coconut lu

Online Christmas shopping! woohoo

2011-11-16T11:44:00.003+11:00

Finally!

I have an online shop :)

Ok.... so there is only three things in there so far... It is actually very hard to take a good photo of jewellery, so please be patient with me while i become a photographer!

New places and spaces

2011-11-07T15:29:00.004+11:00

Well, after moving out of our Flinders Lane studio and setting up at home- inside, in our 'shared' study.... It looked like a jewellery bomb had gone off.... It was getting harder and harder to stay organised and figure out where to put my 'stuff'. Arrrrghhh!! So my beloved one spent several weekends ripping apart our shed, installing glass sliding doors, insulating against the extremes, expanding foam filling craters so the boogy man spiders don't get me, plastering, and it is amazing!

The painting has been left to me, so it may take a few years to get there...

The above photos are of my 'inside' space/mess and probably the reason why he is keen to kick me to the outside!

Room with a view.

And a new party bench sourced from ebay...

It is already filling up with crap, and i haven't even really moved anything out there yet!

The dog is happy to have an outside friend :)

Bling Nation

2011-11-06T22:21:00.007+11:00

Get out the jimmy bar, crack open those piggy banks, activate all credit cards and get online to Edition X as Bling Nation has landed! Those clever pirates at Pieces of Eight have many pieces to tickle your X spot.... With a 24 hour, 7 days a week online store, plus a showroom in Fitzroy. It's time to shine..... and we mean that literally... Swarovski's, 22ct gold and pure animal essense await your creditcard details... no free steak knives or ab toners though....

So, you are asking what is Bling Nation?
Well....

We thought we would introduce some of our limited edition friends.. So limited in fact that there are only 3 of each ever ever ever made....... Whoa....

Princess C and Lady J would like to present:

Maude Vicious

This ageing punk rocker's "natural" beauty doesn't come cheap.... Thousands of years of tanning in beachside Florida will give you that antique golden glow. This outrageous lady is not just a pretty face she has some health and beauty advice for you youngsters.... Smoking does give you crows feet, eating paper does give you worms and tattoos are for LIFE.... Get it right the first time. Cos, bloody hell, translations are not guaranteed and those chinese tattoos, while they look cool, who wants people ordering dim sims from a menu off your upper thigh??? Wearing animal prints are slimming... rrreeeoow ra pur lick lick muuuaa
Oh yea and dancing in the dark is an acceptable form of exercise.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor

2011-09-03T20:28:00.002+10:00

A sneak peak at the brooch I made for the upcoming exhibition at Artisan. 100 contemporary jewellers have each been assigned a 'significant Australian woman'.

Whew... thats alot of brooches..

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor
Artisan gallery, 381 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley
29 September to 12 November 2011

Good-bye Flinders Lane

2011-05-15T09:10:00.006+10:00

I have shared my studio with Jessica Morrison in Carlow House, Flinders Lane for the past six years. We have just given up our lease and moved out... booo.. I will miss sharing with my friend, the coffee, the sunlight, the neighbours, the pop in visitors, the ability to forget what i was supposed to be buying and remembering just as i get back to the studio, but not mattering as it was only a short stroll back to the everything!

Working from home will mean I can actually get some work done most evenings, so hopefully it will be worth it. At least it will mean that Jess and I can hang out just for fun now :)

On my last cleaning visit to the studio..... What the? An imposter?

Better than Pearl at Pomme

2011-04-13T16:33:00.004+10:00

For those of you lucky enough to live down (or be holidaying) along the Mornington Peninsula get yourself down to Pomme. The lovely Sue has chosen to house my 'Better than Pearl' range, where I'm sure they are happy for the sea change. It seems that she has a lot of fantastic artists to choose from. So...anyone fancy a spot of shopping?

Pomme

Rear 138 Main St

Mornington Vic

part b - Lend Me Your Ear

2011-03-03T21:48:00.005+11:00

The first instalment of this show opened tonight and if your in town over the coming month I suggest you go and have a peep! Great to see how 'Lend Me Your Ear' has been interpreted by so many artists. My postcard will be in the second instalment starting on the 17th March, here is an early peep show.... David.

Yes, my David is a little more three dimensional thanks to a strategically placed earring..

Enjoy the show

A pinch and a punch for the first of the month.

2011-02-01T21:44:00.006+11:00

The studio was already hot and horrible at 9.30am! If we didn't have to pay for childcare I would have just called it quits and gone to the beach. So... I got down to business.

The only piece I missed out making on yesterday was the hook. 1.2mm sterling wire.

Next I prepared myself for the endless soldering of links.

I used hard solder.

I also use Borax for flux, mostly because it isn't as toxic as some others... Although, if I am doing something particularly tricky i will bust out the 'Tenacity'. I think that you really need good ventilation to use it..... something our studio lacks.

Solder, solder, solder.......

Finally! Into the 'Pickle' to clean off all the oxidisation and Borax. Left it in there for about an hour.

Here is a good example of what the 'Pickle' does... These are copper tweezers that we have been using for around 5 years, they often get left in a bowl of water that we rinse our jewellery in once it comes out of the pickle. They have been eaten away by the chemical so much that they have become paper thin and bent sideways. Useless!

This is my friend the tumbler. People often tumble gemstones and chunks of rock in these machines. It contains 'shot' pictured below, which are stainless steel balls and rods.

Dum da da dummmm.... Finished!

Now I just have to price it, take a good photo of it and then figure out how to set up an online shop and then we will be in business!

Enter the Real World.. kinda like Enter the Dragon but a bit dustier....

2011-01-31T20:31:00.011+11:00

After cleaning the dust off my desk and a quick trip to buy some new metal.... Intercepted by takeaway coffee from Switchboard (if your in Melbourne, the guys under the stairs in the old switchboard cupboard of the Manchester Building make an awesome brew and have excellent wallpaper) it was hard to know where to start ... So I got some 1.5mm sterling silver wire and started from there.

I cut lengths of silver. (Yes, my bench peg has probably seen better days)

Balled ends of the wire.

Sorted through my box of fine silver granules to find perfect 'pearls' to fuse.

Fused granules to wires.

After drilling what seemed to be a bazillion holes, starting with a 9mm drill bit, then a 1.5 and finishing with a 2.0mm. I started to play with my pieces to figure out the best configuration. When it seemed I had a winner, I linked it together with links made from 9mm sterling silver wire.

It was too hot and sticky in the studio today to face the long hot process of soldering all the links. Tomorrow...

All in all, it was a great first day back.

I just realised looking at this photo, that the roof top garden of the next building looks kind of like a necklace.

2011 Year of the...... Do some work!

2011-01-27T21:29:00.002+11:00

This is my desk at the studio.

As you can see, in 2010 I had other things to do rather than make jewellery .... like changing nappies. Happily I can report that as of Monday 31st January I will be leaving the nappy changing to some qualified professionals so I can get back to making. Yeah!

I am excited to get back in there, clean my desk, sit down and start to make some of the things that have been dancing around in my head.

Stay tuned.......

Bangle

2009-11-14T11:59:00.004+11:00

Bangle: oxidised sterling silver.

3 links necklace

2009-07-31T15:57:00.003+10:00

3 links necklace.
I guess that is not the most creative name...
Made from sterling silver.

A big flat stud....

2009-06-15T21:03:00.004+10:00

Here is a pair of big flat studs, they are around the size of a 10 cent piece (Australian money!). This pair is sterling silver, they are also available oxidised.

Ring

2009-05-31T20:20:00.002+10:00

Rope Imprint Ring: Sterling Silver.

The Compendium Finale of Contemporary Jewellers 2008

2009-05-26T22:33:00.004+10:00

When the post man left me a pick up docket in my post box, i knew it was going to be my copy of 'The Compendium Finale of Contemporary Jewellers 2008'. I ran across the road to the post office bursting with excitement, as the post man hoisted my box onto the desk, he commented on how heavy it was. I told him it was in fact 13.5kgs of the most exciting book ever. (even though i hadn't seen it yet, i knew it was going to be amazing!) And here it is.

As you can see, compared to a normal book, it is huge, and i still have not made it all the way through. Andy Lim of Darling Publications is a hero for managing to pull this altogether. He has had to deal with and organise over 1044 artists, that alone makes this feat all the more outstanding.
To be in this book was a bit like playing chinese whispers, you had to be nominated. I was nominated by the wonderful Jessica Morrison, and in turn nominated the the lovely Nicky Hepburn, Nina Ellis and Nicholas Bastin. Each artist got to design two pages, a front and a back. Here are my two pages.

Too exciting. :)

Imprint ring

2009-05-13T22:05:00.004+10:00

Big print Imprint ring, oxidised sterling silver. $310

Imprint Earrings

2009-05-07T08:07:00.003+10:00

Imprint small link earrings, sterling silver. $250
Also available in gold or oxidised sterling silver.

Imprint earrings

2009-04-22T08:28:00.005+10:00

Imprint Earrings, sterling silver, ruby. $320
Available with or without ruby, silver or oxidised.

Imprint Pendant

2009-04-09T17:50:00.004+10:00

Imprint Pendant: Sterling silver $290
Also available in oxidised sterling silver.

Studs

2009-03-30T22:40:00.003+11:00

Sterling silver and ruby studs.

Imprint

2009-03-30T22:19:00.006+11:00

This is another ring from my Imprint series. This one is sterling silver and rubies.

Better Than Pearl

2009-03-23T21:14:00.003+11:00

Better than Pearl Pendant: Oxidised Sterling silver and fine silver.

Better than Pearl 3 Rings: Oxidised sterling silver and fine silver.

The Better than Pearl series has been made using various techniques, such as, 'reticulation', 'fusing', and 'oxidisation'.

Reticulation is the process of heating metal very close to the melting point; in fact, I just heat it so that the top layer of metal is melted. The roughened bubbly, moldy and sometimes shiny looking surface that you see is the product of this treatment. It is therefore impossible to exactly reproduce an identical piece of this kind of jewellery.

Fusing is a similar process, except that it involves two pieces of metal, all of my little pearls (which are fine silver) are 'fused' to sterling silver. This process involves heating both surfaces so that both top layers are at melting point, when they touch each other they become one whole piece without the need to join them with solder.

Oxidisation occurs naturally when sterling silver comes in contact with heat, this is the black appearance of my jewellery. It is just a thin coating that with time wear will wear off, underneath this blackness is sterling silver waiting for an opportunity to shine through. Oxidisation of pieces like pendants and brooches will most likely last a life time, as these generally do not come in contact with your skin, but pieces that do, like rings, will wear more quickly.

Architeuthis Bangle

2009-03-12T22:51:00.003+11:00

Architeuthis Bangle: Sterling silver, fine silver, Rhodolite.
I have posted a few pictures of this as it is hard to understand from only one angle. When i heard that Glitzern was going to be having an exhibition called 'The Good Ship Glitzern- Summon the Kraken', I thought that i must be part of this! Now, I don't normally invite myself along to things but i couldn't pass up the oppotunity to make a tentacle! After growing up with this man how could i help myself? So i got to work creating this 200 gram giant sucker of a cephalopod arm containing 29 Rhodalite (pinky garnet) stones.

The Good Ship Glitzern-Summon the Kraken opens Saturday 14th March at Glitzern, 1a Crossley St, Melbourne. 1-4pm

Another Imprint Kahuna Ring

2009-02-23T23:27:00.002+11:00

Big Kahuna Imprint ring: Sterling silver, Australian Sapphires.

Imprint Kahuna Ring

2009-02-13T22:03:00.003+11:00

Imprint Kahuna Ring; Sterling Silver, Peridot, Rubies

Imprint rings

2009-02-03T18:40:00.004+11:00

Imprint Ring: oxidised sterling silver with light blue topaz.
Imprint Ring: oxidised sterling silver with yellow quartz.

Imprint Ring: oxidised sterling silver with dark blue topaz.

2009-01-24T20:04:00.001+11:00

Brooch; sterling silver.

The Age

2009-01-04T22:04:00.002+11:00

2008-12-16T16:12:00.000+11:00

Ring: Oxidised Sterling Silver, Peridot

Imprint

2008-12-12T11:15:00.003+11:00

Cufflinks: Oxidised Sterling Silver

Ring: Oxidised Sterling Silver, Rubies.

Ring: Oxidised Sterling Silver

Princess C, Lady J and the Upper Crust

2008-11-10T21:06:00.007+11:00

The past few weeks has seen Jessica Morrison and myself creating some madness in resin in the form of brooches.
You will be able to find them in Melbourne at the following fabulous and clever retailers:

Glitzern-
1a Crossley St Melbourne.

Craft Victoria -
31 Flinders Lane, Melbourne.

Fat -
272 Chapel St Prahran.
209 Brunswick St Fitzroy.
GPO Shop G03 250 Bourke St.
Chadstone Shopping Centre Shop.

Douglas and Hope-
Shop 14 Block Arcade 282 Collins St,
181 Brunswick St, Fitzroy.

In Sydney at:
Pablo Fanque-
1 Oxford St, Paddington.

In Queensland at:
Artisan-
381 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley.

In Adelaide at:
Raw Space-
Parc Arcade (Formerly Rundle Arcade)
7-17 Gawler Place.

Bimbo-
279 Rundle St
Adelaide.

Western Australia-
Form-
357 Murray Street
Perth.

You can also check us out at http://princesscladyjandtheuppercrust.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!! :)

Craft Vic enCounter,

2008-09-08T18:02:00.004+10:00

Installed today! Here are a few snaps, its on until the 28th September

check out the new jewels @ Craft Vic

2008-09-01T20:49:00.003+10:00

enCounter 24/7 Window Space

Monday 08 September – Sunday 28 September

Coconut Lu, im·print
A new body of work exploring the imprinting of various materials and objects in wax, capturing the essence of textiles in silver.

2008-07-27T21:06:00.002+10:00

a still life.....

2008-07-22T21:48:00.000+10:00

ratty in the city

2008-07-22T21:43:00.000+10:00

2008-03-16T17:27:00.002+11:00

bangles, 925.

2008-03-16T17:19:00.001+11:00

ring, 925, ruby.

2007-09-19T23:35:00.000+10:00

check out pictures from penthouse mouse; http://www.flickr.com/photos/coconutlu/

2007-09-19T23:06:00.001+10:00

necklace, blackened 925

2007-08-29T20:18:00.000+10:00

something exciting.... www.penthousemouse.com

2007-08-29T20:16:00.001+10:00

hair slide, sterling silver.

2007-08-29T20:13:00.001+10:00

earrings, sterling silver.

2007-08-29T20:09:00.001+10:00

necklace, sterling silver

2006-10-02T22:09:00.000+10:00

earrings; sterling and fine silver

2006-10-02T22:02:00.000+10:00

neckpiece; sterling and fine silver, 24ct gold and ruby

2006-10-02T21:57:00.000+10:00

bracelet; sterling and fine silver

2006-10-02T21:52:00.000+10:00

neck piece; sterling and fine silver

2006-09-07T17:19:00.000+10:00

pendant; sterling and fine silver, ruby.

2006-09-07T17:16:00.000+10:00

rings; sterling and fine silver.

2006-09-07T17:13:00.000+10:00

rings; sterling and fine silver.

2006-09-07T17:06:00.000+10:00

rings; sterling and fine silver.

2006-05-22T00:55:00.000+10:00

Its a miracle!!! Could that be the Virgin Mary or Mother Teresa that has appeared in this pair of sterling and fine silver earrings? What do you think?

2006-05-02T19:18:00.000+10:00

neckpiece; sterling and fine silver.

2006-04-20T21:25:00.000+10:00

studs; 24crt gold, sterling silver.

2006-02-20T23:11:00.000+11:00

necklace, sterling silver (blackened), fine silver.

2006-02-20T23:07:00.000+11:00

necklace, sterling silver, silk thread, button, material.

2006-02-20T23:00:00.000+11:00

sterling silver and fine silver necklace

2005-12-08T14:31:00.000+11:00

necklace, felt, sterling silver, antique shell button, thread

2005-12-08T14:24:00.000+11:00

earrings, blackened sterling silver, fine silver

2005-12-01T14:07:00.000+11:00

ring, sterling silver and buttons

2005-12-01T13:41:00.000+11:00

ring, sterling silver, 24ct gold and antique button

earrings, 18ct gold, sterling silver

neckpiece, felt, sterling and fine silver, antique button, silk thread

2005-12-01T13:28:00.000+11:00

ring, sterling silver and buttons

neckpiece, felt, sterling silver, button and silk thread

earrings, sterling and fine silver

2005-12-01T13:00:00.000+11:00

neckpiece, sterling and fine silver

2005-12-01T12:36:00.000+11:00

six bracelets, sterling and fine silver

neckpiece, handmade and dyed felt, sterling and fine silver, silk thread, antique buttons.