egotism or narcissism. your pick.

Unpacking JEMposium.

worth while explorations.

hot tips: go.

- FormShapeMake - This blog is going to be very very useful. Bookmark it now, and visit it often! Do as I say!

- Handshake - Spend some time here, these kids are living the dream.

And because these lovely jewellers were some of the first to answer my call out, I'm going to pimp them out right away!

- Selina Woulfe (NZ)

- Erin Keys (AUS)

- Debbie Adamson (NZ)

- Kristin D'Agostino (NZ)

- Thea Fortmann (AUS) - A hot tip from Mr Parable

So, just in case you're behind the eightball, I'm jeweller hunting, send me an e-mail with your website/blog address and your contact details, I like to be kept informed, and i've always got a need to know some fantastic jewellers (you know curating shows etc). Don't be shy drop me a line - zowe@hotmail.com - feel free to spread the word. The more the merrier!

- Z

ps. yes jemposium is coming. soon. just one more beer ok.

some things i've been-a-making.

Jemposium debrief is coming soon, but in the mean time, have a look-see

at some hilarious jewellery i've been pumping out for my mateys.

JD needed some BLING

NINA needed some DOLPHINS and GLITTER

LYNSAY needed to FUCK THIS and FUCK THAT.

that's all.

ZB.

Jemposium.

Stay tuned. My run down of Jemposium is on it's way.

While you wait - Conventions (this is a pretty good sum up of how it feels)

THANKS NZ.

- Z x

Top Marks Two Thousand & Twelve.

Hello and Happy New Year!

Two Thousand and Twelve has arrived and it has brought all sorts of exciting changes with it. After two of the most amazing years at gaffa, the time has come for me to grip life by the shoulders and give it a damn good shake. You should know that it’s not you, it’s me, and I can’t thank you enough for all the support you have shown me over the last few years in my roll as Retail Manager at gaffa. I really have had the most incredible journey and met and worked with some of the most wonderful and inspiring people. But it is time for my adventures to take a different road, time for some silly escapades and time to conduct some ‘Zoe Brand’ focus groups. This is not "goodbye", rather a chance to get to know me in a different capacity outside of the loving gaffa community.

My last day at gaffa will be Friday the 27th of January, please join us for opening night and farewell drinks from 6-8pm at gaffa (281 Clarence St, Sydney, NSW)

What’s next for me?I will be working a few days a week at the amazing Studio 20.17 (http://studio2017.com.au/), as well one day a week volunteering at the Powerhouse Museum, I will also be pimping out (aka social coordinating) the JMGA (Jewellers and Metalsmiths Association of Australia - NSW). I'm excited about making some jewellery, writing some words and traveling to far away places. If you want to talk over beers about possible collaborations, projects, exhibitions, or the state of the Australian cricket team please feel free to drop me a line. I would love to hear from you.

Thanks again for all your support, it is going to be incredibly sad to leave my home at gaffa, but I am also excited for my next grand adventure.

All the best,

Zoe Brand

This and That.

Zoe Brand - Neckpiece 2011

Materials: leftover exhibition flyers 'agda poster annual 2011', faux wood laminate and sterling silver.

THE CURIO @ Gaffa

Just a selection from 'The Curio - A Collectors Cabinet' hall of fame at Sterling by gaffa

Melinda Young

Kyoko Hashimoto

Karla Way

Jasmine Matus

Golden Ink

Emily Snadden

Vanessa Samuels

Tessa Blazey

Tamara Dixon

Tae Schmeisser

for the best.

NEWS about JMGA Conference - Thanks to Contemporary Jewellers of Adelaide for posting the below on the old FaceBook

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After much consideration we have decided to postpone the 2012 JMGA Conference.

We had previously indicated we would hold it in 2012, as is expected of a biennial conference. This is not a decision we have taken lightly. We apologise for being a little slow in responding to requests for information, but we were hesitant to publish information until we had made some crucial decisions.

Most of you will be aware that Queensland has had its fair share of natural disasters this year. In Brisbane while most things are up and running, there is still a long way to go in terms of returning to 'normal'. The effect of such an event cannot be underestimated; many people are still without homes, and many businesses are yet to reopen. To put it simply, we’ve had to direct our attention and energies elsewhere in the short term. We are confident that scheduling for 2013 will allow us the time and space we need to organise an exciting and dynamic conference. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

What we can tell you now is that we are extremely pleased to have confirmed the title and theme, the venue and the dates.

Participation and Exchange valuing the participative community
JMGA CONFERENCE 2013
12-14 JULY 2013
State Library of Queensland.

We are pleased to confirm the State Library of Queensland as a sponsor and will be using their fabulous venue for the conference.

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oh so fresh.

ok so my photoshopping skills aren't too crash hot, but yeah you get the idea.

I must admit it feels good to be making something new and FRESH!

-----

Some context perhaps?

So, my Grandmother was a hoarder. I don't think she ever got rid of anything. A little while ago we had to sort through her house, her life, and remove everything.

This was not a cathartic experience.

It was intense and emotional and still gives me panic attacks thinking about all the stuff we had to throw out, and not to mention all the stuff we kept. My mother and I have boxes of jewellery, fabric, buttons, paper punches, paper bags, books, fake leaves, single earrings, as well as furniture, crockery and heavy memories.

This is how I'm going to work through these feelings:

For my 21st Birthday my Grandmother gave me 21 gifts of jewellery.

For her 82nd birthday I would like to gift back 82 pieces of jewellery.

Constructed from all the items I have salvaged from her home,

or from items she had gifted me to me over the years.

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The above pieces have been made from paper bags.

Some bags still have their receipts in them, others I can only guess age/origin.

These bags are in pristine condition, having been piled up and stored for over 25 years.

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I hope this will be a cathartic experience.

making making.

If you click on the images they get BIGGER and you can see WAY more detail.

unnatural and strange ACTS.

So I got myself some new jewels! These beauties are by the lovely Melinda Young.

Lauren Simeoni and Melinda Young are the powerhouse behind unnatural, naturally. Recently they asked me to write a catalogue essay for their branch-off show unnatural Acts that opens in at Velvet Da Vinci (that's in the USA) tomorrow night! Woop Woop!!

Oh boy do I wish I was there!!!

Anyways my new jewels are payment for the essay - I love swapsies!

YAY.

oh and something strange has been happening. I've actually been making some jewellery. I know, crazy huh!! I'll post some images soon, I think you might like what i've been making. I'll give you a hint: It is CRICKET related. Surprised?? Didn't think so.

Also I'm going on a holiday! I'll be spending a week in Brisbane and a week in Melbourne. Woop Woop and I'm very excitedly doing the Benjamin Lignel workshop at RMIT. jealous?

If you want to hang out in either Brisbane (20th - 28th August) or Melbourne (29th August - 3rd September) let me know. I'm always up for a beer.

Cheers - Zoe

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UPDATE - Mel and Lauren have just put the catalogue essay up on their blog, so if you want to have a read - click here.

Welcome Home.

After months of traveling about the land and NZ, the piece I bought from THE BOX PROJECT is finally around my neck. YAY for new Jewellery.

Piece by the fabulous Melissa Cameron. YAY.

Cheers - Z

jealous much? part 2.

oh yes.

jealous much?

Hand Shake Jewellery

a quiet afternoon.

So I guess you're all still waiting on some awesome jewellery related posts that will knock your socks off and get you super excited about life, the universe and everything in it. Well, sorry. You're probably not going to find that here today. But if you are having a quiet afternoon and need some pick-me-up content, I suggest you follow your nose, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

- Bangable Dudes in History

- A Conversation on Cool

- Ham and Heroin

- The Urban Optimist

- The Same Five Questions

- The Burning House

Enjoy.

- Z

Like a Japanese cowboy!

So it's a lovely autumn evening, I'm hanging out with my mateys Mr V and Miss Baker, curry, beer and love is just rolling on through the house. I have already hijacked Miss Bakers blog, and hence she has insisted that I should post here, because clearly I have been a bit slack of late. So here is a very non jewellery related post (execpt the fact that I'm hanging out with jewellers). Conversation has digressed, dear, I wish you were all here hanging out and talking troll dolls and shrinking Styrofoam with us.

next time.

- Z

*note to self.

*REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE A BLOG!

you should probably update it more often.

yes. mum.

I wonder if anyone comes by here any more*.

Good people doing good things.

link

Guest Post (Raewyn Walsh)

Making

Still exploring my interest in the vessel as jewellery. Here I have raised a vessel from thin gauge copper and where it has split I have mended it with gold. Decided to use only the rim of the vessel because its function is not intended to hold liquid. Handles become device for cord to hang from. This is play time for me but I always find the marquette making part of the process quite interesting so thought I would share.

Wearing

A 10 minute necklace by Sharon Fitness that is quite hard to photograph. I am part of a jewellery group that gets together to talk jewel, organise shows, and engage in guerilla jewellery activity around town. (See more here.) To celebrate each others birthdays we drink lots of wine, lashings of tea, and and give jewellery that only takes 10 minutes to make and that uses the scraps from our workbenches. It was my birthday recently and this is what I got. Thanks Fitness!

Viewing (Reading)

The essays from European craft initiative, Think Tank. Every time they get together they have an essay and exhibition prepared around a theme. 'Speed' is the most interesting one. Masterworks Gallery here in Auckland has all the books for sale and recently hosted a floor talk by NZ potter/curator/writer Moyra Elliot who sat in on this years meeting. Great to read some critical craft discourse but it is Euro-centric and really highlights the need for more contemporary craft writers round these parts...

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Now, if you didn't already know, Raewyn is one part of the Amazing NZ Duo (Kristin D'Agostino being the other) who put together Touch Pause Engage . She is also one of my favorite people to talk jewellery with (yes we are self-professed geeks), sometimes I think I would want to climb inside her head, set up a hammock, grab a beer and just absorb her brain waves all day.

If you know what's good for you, you will head along to her website here.

Thanks a bunch Raewyn!!!

Cheers - Z

all about me. thanks.

Thanks to Chloe Cooper (of Toy Balloon fame) from the Lighthouse Blog, that features interviews with some cool kids (like me. ha.) and general inspiration. Follow the link to read my interview. But you should really check out the other interviews on the blog as well (here & here). Nice one miss Cooper. Thanks a bunch.

I got TAK. Hurrah.

Check it out. Look what arrived this morning. whooooo ha ha. excited? I think so. If you have no idea what i'm on about go here and here and that should give you a bit of an idea of what the fuss is all about. Isn't everything so much better when you have a new piece of jewellery?

I believe in low lights and trick mirrors.

In the last few weeks I have met a whole bunch of exciting, inspiring, interesting and fresh new people. I've hung out with some of my favorite people on the planet in Auckland, I've had some of the best conversations I've had in years, and I'm starting to feel a little less unsettled. One might even say I feel a bit more balanced (how long this will last is anybodies guess).

On two separate occasions, in two different countries, and with two people I had never met, the topic of my 365 Brooch Project came up. I tend to feel a bit embarrassed about this subject, mostly because I never finished it and because after about 100 brooches, it was beginning to get on my nerves. Of course I had these romantic notions of the end result up on a gallery wall, a catalogue and world wide fame and fortune, but the real fact of the matter was, it started out purely as an exercise in making, making anything, with anything, and not really giving a damn about what it was that I was making.

I still get the guilts that I never finished it, and perhaps even more now after these two recent conversations, that took place in two different countries, and with two people I had never met.

Conversation ONE took place in the car on the way to the Airport in Auckland, NZ (Jasmine and I had just spent a few days hanging out with the Jewellery Geeks and attending the opening of Touch Pause Engage). The topic of my 365 Project was broached (sorry), I squirmed in back seat of the car. The comments were positive, they loved the way I used different materials, and the excitement of coming back to the blog every so often and seeing a whole bunch of new and interesting brooches to peruse through, that they were inspired by the project.

Conversation TWO took place in my office at work, with an artist who had just opened her show in gallery 2 (go and see it, it's freaking GREAT). She mentioned that she always enjoyed looking at project (cue guilty squirming) and seeing the what materials I would use and even suggested that once she was back in Japan, that she would send me some crazy materials to see what I would do with them.

All these comments have had me thinking. Should I start again? I had always thought this project was just for me, but it appears that it connected with more people than I could have ever imagined.

While I ponder these thoughts, below are some images of work that I made last year, some of it just for kicks and others for shows.

Let me know what you think.

Cheers - Z