbourne
• Workshop Bilk in Canberra
• Zu Design in Adelaide
• Metalab in Sydney; her last exhibition was Layer-on-Layer
• Neuer Smuck in Hannover, Germany
• Alternatives in Rome, Italy
• Studio 20/17 ‘Wrapped‘ show

Upon the horizon, Michelle Taylor; courtesy of the artist; photograph Tom Roschi; not to be reproduced without permission

6. What is the next step for your work / What does the next year or two hold for you?

There is a long list of what I would like to achieve over the next couple of years the first of which is to further establish my practice in Melbourne, being in Adelaide for several years I feel I have not yet found my place in Melbourne. Developing a website will be a good step towards this; I have purchased my domain name but am yet to build the pages!

In terms of making I am aiming towards all new work for COLLECT – so over summer I’ll be spending many hours making. I have found the best approach for me when developing new work is not to throw away or disregard all previous work but to build on what I have already developed: whether that is in the ideas behind the work or the material approach. The next step is to experiment with some new wood varieties, while also revisiting a mixed material approach – in a way combining the old and new of materials and techniques.

I’m currently working from a studio at home (very well ventilated, but a tad frosty during winter – being located in the Dandenong ranges!!) which is great for now but in coming years I would like to move up from this, maybe build one from scratch…eventually. In an ideal world I would like to spend time in both my own home studio as well as being apart of a shared space. For now I’m just happy that I have somewhere to make ‘stuff’.

I’ve always admired Michelle’s precision and patience. Especially her dedication to pursuing her vision of her work – she has always spent any time necessary to achieve the desired result – which wasn’t that easy during uni … I sometimes found myself just being too tired and just making do, but never knew Michelle to do this!

Many thanks to Michelle for being so generous and sharing so much about herself. I look forward to seeing your website when it’s completed, and to the pieces she creates for Collect and future exhibitions … best of luck Michelle!

All images used with permission of the artist; not to be reproduced without permission.

… previous artist profile: Lucy Hearn …

Artist profile: Lucy Hearn

It’s been a little while since my last post in this series, on Claire O’Halloran, and I thought it was about time to remediate the situation. Again I have turned my attention to jewellers who were in my class at RMIT, and I’m happy to say that Lucy Hearn (nee Blackmore) has agreed to be my subject.

All images used with permission of the artist; not to be reproduced without permission.

White Ring Green, 2007, Copper, enamel, sterling silver and plastic - photo by Jeremy Dillon

1. What have you been up to since we graduated from our RMIT undergraduate degree (at the end of 2006)?

Well… After finishing third year in 2006, some of my work was exhibited at Craft Victoria as part of FRESH! which was great and lovely to meet Kate Rhodes and talk to her about my work.
I started 2007 with a new husband and a new name. Then I went back to RMIT to start an MFA… I didn’t really want to leave yet. I had some work fly to Germany for the Talente exhibition.
And I began to work in a different direction… enamel!
Since then, my jewellery has been selling from Studio Ingot and Craft Victoria. And I was commissioned to make a limited edition of pendants for e.g.etal.
I’ve also been involved in group exhibitions, such as Jewellery Topos in the Netherlands, Transformation at Gallery Funaki, Fruit Loop Bagues at First Site Gallery and of course the RMIT It’s Got Legs series of exhibitions. I also had a small solo exhibition in the window at Craft Victoria.
I finished the MFA at the end of 2008 and went to Amsterdam, Paris and Pforzheim for a short but very inspiring trip in 2009.
Since then I’ve been taking a bit of a break from serious jewellery making, concentrating instead on having fun with my 7 month old daughter.

Fruit Loop Bagues Group Exhibition with Nicole Polentas, Mel Miller, Nina Oikawa and Lucy Hearn at First Site Gallery, 2008 - photo by Lucy Hearn

Wow, so much success! A couple of links to see more:

• see the RMIT website for information about the exhibition in the above image ‘Fruit Loop Bagues‘
• Craft Victoria ‘Fresh!’ 2006 [here, under her maiden name] and announcement of stock [here]
• Studio Ingot artist profile [here]
• Gallery Funaki ‘Transformation‘ was an award exhibition, and it is fantastic Lucy was a finalist [here]
• see the RMIT School of Art Gallery site for more on the ‘It’s got Legs 2008‘ and ‘It’s got Legs 2007‘
• also see my previous review stories on: ‘Jewellery Topos‘, ‘It’s got Legs 2009‘
• and my previous stories on her pieces in my jewellery collection: #13, #9,  #7, #6
• Lucy was also interviewed in The Age early last year [here]
• e.g.etal announcement of Lucy being awarded the pendant design [here], image below

e. g. etal pendants, 2008, Sterling silver, copper, enamel and plastic - photo by Terence Bogue

2. What has been your most exciting / rewarding experience over the last few years?

Being a part of the Jewellery Topos exhibition in the Netherlands was super exciting. It was a fantastic experience to travel there and meet Marie-Jose of Marzee. Her jewellery collection is phenomenal, I was so overwhelmed by amazing things to look at that I began to feel dizzy and sick… or perhaps it was just morning sickness? The entire trip was incredible, I was also able to see some impressive collections of ancient jewellery in the Louvre Museum and in Pforzheim, Germany.

So jealous…

3. What do you like most about making?

I love it when something works! When I pull a large enamelled piece out of the kiln and it hasn’t cracked or dripped and it’s beautifully shiny and finished after all the work I’ve done. It’s so satisfying. Possibly because this doesn’t happen every time!

White Vessel Group, 2007 - 2008, Copper, enamel and plastic - photo by Jeremy Dillon

From my personal viewpoint, I love Lucy’s spontaneity and willingness for the metal to guide her, especially when raising a piece. Though that said, her drawings are quite delightful too.

drawings

Not to mention her incredible sense of colour and injecting fun into personal adornment.

White Brooch Orange, 2007, Copper, enamel, sterling silver and plastic - photo by Nicole Polentas

Lucy and I sat next to each other in our final year in our undergraduate degree, and she always had a pretty good way of sensing when things weren’t quite working out for me and somehow always said something to put it all into perspective. The colour she used injected a much-needed jolt into our workspace (my work during that period was fairly minimalist with respect to colour), and I found myself experimenting with her way of working and I think it loosened my approach and I became more comfortable with figuring it out as I went (and not having all the answers before I started making).

4. What is the next step for your work / What does the next year or two hold for you?

The next step is to put a studio together which will happen later this year and start some serious making again. And after that, I’m not sure… I would love to build a body of work for a solo exhibition, but no plans at this stage.
I intend to continue enamelling and raising vessels and have fun playing and experimenting with them.

Many thanks to Lucy for being so generous and sharing so much about herself! I look forward to hearing more stories about her adorable daughter, and seeing her work develop when she finds the right time to return to making.

All images used with permission of the artist; not to be reproduced without permission.
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Update (3rd April 2011): Lucy now has a blog – http://lucyhearn.wordpress.com/

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Update (7th October 2011): I am happy to say that Lucy has provided an image of her makers mark / hallmark … please also see my Makers Mark page for other artist marks!

Lucy Hearn; with artist permission

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… previous artist profile: Claire O’Halloran …

Artist profile: Claire O’Halloran

It has been quite a while since my last Artist Profile (Katherine Wheeler; and before that Nicole Polentas); and following her fabulous success in the recent RMIT postgraduate awards [see here], I thought Claire O’Halloran would be the perfect subject for more insights into makers and their art.

All images used with permission of the artist; all rights belong to the artist; photographed Jeremy Dillon.

Necklace for The Grande 2009

Claire started her RMIT degree at the same time as I did, and Katherine and Nicole – yes, I am being parochial in my selection of artists to profile! During her degree Claire started to explore the ideas she is now carefully expressing, and commenced her experimentation with the techniques she is continuing to refine.

Claire’s website states: “My work has increasingly become about notions of memory and nostalgia – how events, people and places are remembered.”

(1) What have you been up to since we graduated from our RMIT undergraduate degree (at the end of 2006)?

I really wanted to travel after finishing my undergraduate degree, so I worked for the first half of 2007 and saved money for a trip to South East Asia, China and Nepal with James (my husband).  We were away for six months and I loved the travelling lifestyle and just being in places where everything is so different to what you know.  I have particularly beautiful memories of walking in the Himalaya Mountains, and I hope to use some of the photos I took on our ten-day trek in my jewellery at some stage in the near future.  I also had my work in a couple of exhibitions in 2007 including the Contemporary Australian Silver & Metalwork Exhibition at Buda in Castlemaine.

In 2008 I decided to be practical and undertook a Grad Dip in Teaching.  It was a demanding course and jewellery-making was sadly neglected during this time.  By the beginning of this year, however, I had bought a kiln and began making my first serious piece since 2006 (Necklace for The Grande [above]). Shortly after, I found out that I had been accepted in the Master of Fine Arts at RMIT and began studying again.

See image of a piece Claire had in BUDA in 2007 here (p17); or below.

Claire was also involved in the following:

• ‘W.E. McMillan Collection, Selected Gold and Silversmithing 1961-2007‘ (in 2008)
• 2009 RMIT jewellery auction; this was the piece I was talking about in my post!

Enamel bowl 2006

(2) Where are you currently exhibiting? Any upcoming shows?

Recently my work has been shown in It’s Got Legs – the RMIT Postgraduate and Alumni exhibition.  It was a very beautiful show so I was honoured to be chosen as the recipient of the Diana Morgan Postgraduate Award.

My first solo exhibition ‘Keepsakes’ opens on the 1st of October 2009 at Hand Held Gallery in Melbourne.

For links to these exhibitions see here and here. ‘Keepsakes‘ runs until 31st October.

(3) I remember enamelling was a practice you found as pleasurable as I did, as evidenced by its strong presence in your body of work – what is it that you enjoy and why do you feel it particularly suits the work you want to make?

From the beginning, I felt really privileged to learn enamelling – and especially to learn it from someone like Kirsten [Haydon], who I admire very much.  I think partly I love the fact that enamelling is an ancient process, but one that we are still practicing and teaching – I like that continuity with the past.  I also enjoy the process itself – especially the magical aspect of the enamel bonding with the metal in the kiln.  I love the surfaces it can create – smooth and shiny or rough like crystallised sugar.  In terms of the content of my work, I feel that the use of enamel helps to create a sense of ‘preciousness’, which is partly to do with its history, the fact that enamelling is so labour-intensive, and those beautiful surfaces I mentioned.

Mt Fuji 2006

(4) I really like the necklace on your website [the first image above], this is a gorgeous progression; what are the ‘beads’ made of? Also, I notice your work is balanced between small enamelled bowls and wearable pieces (mostly brooches) – do you see yourself favouring or moving toward any one form in the near future?

Thank you!  The beads used in the necklace are pieces of enamelled copper tubing.  The bowls were made first and were a direct reference to crockery from the 1940s and 50s that used images to commemorate sites – often tourist sites – in Australia.  Sometimes they commemorate well-known tourist sites and sometimes they commemorate quite daggy places, like for example the ‘Bathanga Bridge, near Albury’.  I’m really interested in the latter kind and took a tour around country Victoria visiting ‘unremarkable tourist destinations’ – many of which were known to me from family holidays during my childhood – to gather my own images for the bowls I created.  Then later I thought it would be good to complement the bowls with some wearable pieces.  I chose to make brooches because I had been looking at those little pins that you can buy from tourist attractions.  I do enjoy making brooches.  I think it’s because they are like a little canvas  – but one that you can wear and take with you wherever you go.  I’m just starting to become really interested in neckpieces, though, and I think I’ll be making more of those soon.

(5) What do you like most about making?

I really love the fact that through making, you transform those ideas you have into something material.  That seems obvious, I guess, but I do love having that physical object in my hand at the end of the process – though sometimes it might be a little different to how I first dreamed it.  Having said that, I’m also the sort of person who really enjoys process itself (as do many jewellers).  I do actually enjoy firing multiple coats of enamel and creating multiple solder joins.  And I love the fact that making is often about problem solving, and that I’m constantly learning about the materials and techniques I work with.

The pieces above are among my favourites: Slide Brooch 2005 and Slide Brooch 2009. I remember Claire making the first one in our second year; and I love that she’s done a companion piece.

Claire and I sat next to each other in the first two years of our degree, and had a draw each in the pedestal between us. Over time we were able to discern each others stress level by certain indicators – the more tense I was, the more I entered into one-sided dialogue with my metal and tools (yes, I talked to my tools). Claire’s stress level was directly proportional to how far she pulled and left her draw out.

(6) Do you still leave your draws out when you’re feeling tense?

Yes – but now I have four draws to leave hanging out!  In the run up to the opening of ‘Keepsakes’ the draws have been left hanging out quite a lot.

(7) What is the next step for your work / What does the next year or two hold for you?

Next year I’ll be mostly occupied looking after our new baby, but I intend to keep working when I can and I want to extend on ideas relating to travel and tourist destinations.  I’ve been interested in mountains for a while and I’ve just finished reading a biography of Freda Du Faur who was an Australian and the first woman to climb Mt Cook in New Zealand in 1910.  I think it could be interesting to make some jewellery around mountains and early female mountaineers.  I’d also like to learn some more techniques, particularly repousee and chasing.  After a break next year, I’ll return to my MFA in 2011.

Lily Brooch 2006

Claire was very much a calming influence on my first few years in goldsmithing; her gentleness and placidity were the perfect counterpoint to my occasional periods of discombobulation! I love that she found her muse so early in her making, with the souvenir and memory playing a significant role in her degree work; and that her art portrays those intents so beautifully.

Best of wishes to Claire for her imminent special arrival.

Be sure to visit Claire’s upcoming exhibition, opening tonight; I am given to understand that the work is a further evolution of her work, and includes pieces similar to those that won the Diana Morgan award.

All images used with permission of the artist; all rights belong to the artist.

… previous artist profile: Katherine Wheeler …