Meet our group

It's been more than a month since we've set first foot in Europe(11th of March)!

Anyhow, say hello to:

Baklang!

Charlotte!

Judith! & Jenny!

Aaron!

Vanessa!

David!

Paras!

Angelique!

Madi B-A!

Jessica!

Laura!

Madi G!

Jasmine!

Chris!

And... who would this be?

Karin is so arty!!
& Bovey!

Photo Gallery - David Bielander

Enjoy the shoot peeps! It was our very first artist visit live!

It's us!
Karin!
And the artist/jeweller himself!

Dung Beetle Brooch, 2007
Steel Teaspoon
45 x 35 x 25mm

Raspberries Necklace, 2005
Scoubidou(plastic tube), Silver
440mm long

Moth, 2013
Disposable Lighter Hood, Gold
H 25mm x W 30mm

Gentian, 2011
Titanium, Gold
H 100mm x W 70mm

Umm... what was this one?

March 23, 2015 (Monday) – Stedelijk Museum

After visiting the studio of the very talented Ruudt Peters, we went to the Stedelijk Museum, where we saw more of his work. There was not much jewellery exhibited (more on objects made of glass, silver, wood, etc.) except for the selected pieces on the wall near the entrance, on few drawers, and at the Body Language? Exhibition. There were works by Karl Fritsch, Otto Kunzli, Helen Britton, Ted Noten, Warwick Freeman, and Sally Marsland.

Drawer of Selected Great Contemporary Jewellery at the Stedelijk Museum

But even if there were only few, they were rather great pieces. I really liked those that evoke drama with the use of black. Some notable examples are Ruudt Peters’ 1993 silver and pearl Strato necklace, another of his necklace, the 1993 Senouda made from goose egg, graphite, and patinated silver, Karl Fritsch’s silver and gold rings, and last but not the least, Philip Sajet’s 1987 gold tube, patinated gold sheet, and sapphires Deep Night necklace, whose combination of black and blue I really love.

Ruudt Peters Necklaces - Strato, 1993. Silver. pearls and Senouda, 1993. Goose egg, graphite, patinated silver

Karl Fritsch Rings

Philip Sajet, Deep Night, Necklace, 1987. Gold tube, patinated gold sheet, and sapphires

Other works that caught my attention were Robert Smit’s necklace from 1991 made of gold wire and painted gold and Marion Herbst’s necklace made in 1993 using painted silver wire, set glass, synthetic gemstones and silver.

Robert Smit, Necklace, 1991. Gold wire, painted gold

Marion Herbst, Necklace, 1993. Painted silver wire, set glass, synthetic gemstones, silver

March 22, 2015 (Sunday) – Moeders

Today was our day off but in the evening, we all met together for dinner at Moeders. ‘Moeders’ is the Dutch word for ‘mothers’, and interesting enough, the walls (and even the restroom doors and walls) of the famous restaurant were filled with pictures of mothers of all ages. – Some have shots with their babies or even adult children, others with husbands while others just by themselves; there were young mothers, there were older mothers, and there were mothers-to-be. How I wish I brought a picture of my mother to put up.  I will just post one up here once I have searched through old photographs.

Framed Photographs of Mothers at the Moeders Restaurant in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

My mother has been one of the most influential people in my life. The very first object that I designed and made was inspired by her. It was an egg cup titled well… The Mother, which was cold-formed using tombak, brass, nickel silver, and polypropylene. It resembles a flower, symbolizing a mother’s warmth and love. It is movable, being connected by a cutler’s rivet. Some of the techniques used were sawing, filling, drilling, rolling, and emerying.

Vanessa Calingo, The Mother, Egg Cup, 2009. Tombak, brass, nickel silver, polypropylene

March 21, 2015 (Saturday) – Amsterdam

Welcome to Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Honestly speaking, I preferred Munich than Amsterdam, and I kind of miss the little stacked houses in Idar-Oberstein. Maybe it’s the location of the hostel or maybe I am just tired. It has been almost 2 weeks since we left Australia, and I am feeling a bit homesick.

We have scheduled studio visits to Ruudt Peters on Monday, Lucy Sarneel on Wednesday, and Gitte Nygaard and Gesine Hackenberg on Thursday. We are also visiting few museums such as the Stedelijk Museum and the CODA Museum, and galleries such as the Galerie Marzee, Galerie Ra, and Galerie Rob Koudijs. I guess all I need is lots of rest to prepare myself for a busy week ahead.

Guten Biken

Its easy to dismiss things that either don't interest you. Its equally easy to ignore the depth of pure science, technical development, engineering knowledge and capital investment that goes into even the most banal and everyday objects. There are people who are incredibly skilled in the most obscure of industries and yet they are unrepresented. They work silently and quietly, obsessively even. Seeing the studio at Guten Biken was really exciting. Impressive enough was the huge range of tools, machinery and kit accumulated to be able to manufacture bicycle components, but more engaging in a way was the passion the team had for the craft and for learning. I with a deep respect for the archival in the bike world and for excellence in engineering the team reassemble from components to make customs bikes. They source older models from online sources and disassemble for parts. While the complexity was overwhelming at first, I definitely wanted to learn about how they work and some day be able to work with this level of machining. Long apprenticeships are necessary in Germany to be qualified to work with these skill sets so for a sculptor or a jeweller, collaboration is essential and education on the job I figure is the way to learn about what is possible. This has made me think seriously about my upcoming study breaks and what I might be able to do in term of work experience within specific trades. This was so worthwhile...The coffee was great too!

Ruudt Peters: trying to understand what he hates

Ruudt: trying to understand what he hates

This visit was so interesting.

Ruudt says in the visit that ‘the most exciting time of creating is the time of not knowing’.  This piece of knowledge is a valuable tool to hold onto when an artistic block happens or when the opposite occurs and there is an overload of stimulation and the end product still seems quite a way away. I need to remember these words because I tend to stress in the not knowing phase. But if I can adopt that positive thought I may really allow myself the luxury of play.

Another thing that struck me about Ruudt was his dislike of red, textiles and holes. He often explored the things he hated. It fascinates me that he went to china to learn more about red to see if he could like it. And although he did all that, he still didn’t end up changing his mind. I really wanted to know more. But I wasn’t brave enough or sure enough what question to ask.

His work has a lot of meaning and background, he mentioned that he ‘likes to consume lots of information/research/books and shit them out’.

He discussed jewellery as a communication and interaction tool. He described one of his exhibitions where male models stepped out wearing the pieces and although they were instructed not to talk with the viewers, it was inevitable. The models the jewellery and the viewers began to interact.

I am drawn to interesting ways to display jewellery I seem to circle back to it and am magnetised to the interesting choices artists make when exhibiting their work.

Jewellery is alluring, contemporary jewellery especially can have a siren effect because of its appearance and it creates a desire to touch it.

Ps, I loved the feet. but can’t say more.