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!

Tea Shop Sale

My next big sale is the first few days of December. A friend of mine has a great tea shop and we have an open house every year with my jewelery and her tea and cakes. Since she is also American and French, we have a lot of fun speaking Franglais, or Frenglish with our bilingual friends and customers who come to the show. These are silver pendants that will go on chains or neck wires,the stones are jelley opals from Madagascar, and a nice green chrysophrase.

METAL INCLINATIONS 2

Now this is really big news!
My Surplus Corn Lei was selected to be part of the international online exhibition
"METAL INCLINATIONS 2"
organized by The Society for Midwest Metalsmiths
check out the exhibition to see some really amazing contemporary jewelery!
http://smm-metalinclinations.org

More travels in the US, Ohio

More travels in the US

After California, we traveled to the midwest, and specifically to Columbus, Ohio, to visit my cousins, who live down the street from the Ohio Craft Museum. Lucky me! The museum was hosting -
"Dichotomies in Objects" Contemporary South African Jewelery from the Stellenbach Area. The work was all of great quality with much diversity in material, technique and concept. My favorite work was by Idane Burger and Ackeem Ngwenya. They both spoke to me of contemporary Africa, but not in too direct a manner. My photos are bad, but if you can always look back to http://www.velvetdavinci.com if you would like to see the entire show.

Gussie van der Merwe Jacomien Labuschagne
Nanette Nel

Travels in the US

Every 2 years or so we take a long trip to the USA to visit family and freinds and of course jewelery. This year we were on the west coast and I got to visit the VELVET DAVINCI gallery in San Francisco. How exciting. I took my daughter and we stayed for over an hour. They were in between exhibitions, but the permanent collections and showcases were full of amazingly creative, inovative, well crafted jewelery and sculpture. Here are a few photos of work I especially liked, (I should have taken about another million photos) I didn't buy any work, but I did buy the catalogue from "The Pocket Guide to New Zealand Jewelery"

Sebastian Buescher
Joanna Golberg

Anthony Tammaro