The Great Art Sale 2014 at the Lake House

Tonight was the opening night of this annual event. I have three pieces in the sale, which runs until the end of August: Rainbow Cauldron, Coffee Time and "Life is like sailing" (clock).

Rainbow Cauldron

I have just about finished this sculpture, which contains over 900 hand rolled balls of polymer clay in the colours of the rainbow, hence the name 'Rainbow Cauldron'. It will be one of my three entries in the Great Art Sale at the Lake house Arts Centre in Takapuna. The sale runs from 31 July to 31 August 2014. Here are some photos taken from different angles:

Members and Students Exhibition at MAC

This evening was the opening night of this exhibition. Members were allowed to submit two pieces, so I entered my ‘Out of this World’ sculpture and a newly created wall-hanging titled ‘Colour Play’, pictured below, the later had been sold before I left.

 

Colour Play

 

I have also made some PINZ, in a circular design with the same colours, to coordinate with ‘Colour Play’. I like the idea of having small affordable pieces, reflecting the main exhibition piece, for sale in the gallery store. This will be my first public showing of PINZ by Claire, so I will be interested to see what reaction I get.

 

PINZ by Claire

 

PINZ designs ordered

Today I have ordered some small rubber stamps to be made, of my kiwiana designs that were first created for the Fashions Clips I was making previously. I will use these for creating the Souvenir PINZ. While I am waiting for these rubber stamps to arrive, I am busy making some Skinner Blend PINZ with circular designs to match the sculptural wall-hanging, Colour Play, I have just completed for the Members and Students Exhibition at Mairangi Art Centre. The hand in date is this Friday (18 July), although the exhibition does not run until 23 July – 16 August 2014. I hope the gallery will add some of these PINZ to my pendants and fashion clips that are in their sale cabinets during this exhibition.

Wedding PINZ for Micaela & Adam

We have been invited to a Wedding Ceremony this afternoon so this is the perfect opportunity for me to try out my idea for making a pair of personalised Wedding PINZ for the bride and groom.

 

I designed an entwined monogram of their first initials and using the toner copy method, transferred this on to pearl polymer clay, which I then set into bezels with a clutch pin attached to the back. After baking, I used magic Gloss resin to seal and create a domed surface finish, which nicely brought out the mica flakes in the pearl clay. I made one with a gold-plated bezel and pin and one with a silver-plated bezel and pin; this was to give choice and to distinguish between his and hers.

 

PINZ by Claire

For a while I have been thinking about reworking the Art-Brooches I made a few years ago but presenting them in a more modern way and calling them PINZ. They would be small wearable pieces of sculptural art, which I enjoy making, and it is a way to share my creativity with a wider audience, as people more readily buy jewellery and fashion accessories than a larger work of art or sculpture. I could almost create mini versions, to sell in gallery stores, where I have larger sculptural artworks on exhibition.

 

I think of ‘pin’ as the American term for ‘brooch’, however, the English Oxford Dictionary defines pin (in this sense) as a ‘small brooch or badge’, giving reference to a lapel pin. A pin sounds less old fashioned than a brooch and also means I can spell it with the ‘NZ’ ending, reinforcing that they are made in New Zealand. Back in November last year, when the idea came to me for making souvenir pins for tourists that were actually made in New Zealand, I was thinking of calling them ‘NZ-PINZ’ but have recently settled on ‘PINZ by Claire’. It is short and descriptive, encompassing the important facts: New Zealand made pins by me (not mass produced in a factory in China).

 

A clutch pin is easier for the wearer to fasten on clothing and only pierces with one hole, compared to the traditional bar pin brooch finding. Using the clutch pin fastening also means I can make them quite small and, due to the light weight of polymer clay, it is also possible to create pins of a larger size than the norm for a lapel type pin. This gives flexibility for creating various pin designs, especially as the design does not have to fit round hiding the bar pin finding.

 

I am aware that many people still prefer to wear a pendant rather than a pin/brooch, so I will include a free ‘PINZ Converter’ with each large pin sold. The pin can be fastened to the converter, which has a tube at the top to thread a chain or cord through, enabling it to be worn as a pendant. For the smaller pins, I am thinking of a surround mounting, in different colours, onto which the pin can be fastened and a chain or cord threaded through - these will be offered as an optional extra.

 

I am currently working on various designs and hope to have my first PINZ available for public reaction at the Labour Day Art & Craft Market at Mission Bay on Monday 27 October 2014. I will then seek suitable places through which to sell my PINZ, as well as trying online through www.felt.co.nz and possibly www.etsy.com.