Annual sale at local tea shop Infinithé

You are all invited to my annual jewelry sale at the tea shop Infinithé in Nouméa.

Come and see my new work and many of the popular pieces from my collection.
And while you are there, taste some new tea and nibble on some yummy cakes and cookies!
The sale starts on Thursday the 1st of December and goes through Saturday the 3rd. See you there.

FLOWERS AND RINGS

• If I wait for the day when I'll have a perfect picture of a complete collection, well there might not be a day like that. So here are some photos of some of my most popular work of the last two years. I don't have an on-line shop because shipping from New Calédonia is long and exspensive. But you can always leave a comment if your interested.
  

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Douce Inspirations Softie Mania!

Soft Inspirations

That was the name of an exhibition/sale of softies put togethet by myself and three freinds. The idea came about because we were getting together once a month for a crafternoon. That was fun, even though it was hard for everyone to make it. The idea was that each month or so, someone different would introduce/demonstrate a new technique or craft. We did some silk screening, some silver pendants with mini collages covered with resin, then we got stuck on softies. We were just going crazy making all sorts of softies. So we said, why not really make a bunch and have a sale. So we did. We decided to motivate the public by giving a softies away to a women's refuge here in Noumea. This refuge, the A.E.S. Bethanie, works with women who have very young children.
The sale went well.The kids at the refuge were thrilled. A lot of work in the organizing and communication. It was fun, but I think in the future I'll stick to selling jewelry and just make softies for my sweeties and freinds. The softies in the first picture are my creations.

Local News

The local New Caledonian TV channel has a very nice weekly cultural program called GWEBA, that highlights local artists of every kind, and local cultural happenings. They decided to do a bit on me. It's short and sweet and even adds in my recent creative adventure into the world of softies. If you can't speak French, just check out the images.

http://nouvellecaledonie.la1ere.fr/programmes/gweba/kristine-bourcier_55943.html

Ko Néva "L'art est un sport de combat" translated= Art is a Combat Sport

Ko Néva is an annual collective exhibition of contemporary art in New Caledonia. Each year the theme is different. The chosen work is exhibited in the Tjibaou Cultural Arts Center. This year Nouméa is hosting the Pacific Games, a mini Olympics for the Oceanic region. Much public money is going towards building infastructures for the huge event that will go on for two weeks.
The title art is a combat sport gives the idea od how difficult life in Noumea is for an Artist. We are really on our own. Many people believe that too much money is spent on sport, and not near enough on culture and the arts. So several group art exhibitions this year are focusing on this theme. I took a different point of view. In a develpoing community, any public spending is welcome. Sport does involve a bigger public and does teach self respect and team work. I'm trying to be brief. I'm as much for sport as I am for culture. And I seriosly think that there is not enough of either in our community. So iIopted to display some of my thoughts with thrown away jewelry bits converted into a sport "icon". Today on an international level, sport is very removed from the personal level and taken to huge telecommmunicational heights. The sportsmen are stars and their lifestyles to be followed like the rich and famous. We don't talk about their training regimes but about their favorite brand of exspensive sunglasses. My Icon is a kitchy reflexion on that. And I'm extremly happy to have my work hanging in the Tjibaou Center!

Jewelry Recycling Workshop

My small but successful recycling jewelry project was great fun. Working only with non jewelers or metalsmiths, I mostly tried to show how to first completely deconstruct a piece of jewelry, and how to make the most of its parts. The students learned some simple wire wrapping techniques and looked at how things are put together. The Radical Jewelry Makeover team has really been an inspiration to me. I showed the RJM DVD to the students and really tried pushing the idea of using what was at hand and NOT going out to the craft store and buying new STUFF!