Shinzo Necklace Felt and Leather by Mainichi (Sold)

I've admired Dearne Herrenberg's jewellery designs for a long time - she has a real flair for mixing colours & textures to create truly individual pieces. Dearne has recently launched her Etsy store at www.mainichi.etsy.com and I thought it was time to delve a little deeper...

I 1. I know you began your career as an interior designer. What initially drew you to interior design?

M Design was a means to providing me with a much needed creative outlet that would also give me a "qualification" at the end of years of study. It was just a matter of choosing what design path to take that would eventually also allow me to work for myself in a home based business.

Digit Recycled Leather Necklace by Mainichi (US $39.00)

I 2. When did you start creating your jewellery pieces? Was it a hobby for long before you launched Mainichi Design?

M I used to make jewellery as a teenager from all sorts of scraps that my Dad had lying around in his workshop – coloured electrical cable was a favourite, as well as the eighties staples like paperclips and zippers. I also used to make earrings by cutting up the plastic from Coca Cola bottles when they had the black bases! Mainichi was launched in 2004 after I purchased some interesting materials to use in my creative pursuits during a holiday in Japan.

Konomi Necklace by Mainichi (Sold)

I 3. What elements of your interior design experience to you see coming to the fore in your jewellery designs? One aspect of your work that I personally LOVE is the use of colour – I imagine you've always had a way with colour?...

M The colours used in my jewellery pieces are often inspired by my interiors work and work of other interior designers and architects. I've always been intuitive with colour and loved to play around with it in my creative work.

Mushi Brooches by Mainichi (US $24.00 each)

I 4. What are some of your inspirations?

M Architecture, Fashion, Nature, Travel, Pop Culture and life in general.

Shinzo Felt Necklace Extra Long by Mainichi (US $64.00)

I 5. What motivated you to start transforming everyday materials into wearable art?

MI was interested in exploring the idea of turning something discarded or not considered particularly "precious" into something appealing and special like a piece of jewellery to adorn the body.

Recycled Leather Earrings by Mainichi (US $18.00)

I 6. How do you find & choose your materials?

M I am always on the look out for new and interesting materials. In Brisbane I like to visit Reverse Garbage and fossick around. Op shops and markets are also a good source of materials. Or just art and craft outlets…anything that looks appealing I will grab even though I may not have an immediate use for it. and I am a hoarder.

Kawa leather and bead cluster necklace by Mainichi (US $39.00)

I 7. Your designs have such a tactile quality – how do you go about layering the different textures?

M Like the use of colour for me design is an intuitive thing and the layering is usually an organic process that begins with one idea and develops from there.

Kawa leather and bead cluster necklace by Mainichi (US $39.00)

I 8. Who do you imagine you’re designing pieces for?

M I don't have an "end user" in mind. I would like to think the kind of people who are attracted to my work are not able to be "labeled" or "categorized" into a particular type.

Mushi Leather Keyrings by Mainichi (US $7.50)

I 9. You also organise what sounds like a wonderful meeting place for like-minded women – The Creative Womens' Circle. How did this come about?

M The Creative Women's Circle has unfortunately just come to a close. It has been 4 years of gathering together like minded women involved in creative industries and small business and I think it has finally run its course. It has been a fun thing to do and it’s been great to meet lots of talented and creative women.

Shinzo Felt Necklace Small by Mainichi (US $34.00)

I 10. With a young family in tow, you must be busy. How do you manage your time & what do you have planned for the future?

M I'm not the best at time management and now I have even less of it with a toddler to take care of! I make a lot of lists and try to cross things off them!

In the near future I'm planning to focus more time on my jewellery making and building my Etsy online shop.

Further down the track I would like to spend some time exploring more sculptural pieces of jewellery and work towards an exhibition at some stage, but that will be some time away yet.

I Thanks so much, Dearne, for giving us an insight into your label & process. All the best for your fast growing Etsy store, and I'll be looking forward to seeing some of your future sculptural jewellery! More of Dearne's work can be found on her web site www.mainichidesign.com and her blog www.mainichidesign.blogspot.com.

A week or so ago I retrieved from my post office box an intriguing parcel from Object Gallery. I was delighted to find inside brochures & an invitation to hear the artist Marian Hosking In Conversation with Kevin Murray. This artist's talk and exhibition is part of a series Craft Australia is presenting on "Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft".

So on Saturday 10.11.2007, I arrived at 11am (well, a little late if truth be told) equipped with my moleskine notebook, and hoping to discover some of the inspirations, motivations & processes involved in creating the incredibly beautiful jewellery pieces included in this exhibition.

Portrait of Marian Hosking
Image from Craft Australia

"With a career spanning almost 40 years, Hosking is one of Australia's foremost contemporary jewellers and silversmiths... Her work is concerned with rich surface patterns and textures. This reflects her particular concerns for the natural environment, allowing her to echo the forms and motifs found in nature." -Object Gallery

Throughout her career, Marian has always worked with silver. She loves the whiteness & lustre as well as the colours & blacks that occur during the making. Rather than the shiny surface most of us associate with silver, her works have a soft, tactile surface - a quality which seems to give the delicate layers & shapes their own voice. She feels that through working with the one material over period of time, she has developed her own language around silver - a metal which she feels is her own.

Marian Hosking, Round Leaf Gum Brooch, 2006. 925 silver
Dimensions: 10.5 x 8cm
Photographer: Julian Hutchens
Image from Craft Australia

Early in her career, Marian worked in both Scandinavia and Germany. The Scandinavian aesthetic was primarily concerned with form & function. However, in Germany, jewellery was considered a more conceptual practice (more fine art than design). Her time spent in Germany was an enormous influence on her career.

Marian's return to Australia in the early 1970s reconfirmed her love of nature. She appreciates the structure & architecture in nature and likens the layering & description of motif to drawing. I was interested to learn that Marian relates her approach to the two-dimensional fields of photography & drawing. She doesn't construct forms, but "uses existing forms and works in a much more graphic & two-dimensional way". -Marian Hosking   Once created of course, jewellery has the additional aspect of movement on the body itself.

Marian Hosking, Two India vessels, 2007. 925 silver
Dimensions: Left: Round vessel, 2007 - 15 x 9cm;
Right: Oval vessel - 130 x 10.5 x 6.5cm
Photographer: Julian Hutchens
Image from Craft Australia

"As a practitioner and educator, Hosking's influence has been far-reaching." -Object Gallery   She co-founded Workshop 3000 in 1981 with the intention of creating a shared studio space to maintain the comraderie of the university outside of the university walls. At this time, she was making jewellery that challenged the idea of precious and many audience members were surpised to learn that she had made protest badges from silver. Since then, Marian has exhibited her work in many group and solo exhibitions, both in Australia and internationally. She has taught at both RMIT and Monash Univeristy, where she is currently the Head of Metal & Jewellery. Marian considers teaching a very important part of what she does & finds education a little addictive. She is currently undertaking a PhD.

Marian Hosking, Gum Twig Chain, 2007. 925 silver
Dimensions: 68 x 3.5 x 2.5cm (d) approximate
Photographer: Julian Hutchens
Image from Craft Australia

Marian is represented in Australia by Gallery Funaki, which was established by internationally recognised maker, Mari Funaki in 1995. Marian considers that "Gallery Funaki has transformed contemporary jewellery in Australia". It is a venue with an international audience, exhibiting works by international artists. It has shifted the way in which jewellery is seen in this country and people are now much more discerning.

The focus piece of this particular exhibition is the "Tall Tree Project", an epic & sculptural work designed with the unique Object Gallery space in mind. The work commemorates a giant tree recently discovered in the Gippsland area.
In an interesting inversion of the jewellery making process, the tree is not being used as a motif. Instead, the jewellery has been made to fit the tree, in a scale we don't normally associate with this art form. While this work draws our attention to what we've already lost in our natural environment, it demonstrates a sensibility to nature rather than a grand statement - an approach displayed throughout the work on exhibition.

Marian has recently been working with Trinh Vu at Monash University. Trinh's current multimedia projects focus on the use of 3D computer graphic technology to experiment with different methods of generating synthetic images. Marian has begun to experiment with using computer based techniques to create her designs. However, one significant obstacle at this point is that silver can't be laser cut. When asked why she doesn't use aluminium, Marion expresses her environmental concerns regarding the extraction of bauxite. She has been tempted by pure tin & would pursue this idea if she could source it in sheet form. However, tin is such a soft metal that it tends to disappear into the rollers if rolled too thin. It will certainly be interesting to see the work Marian produces next, and if the influence of new media is evident in the final jewellery & object pieces.

If you live in Sydney, make sure you visit this wonderful exhibition! The work is intricate and beautiful & admission is free. I thoroughly enjoyed the artist's talk and was so inspired by the work on display. "Marian Hosking: Jewellery" is on at Object Gallery from 10.11.2007 to 13.1.2008. (St Margarets 417 Bourke Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010. T. 02 9361 4511) The accompanying 120 page monograph is available from the gallery for AUD $49.95. If you won't be able to make it, but would like one of the flyers for your sketchbook/journal, email me your address & I'll send you one by mail. If you do see the exhibition, leave me a comment with your thoughts! I'd love to hear your responses. You can find Marian Hosking's web site at www.marianhosking.com.au

For those of you who are yet to discover this wonderful site, Moose: Art for Living is all about creative people. It showcases work by incredible artists from all over Australia and each item sold comes with a small Artist Profile so you can become an expert on the pieces you purchase! The web site itself is a breath of fresh air - the minimalist design allows you to browse the artworks almost in a gallery style fashion. The online store currently stocks art, jewellery, fibre and ceramic works.

Recent additions to the artist lineup include jewellery designers Lola&Bailey (pictured above), and Bowkett Brooches (pictured below). The "Dali Pendant" (above left) and "Broadhurst Pendant" (above right) feature in Lola&Bailey's first collection of dynamic jewellery pieces. Their pendants are precision cut in perspex, and finished with Sterling Silver rivets, silk cord and nifty magnetic clasps. Each pendant displays multiple personalities as the wearer can choose to tie the cord along any part of the piece, transforming it into something completely different. (Pendants are AUD $65 each.)

Sandra Bowkett's range of ceramic jewellery features delicate, detailed images hand-applied to brooches made from Southern Ice Porcelain. She is passionate about creating objects that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also contribute to the user's sense of enjoyment, and Bowkett Brooches do just that. "Butterflies Brooch 1" (AUD $28) and "Red Rose & Cobalt Brooch 1" (AUD $32) are uniquely styled and would make very personal gifts.