Artist & Designer Feature: Lambo Art Studio

admin — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 06:09:40 +0000

Welcome to the second installment of this new Artist, Designer & Maker series.

In this feature we get to know Artist Bobbi Oliver.

Bobbi Oliver is a Mixed Media Artist who operates Lambo Art Studio from her home in Thornton, NSW Australia.

For the last 5 years she has designed and created Art Dolls, from Living Doll polymer clays, and combine these with fabrics/mixed media embellishments to create whimsical collectible Art Dolls.

Inspired by Art Doll artists such as Richard Creager, Marlaine Verhelste & Hannie Sarris, Bobbi developed her own designs & techniques to create her sculpted art dolls.

Bobbi started her art career at the age of 9 as a painter. Introduced to clay in School she proceeded on a journey as a production potter for 30 years in Northern California.

During this time, Bobbi also explored sculpture in clay & received her Bachelors in Studio Art at Humboldt State University in Northern California in Ceramic Clay Arts and Sculpture.

Recently she attended a workshop with mixed media American collage artist Sherrill Kahn in Sydney.

Bobbi has again picked up her paint brushes and is venturing into the world of paint and mixed media. She also incorporates, paper arts, woodworking, metals, into her sculptures and paintings creating a variety of functional and decorative arts.

“My painting/collage work is all about the colour and contrast, creating designs full of depth, interesting shapes and designs. I am addicted to colour. The challenge to me is to put it all together so it is a pleasing collection of elements that people can’t take their eyes off.”

“My long term goal, is to just keep creating as long as I can!! I love sharing my creations with others and of course I love it when people want to purchase my Art. I hope the desire and ideas never stop.”

Bobbi teaches various art directions through her own studio at Scrap Needs in Cardiff, NSW Australia and around the state for clubs and groups.

You can view more of Bobbi’s work on her blog lamboart@blogspot.com or contact her on 0249663897.

Thankyou Bobbi for contributing to this Blog Series & sharing aspects of your Mixed Media art work.

If you are an Artist, Designer or Maker who would like to be featured, e-mail your enquiry to : melanie@haycreations.com.au .

Artist & Designer Feature: Mad Hatter Millinery

admin — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:30:03 +0000

It gives me great pleasure to introduce the very first Artist & designer to be featured in this new blog series:

Jennifer O’Brien from Mad Hatter Millinery.

Co-incidentally a few weeks ago Jennifer & I attended the 2012 Autumn HAN Art Bazaar in the grounds of Lake Macquarie Art Gallery. While I had seen Jennifers’ work in photos for this interview, it was lovely to experience the true quality of her beautiful handcrafted hats & headwear.

This interview took place via e-mail:

What is your business name?

Mad Hatter Millinery (based in Newcastle, NSW, Australia)

What do you design/create?

I design and create (to order) custom-made headwear for both women and men. Other unique headwear creations are also available for sale.

What medium / materials do you like to use in your work & why?

Colour and texture play a major part in my headwear creations. Hence the materials I use are often varied. I enjoy mixing colours, patterns and mediums.

Wire is a unique millinery material and it mixes well with fabrics and trims.

Sinamay (the fibre used to make the medium for the classic women’s dress hat – often seen at horse-races) is an interesting fibre and I have recently discovered its pliable qualities. Felt is also a favourite.

Who / what is the inspiration behind your work?

Inspiration in my work comes from my desire to create something that is beautiful and unique.

Beauty may be perceived in something as simple as an elegant line or a classic form. As stated previously, I am inspired by the combining of colour and texture.

Millinery is a wonderfully ‘open’ art form.. as it combines sewing, sculpture, design, colour, texture, fabrics. That is inspiring in itself.

How long have you been designing & creating?

I have been designing and creating hats for 5 years. Generally speaking though, I have been designing and creating something or other…. all my life.

What are your long terms goals (if any) with your creative work/business?

To improve my millinery practice and to gain knowledge and expertise.

Where can people view or purchase your work?

Website: http://madhattermillinery.com.au/

Email: contact@madhattermillinery.com.au

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Mad-Hatter-Millinery/

Mobile: 0434 372 041

Many thanks to Jennifer for sharing some aspects of her millinery work.

If you are an Artist, Designer or Maker who would like to be featured, e-mail your enquiry to : melanie@haycreations.com.au & I will send further details.

New Artist, Designer & Maker Series.

admin — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 23:50:56 +0000

With so many products & items being mass produced in Chinese factories these days, now more than ever I believe it’s important to celebrate & embrace artistic originality, creativity & handcrafted skills.

Subsequently I am in the process of putting together a new blog series that will feature the work of the Artists, Designers & Makers from around the world.

If you design, create or produce your own quality artwork or product & are interested in being featured, I would love to hear from you.

To participate all you need to do is answer some questions related to your Art, Craft & or business & provide 4 high quality images of your work.

I am especially interested in featuring Artists (all mediums), illustrators, Shoe makers, handbag designers/makers, fashion designers, potters, homeware designers/makers, textile artists, wood workers, metal smiths & leather workers.

To submit your interest send an e-mail to melanie@haycreations.com.au & I will contact you with further information.

Please Share this opportunity to be featured with your creative friends & networks using the Social Media buttons below.

Click the links below to read recently published Posts from this new Series:

Artist, Designer & Maker Feature: Mad Hat Millinery

Artist & Designer Feature: Lambo Art Studio

Back In The Studio!

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:37:59 +0000

Seems I’ve been missing in action from blogging for a while thanks to the long Christmas/Summer School Holidays here in Australia.

As I work from a home based studio in East Maitland, NSW, I’ve slowly come to realise over the years this means that during school holidays I don’t get a great deal of work done with 2 primary school aged children in the house!

Don’t get me wrong, I still complete orders & send them out on time. But as far as any kind of sustained design & production work, marketing & adminstration goes, it just doesn’t happen during School holidays because there are so many disruptions throughout the day: the squabbling & fighting, playing taxi mum & the constant requests for snacks & food to name a few!.

There’s also that nagging motherhood guilt that you should be doing more activities & getting out & about with your kids because they are on school holidays.

On Monday my children went back to school so I’m finally back working in my studio, rather than the dining room table where I could keep an eye on who was doing what.

I must say it feels good to back in my element surrounded once again by all my jewellery making tools, sheets of metal & gemstones & the many design ideas floating my head that are waiting to be transformed into something tangible & beautiful.

So now the real planning for the year begins.

One of my goals & objectives for 2012 has been to improve my product photography.

As I’m lucky enough to have a good camera & lightbox I currently do my own photography. But I have felt for some time that the backgrounds were too busy &/or dark against my jewellery. So, in between playing Mum, chef, negotiator, secretary, nurse & taxi driver during the school holidays I experimented with a lighter & cleaner background.

While they will always be a work in progress, here are some examples of before & after shots:

Amelia Earrings with Malachite - Before

After

Heather Earrings - Before

After

The feedback about the white & minimal background has positive so far.

From a purely practical perspective I am finding this set up much easier because there are less props to work with. It also means I can use the same basic white background set up for most of my jewellery pieces & in doing so, hopefully reduce labour time.

What do you think of the new background?

Share your thoughts below.

I’ve Lost My Sawing Mojo!

admin — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:15:17 +0000

Melanie Hay - Jewellery Artist

Well, yesterday was a shocker here in the Studio.

Casualties of yesterdays sawing disaster!

I don’t whether it was the extreme heat & humidity or the fact that I’m starting to feel a little stressed about going overseas for 10 days next week with still so much to make for an up & coming show in early December, but yesterday I lost my sawing mojo!

While I’m used to breaking the occasional blade when sawing sheet metal, yesterday I broke around 7 saw blades.

This would have been acceptable had I produced copious components & completed the many jewellery pieces sitting on my desk, but I broke all these saw blades making 4 pairs of earrings.

I think one of the main problems was that because it was so hot my hands became very sweaty while sawing with my left hand & holding onto onto the metal with my right hand. This moisture caused the glue applied to the paper templates which are stuck to the sheet metal, to stick to my fingers.

As a result my attention was diverted to the fact that my fingers kept both sticking & slipping on the metal rather than focussing on keeping the saw blade at the right angle.

While I didn’t sustain any injuries, lets just say it was a good thing I was wearing my glasses!

Good thing I ordered a bulk pack of different sized blades recently – it seems I’m going to need them.

On the positive side, I’m happy with how these new earring designs are turning out.

What do you think of them so far?

Sneek Peek – New Jewellery Designs

admin — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:01:58 +0000

Over the past few weeks I’ve been busy working on a new line of earrings. The new pieces are the beginning of whole new range of precious metal jewellery for Hay Creations, much of which is currently still in the development stage.

Simple, classic & elegant, these new earring designs are hand made from sheet metal & wire. Each pair is imprinted with a different pattern & is gently domed & finished with an antique look. The ear wires are also handmade from Argentium Silver.

It has been an enjoyable & somewhat challenging getting back into working with sheet metal after focussing on precious metal wire for the last few years.

Although I have been working with sheet metal for the last 12 months, my experience in producing shapes has been limited to using a disc cutter to produce circles.

So becoming re-acquainted with using my jewellers saw to cut out different metal shapes, while breaking many saw blades in the process I might add, has been an interesting learning curve. I broke 3 blades just cutting out one shape in the beginning!

Whilst making these new pieces I also discovered the importance of when & how to anneal sheet metal. The process of annealing softens the metal & gives you greater control over manipulating it – in this case, when applying textures with a rolling mill & doming shapes using metal punches to give them some depth.

The new earrings will also be available in Argentium Silver & 14kt Gold Filled.

Making these new earrings also took me back to my very first jewellery making lesson many moons ago where I learned some basic jewellery making techniques such as cutting, filing, sawing & drilling sheet metal. In fact below is my very first Copper cutout which took many, many hours of hard work to make back then!

Every now & again I get this piece out as a reminder of where I discovered my jewellery making passion (though my family would called it an obession).

Interestingly, looking back now, it seems I’ve come full circle in terms of the type of jewellery making materials I work with.

The Portable Bench Peg Attachment!

admin — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:34:25 +0000

When it comes to jewellery making, there are a myriad of tools to choose from. From cutting & filing to embossing & polishing, each jewellery making process often requires some type of specialised equipment.

As a result, over the last 8 years I’ve accumulated a large number of jewellery making tools & in the process have developed a bit of a jewellery tool fetish, especially for pliers!

While some of the more specialised jewellery making equipment has proven to be absolutely essential, in retrospect I probably could have saved a large amount of time & money by improvising here & there.

So recently when I needed to raise the height of my bench peg or risk becoming a hunchback by Christmas 2011, I decided rather than immediately purchasing the latest & greatest jewellers bench peg attachment, it was time to improvise.

Admittedly, coming up with an alternative didn’t come easily & up until recently the only reasonable option seemed to be using my husbands work bench in the shed.

While the idea of taking my sawing equipment out to the shed to cut shapes, then packing up & returning to my indoor studio to finish pieces & making sure I didn’t leave a mess on my husbands bench didn’t seem favourable, I decided to go with it. That was until I attempted to attach the peg to bench & found the work bench was too thick anyway!

Feeling a little defeated I began to think there was no alternative but to buy a new bench peg gadget or better still invest in a brand new jewellers bench.

However, whilst hanging washing on the line outside (the joys of working from home…), I spotted an concrete brick sitting next to our shed. Immediately I began to wonder whether it could do the job. So I cleaned it up, positioned it on my work table, attached the bench peg & … bingo – it was the perfect height & weight!

Having used it quite a bit over the last few weeks I have also discovered the other great thing is that when it’s not required, this setup can be easily moved off my work table & out of the way.

So while I’m not completely cured of my Jewellery making tool fetish as yet, this small but successful improvisation experience has inspired me to at least seriously consider other alternatives rather than immediately resorting to purchasing new & expensive jewellery tools & equipment every time.

& here’s what I’ve been making using my new setup – Handcut copper shapes.

Have you improvised with tools to make something?

I would love to hear what you made & what alternative tools or equipment were used to make it. Share your story below.

Busy Times & Bespoke Jewellery Orders

admin — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 02:08:20 +0000

Due to a flurry of orders over the last few weeks, things have been a little hectic here in the Hay Creations studio.

During this time I’ve also been trying to do a spot of re-organising & spring cleaning in preparation for the fast approaching Festive Season which traditionally is the busiest time of the year for my jewellery business.

This has meant saying goodbye to a few older designs in the Hay Creations Collection that no longer fit in within the current range & streamlining aspects of my manufacturing & production process. All very time consuming but necessary tasks!

Amongst the recent custom orders was this Freshwater Pearl Bracelet. The idea for this bespoke piece came from a client who was looking for a unique jewellery gift for a special person in their life.

The bracelet includes Peacock Blue & Cream Freshwater Pearls, Sterling Silver vintage style components & 3 Sterling Silver charms.

What I really enjoyed about the process of designing & making this particular piece was that each of the charm forms - the paintbrush, book & a musical note, were requested & chosen by the client to represent 3 recent & significant achievements in the recipents life.

The client also requested the inclusion of Blue in the bracelet as this was the recipients favourite colour.

With this in mind I photographed various stone & Pearl options & design configurations in Blue including: Blue lace Agate, Lapis Lazuli, Navy Blue Swarovski Pearls & Blue Freshwater Pearls. I then e-mailed these images to the client to decide which colour & configuration they preferred.

I was secretly pleased the client chose these particular Peacock Blue & Cream Freshwater Pearls because I think they really compliment the soft muted tones of the vintage style Silver components & charms.

I’ve since heard the recipient was also delighted with their custom made Pearl charm bracelet, which creatively & professionally makes the outcome even more pleasing.

Have you ever had something made for someone special in your life?

What was it & what did it represent?.

Work in Progress

admin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:28:39 +0000

It seems the last couple of weeks have flown past at warp speed yet again!

Amid doing a few custom orders, submitting applications for up coming events, getting ready to attend the Hunter Business Womens Network Thrive conference as an exhibitor & being a Mum, wife & household CEO, I’ve managed to create a few new Freshwater pearl jewellery pieces.

These are based on the Ivy Earring range which is one of my best selling lines in the Hay Creations Jewellery range.

I chose these particular Freshwater Pearls in Cream, Peacock & Violet Raspberry based on their beautiful vibrant colour, shape, lustre & lovely quality.

From a design perspective I really like the how this jewellery technique allows the natural beauty of the Freshwater pearls to show through & the lines of the metal setting are flowing, soft & subtle.

While I considered using Sterling Silver, I decided that the golden tones of the 14kt Gold Filled setting really complemented these vibrantly coloured Pearls in a way that Sterling Silver didn’t.

The down side is that while I have quite a stock pile of Pearls, the quality of many of the cheaper ones purchased during my many buying frenzies over the last few years, just isn’t there. And, despite my e-mails a month ago to my supplier asking about the arrival times of their higher quality Pearls, I’ve yet to receive a reply. So I’m currently looking for a new Freshwater pearl supplier.

If you can recommend a reliable wholesaler of large, quality Freshwater Pearls, I’d love to hear from you!

I’ve been Featured on The Scribble Den Blog!

admin — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 23:13:54 +0000

During this past week I was delighted to be featured on The Scribble Den Blog by Jodi Gibson & be involved in their very first Giveaway.

It was a priviledge to be given the opportunity to share my journey about becoming a jewellery designer & starting my jewellery business.

The feedback from readers of the Scribble Den blog has been wonderful.

Interestingly, the process of writing & reflecting on where I started served as a timely personal reminder of how far I’ve come both as a designer & maker of handcrafted jewellery since my early days of making simple beaded necklaces & earrings as a hobby.

Older Design - beaded necklace

It was also a somewhat cathartic process, because for the past few months I’ve been focusing on learning other aspects of business such as how to use Social Media platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter for my business. In the process however, I haven’t allowed myself adequate time in the Studio to do what I love & do best: further develop my jewellery range & come up with new ideas.

More recent design - Andrienna Pendant

Consequently I’ve been feeling a little moody & at times frustrated that the numerous design ideas flooding my mind day & night haven’t been given the opportunity to be transformed into something tangible. There are also the many half finished prototypes on my bench which keep staring at me longingly to be finished!

So, rather than continuing to spend time on tedious tasks like trying to figure out why Facebook will let me tag other businesses one day & not the next, reading Twitter posts about what people are having for breakfast, lunch & dinner etc, it’s time to start scheduling some serious studio time into my week once again. Especially given August is here already & time is getting away on the lead up to the busiest time of the year.

Amelia Vintage Earrings

So, if you would like to be the proud owner of these gorgeous Hay Creations Vintage Amelia Earrings head over to the Scribble Den to find out out how you can enter their Giveaway & win. Entries close 8th August 2011.