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.

Creations from clearing my cupboards

I have not posted for a while because I have been busy making and gaining more experience. As the Mission Bay Art and Craft Market it coming up towards the end of this month, I thought I would clear my cupboards of all the things I have bought and never got round to trying - hopefully I can then sell them off at the market and other events leading up to Christmas.

Here is a selection of things I have been doing:

Kiwi picture - polymer clay baked on canvas

Glow-in-the-dark bangles

Glow-in-the-dark brooch

Red Indian inspired mask

I have experimented with Sculpey 'Bake and Bend' clay, as I thought it would be good for making rubbery flowers and other decorations for flip flop clips. I know it is really a childrens clay but I was disappointed that it was so sticky as well as soft. Will not be using it again! Have not photographed these yet, as I am waiting for my supply of shoe clips to arrive, to complete them.

After reading posts on the Clay Polymer Yahoo Group about creating faux rocks and pebbles, I had a little dabble at that. Here is a piece of rolled clay with black pepper inclusions, a couple of pebbles (I think they look more like birds eggs) and a granite effect 'boulder'. I have used them in my 'artifical garden', which is featured in my next post.

Faux rocks and pebbles

I have also made eight more HANGAs that I started a long time ago and never finished. They were trial pieces, heart and diamond/square shaped. I will add photos of these to my HANGA website www.hanga.co.nz

While I may have got a little distracted, trying all these different things, I have really enjoyed myself playing and experimenting - but now I need to get focused on my next 'big idea'.

Heart theme for Valentine's Day

Here are a few things I have made recently on a heart theme, with Valentine's Day gifts in mind.

Coatesville before Christmas

This was my last Coatesville Market before Christmas. I now have a permanent indoor place in the hall, which is great, and using their table gives me plenty of room for display, as it is quite a bit longer than my own one.

As I took all my best HANGA designs to Craftworld, I felt the display I had here was a bit dull. I wonder if I would have sold more if I had had less of the plain coloured ones? I need to make some replacement stock for my last event before Christmas and must concentrate on making more with interesting surface designs.

The HANGA at Craftworld

This photo shows the mini display I have made for Craftworld. I took it there today and it looks good in the display cabinet. I will be interested to see how things go in the next few weeks before Christmas.

Browns Bay (November) Craft Show

This craftshow has been my best yet. The HANGAs are selling well and I will be extra busy next week making more to replenish my stock, as well as those that I am proposing to take to Craftworld

Investigating Craftworld

Today I went to Craftworld (www.craftworld.co.nz) at Westgate Shopping Centre, where I met with the Managing Director, Carl Dysthe. Carl approached me, after seeing my stall at Coatesville Market, with a proposition for getting some of my work in the store. He showed me the display cabinet he had mentioned, where I could set up a small display, as a trial, before committing to a rental booth.

I am keen to try this as a different selling venue for my HANGAs and feel the best time to do it is now, to catch the run up to Christmas. I made a commitment to go ahead with this and put a display in place before the end of the month - this means I am going to be very busy for the next couple of weeks!

The HANGA at Coatesville

The HANGA made its first appearance at Coatesville Market today, and again was very successful. My stock is now quite low so I will have to get busy making more for the forecoming events I have planned before Christmas.

Successful debut event

The debut of the HANGA brooch/pendant at Mission Bay, yesterday, was a very successful event. The weather was perfect for an outdoor event, attracting lots of people to visit and the whole place had a positive buzz. The only downside at the end of the day, was having the car towed home by the AA and wondering how much the repair bill would be - but at least it did not break down on the way!

The HANGA display attracted alot of interest and, in addition to sales, some very positive and useful feedback was gained. A number of people commented on the excellent display I had constructed, showing how the HANGA could be worn, and several others said I should register the name/idea to stop anyone else copying it. This is something that I had thought about previously and did quite a lot of research on. I had already completed an on-line application to register the name 'HANGA' as a Trade Mark but had not submitted it. For the last week or two I had been dithering as to whether or not I should but thought I would wait to see how the debut event went.

On the strength of the interest and sales from yesterday's event, I have now submitted the application to the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ), to register the name 'HANGA' as a Trade Mark.

HANGA table display

This is the display set-up I have made to go on the end of my table at tomorrows event.

Getting ready for Mission Bay

I have been working all weekend in preparation for the launch of the HANGA at the Mission Bay Art and Craft Market on Labour Day (Monday 25 October). Not only have I been busy making the HANGAs, I have also been working on a new set up for their display. All is going well but I am very pushed for time to get everything finished as I would like. I can see that I will be working every night this week, after I get home my from my day job - still, I only have two more weeks in this job, once I have left I will have much more time available.

Invitation - to the HANGA debut at Mission Bay



The HANGA makes a debut

I have issued the following PRESS RELEASE, to several newspapers:

Be the first to see the HANGA brooch/pendant - a stylish and practical fashion accessory, designed to hang your reading glasses, sun glasses or identity badges on. With the versatile two-way fixing pin you can chose to wear it as a brooch or a pendant, to best suit your outfit. This unique design by Claire Fairweather is hand-crafted from polymer clay, here in New Zealand – no two are identical.

Claire has been designing contemporary art-brooches as a hobby, since settling in Auckland from the UK, in March 2009. The idea for the HANGA arose from talking to visitors at craft markets and her desire to make her art and craftwork functional. She says: “As a wearer of reading glasses myself, this is a useful and decorative accessory that I genuinely use, and with its multi-functions the HANGA makes a novel gift, when you are stuck for ideas for something to buy”.

A limited number from the first HANGA collection will be making a debut at the Mission Bay Art and Craft Market on Labour Day, Monday 25 October from 10.00am – 4.00pm. You will find Claire’s stand on Row 1. Thereafter, she will be at Coatesville Market on the first Sunday of each month.

Early HANGAs - trial

Here are a couple of trial HANGAs, made just as brooches, as I am waiting for my 2 way brooch pin/bail findings to arrive. I am still working on perfecting the construction, particularly the way I finish the backs.

And another HANGA made from the black and white Klimt-style canes I made recently.

www.hanga.co.nz

Today I have bought the domain name www.hanga.co.nz, so I can set up a seperate website for promoting the HANGA.