part of the team, part of the family

well here's a very exciting show... as you may remember, Lucy James kicked off the 2012 exhibition program with us in february (together with Anthony Scibelli). she is going from strength to strength and has a series of new exhibitions in melbourne over the coming months. first off is a great solo outing at anna pappas gallery in prahran.

bird girl flappin' and squawkin', 2012, collage on paper, 42 x 32cm, © the artist and Anna Pappas Gallery

Lucy James - after the end
Opening Night
Wednesday 30 May, 6.30pm
Exhibition
31 May - 7 July, 2012

Of course, we'll be along to support our Stockroom family on the opening night and would love to see you there too! And if you need a fix of lucy's amazing art, we have some terrific examples of her fine skills in the store from her most recent body of work. get in quick before she's famous!!

may opening

a great night last night for our May openings, an excellent turnout and wonderful atmosphere. Debra supplied some nibbles to keep the burgeoning crowd refreshed, Beck kept the drinks flowing, and people met and mingled amongst a fine array of artworks.

 Pandarosa's Andii (left) and Ariel (looking handsome and ponderous)

contemplating the evocative landscapes of Debra Goldsmith

getting up close and personal with Debra's Ghost and Solace(Mourning Tree)

drawing a crowd to Larry Parkinson's work

it's the art that rewards time spent with it that is the art that lasts

 Larry's work has a lot of symbolic  imagery and it was great to see which works appealed to different people

 

more Larry

 Debra Goldsmith deservedly basking in the popularity of her paintings

 

chock-a-block in the galleries

inspecting Pandarosa's collages and paintings

 

it's always fascinating to see the detail of how art is made

some discussion about favourite works

   the milling crowd of art lovers

 pondering Pandarosa

 

catching up for a chat

a swirling flow of people

 

contemplating Larry

the shows run until 3 June and there's nothing like seeing the artwork in the flesh. each show by Debra, Larry and Pandarosa has been well crafted into a considered body of work, giving each gallery space its own particular character and feeling.
 

suburban light house

someone's been busy in the workshop today!

this amazing house came to light in a very short time frame, but is as solid as a house. wow, two puns in one sentence! anyway, it looks spectacular. i'm resisting the urge to deconstruct its meaning as an art object (the inner glow of the home hearth, the inverted reflection of antipodean architecture etc etc) ... no wait ... i didn't resist at all! it's so sculptural how can i resist?!

imagine a line of these over a dining table - like an upside down street scape. cool, no?

coming at it from different angles

there's been a little shape in the stockroom workshop, sitting on a workbench, like a giant cut gem. it's been getting blacker and blacker, deeper hues on deeper hues. and it's been getting glossier and glossier with the passing days. i've been keeping an eager eye on it, wanting to touch it, but not allowed to because it was drying after each coat.

until today.

now i can sit on it ... and sit on it i did!

Faceted Stool, from the 'Made By Stockroom' range.

exhibition preview

could this be a whole new subgenre of video? trailers for art exhibitions.

this saturday our May shows kick off at 430pm with art by Debra Goldsmith, Larry Parkinson and Pandarosa. it's open to the public and we warmly invite you along.

Meet Your Maker: Fiction

Recently Lucy was lucky enough to have a chat with Tessa Blazey, the brains behind the jewellery label 'Fiction.'

SR: First up, who is Fiction? Where did the name come from? 

TB: Fiction is the name of my production range of jewellery - the name to me was evocative of anything feigned or imagined. I have always been a bit obsessed with the aesthetics of science fiction so I guess it came partly from there. The fiction series embodies faceted surfaces, haptic textures and geometric forms. The range includes a series of collections informed by diverse references such as Moorish architecture, mineral specimens and mimicry.
 

SR: Tell us a little bit about your background. How long have you been making jewellery for and what path has led you to what you do now?
 

TB: I previously practiced sculpture and interior design and was very fond of the scale of model making so the transition into jewellery seemed a natural progression. I eventually got frustrated just drawing my ideas and I wanted to enjoy process of crafting objects again with my own hands. I’m much happier working at this miniature scale. I find it a very accessible as I can imagine, design and construct everything myself from scratch. Jewellery can be so immediate and satisfying in that way.
  

SR: Do you design and create each piece independently or do you employ staff or outsource to have these pieces made?

TB: I am a sole practitioner, so I design and make each piece myself. The fiction range is designed to be quick for me to manufacture & reproduce so I do outsource the production of some of the elements. My production range is made from laser cut acrylic and cast sterling silver. These processes save me some of the labour/manufacturing time and therefore enable the prices of the work to be more accessible. 


SR: Can you give us a little bit of insight to the day-to-day operation of your business? What does a typical day involve for you?

TB: It varies depending on what is most urgent but generally I try to get working on orders at the bench as soon as possible after dealing with any urgent correspondence & invoices. I also spend a bit of time working on quotes for precious rings. I head into the city at least twice a week to deliver work, pick up castings & jewellery supplies. I am also currently teaching a jewellery elective at RMIT in the interior design department workshop on friday mornings. If I'm up to date with things the I will be lucky enough and have time to work on new pieces. I recently purchased a facetron lapidary machine (with the help of the ArtStart grant from the Australia Council) which will enable me to cut & facet raw natural stones which I'm very excited about.
 

SR: Geometry features heavily in your work. What inspires you when designing your ranges?

TB: I am inspired almost anything geometric but the thing that I continue to find most fascinating are the natural forms of mineral specimens. The structures of these minerals are extraordinarily beautiful – they often grow in very pure geometric forms that look artificial or manufactured. Many of them evoke a form of miniature architecture, like tiny buildings or fictive cities. I have recently made a 18ct white gold solitaire wedding ring with 2.63 carat raw cognac diamond (octahedral shaped crystal) from Australia's Arglye mine(see pic). 

SR: What are your future plans for Fiction?

TB: I am really looking forward to having some time to create some new pieces for the range. There are a few things in the pipeline that need to be further resolved and refined.
 

SR: What Fiction piece/s are you wearing right now?
 

TB: The sci-fi chain necklace in lilac.

Thank you Lucy,

Tessa
x


Thanks Tessa! You can see Tessa's gorgeous Fiction range at Stockroom.

circle in the round

so, this little exercise in colour awareness (see green day) got me thinking about other things, like shapes and materials. maybe it was the influence of the supermoon (the full moon was 30,000km closer to earth today than its average distance) but circles came to the fore as the shape d'jour.