Tim McCreight Public Lecture

Renowned American metalsmith and author of the The Complete Metalsmith (essential to the library of any jewellery or metalsmithing student, even absolute beginners whose library consists of only one book!) Tim McCreight is coming to Australia, and giving a public lecture at RMIT University on Friday 7 October from 6-7pm. The lecture, entitled "What My Hands Taught Me", is an overview of McCreight's 40-year career in jewellery and metalsmithing. It will be held at the Casey Plaza Lecture Theatre, Building 10, Level 4, Room 27 at RMIT, at a cost of $5 (pre-booked or at the door). 

Tim McCreight's visit is presented by the PMC Guild of Australia and New Zealand and bookings can be made at www.pmcguild.com.au/visiting-artists .

Robert Baines at Pieces of Eight

In conjunction with the 35+ year retrospective on now at the Glen Eira City Council Gallery, Robert Baines is holding an exhibition of new works at Pieces of Eight opening next Tuesday 4 October. Frisches Fleisch: Fresh Meat opens Tuesday from 6-8pm.

Since I couldn't make the opening of A Visible Likeness at the Glen Eira City Council Gallery, I went to Robert's artist floor talk on Saturday. The retrospective includes works going back all the way to his student days at RMIT University, many of which I had never seen. More recent major works include Robert's first major wirework pieces of the mid-'90s, mind-boggling in their complexity, commissioned works on loan from collectors spanning much of his career, and a number of intricate teasets. Drawings and sketches line the gallery walls, and a very engaging video produced by Object Gallery shows Robert speaking about his work. 

A Visible Likeness is an excellent exhibition, running until 16 October, and next up is Frisches Fleisch! On at Pieces of Eight until 12 November.

Scaffolding and Tall Walls

A new work...

There's a place on my way to the city where there was a little field and a church. I thought it was a park but it was just an empty lot. Now an apartment building has gone up in the field, and this little pastoral scene in the midst of city life is no more. It's all scaffolding and tall walls. That place became a brooch in my work about the urban landscape, and now it's changed so much I've made a new one, supported by scaffolding and hemmed in by apartment-style walls. The sunset is still there though, if you catch it from the right angle. 

A Visible Likeness

Robert Baines' exhibition A Visible Likeness opens tonight at the Glen Eira City Council Gallery in Caulfield. This is a survey exhibition of more than 35 years of gold and silversmtihing practice by the coordinator of postgraduate gold and silversmithing at RMIT University. Not to be missed! And unfortunately, I'm going to have to miss the opening. But the exhibition runs until 16 October, with an artist floor talk this Saturday 24 September at 2:30pm.

The Loved Object

Locutions (The Loved Object) is an exhibition of hollowware boxes and watercolours by Katherine Bowman, on now at Craft Victoria. Subtle textures and details on the blackened hollowware pieces contrast with brightly coloured birds flying out of one of the boxes, while watercolours reflecting the same themes of box-like structures combined brightly patterned birds and horses add another perspective to the subject.

The exhibition runs until 15 October.

Bright Lights

 I've discovered I can carve large, luminous bouncy ball beads!

Some components of this necklace are carved from bouncy balls, too, into much more delicate-looking beads.

Sneak Peek

 

...at a little something I've been working on... 

Tools I Love

I imagine lots of craftspeople become unreasonably fond of certain tools...

This is my collection of chasing and repousse tools, which I use almost every day. The first few were made from tool steel, and the rest are made from Allen keys, straightened out, ground and polished to shape, then hardened and tempered. There's something about tools you make yourself that seems to make them especially useful. I rely on these for chasing and repousse, riveting, stone setting, and anything else I need to get into small spaces for.

...What are your favourite tools?

Dawn Tan and Harvest Textiles

 

Last month I heard Melbourne artist Dawn Tan speak about social media at Craft Victoria's Craft and Design as a Career seminar. Today I spotted her Marshmallows Soft Friends sculpture at Harvest Workroom in East Brunswick!

Harvest Workroom is a workshop space run by Melbourne screenprinting group Harvest Textiles.  Dawn Tan is running a watercolour painting workshop there now, and in October Abby Seymour of Golden Ink will hold a workshop on embellished porcelain jewellery.

In addition to creating oversized soft sculptures of food products, Dawn Tan does beautiful illustrations of recipes, among other things, which you can see in Frankie Magazine, on her website, or on her blog.

image from Harvest Workroom website