… and you’re invited to join the jewellery cacophony!

Hello particles,

Come along and help Part B celebrate the year that was 2012. Reminisce over a beverage or two about ‘Oh Opal!’ (our travelling opal exhibition), the multitude of brain-engaging gallery gatherings and our many hours of caffeine-fuelled jewellery conversations… what could be finer?

Last Saturday, I attended the ‘Celebration Drinks’ at Studio 20/17 in Sydney for the Part B exhibition Oh Opal! (re-imagining Australia’s national gemstone). The installation looked terrific, and there was a steady stream of people coming in to have a look and a chat. Hooray for our first interstate foray and big congratulations to all involved!

The jewellers whose work/s are on display are (in alphabetical order)…

Justine Austen
Dianne Beevers
Femi Coppi
Susan Frisch
Mary Hackett
Jill Hermans
Gillian Hillman
Inari Kiuru
Claire McArdle
Karyn Nankivell
Christine Scott-Young
Justin Siow
Karen Thompson
Amy Zubick

Here are a couple of photos from the event…

The exhibition installation.

Celebration drinks!

After three years of Melbourne and Victorian-based activities, Part B has made its Sydney debut this week with the start of our exhibition Oh Opal! (re-imagining Australia’s national gemstone).

If you happen to be in that neck of the woods this Saturday, please join us for the celebration drinks…

Oh Opal! (re-imagining Australia’s national gemstone)
Celebration drinks: Saturday, 21 July 2012, 4-6pm
Where: Studio 20/17 – 6b/ 2 Danks St, Waterloo NSW 2017

The exhibition runs from 17-28 July 2012. Click here for more details.

Following on from its fantastic debut in Geelong, the Part B exhibition Oh Opal! (re-imagining Australia’s national gemstone) is travelling to Sydney in July.

Exhibition details:

It’s a conundrum! What to do with the opal? Why don’t more Australians love it? Melbourne-based research jewellery group Part B takes on the challenge of exploring the history and legend surrounding the opal and bringing a new fire to this strange and alluring gemstone.

The official opening event for Oh Opal! (re-imagining Australia’s national gemstone) was held last Friday night (4 May 2012, 6-8pm) at Redox Jewellery Studio. And can I just say… WOW! (I’m completely unbiased, of course.) The range of different techniques, materials and types/treatments of opal used is really impressive and very inspiring – from hand-carved opal, heated doublets, shibuichi and fine paper-weaving to polyurethane tubing and roofing silicon as well as gold, silver, titanium… the list goes on. Clearly, a lot of serious opal ‘re-imagining’ has been happening!

The jewellers whose work/s are on display are (in alphabetical order)…

Justine Austen
Dianne Beevers
Melissa Cameron
Femi Coppi
Susan Frisch
Mary Hackett
Jill Hermans
Gillian Hillman
Inari Kiuru
Claire McArdle
Karyn Nankivell
Christine Scott-Young
Justin Siow
Karen Thompson
Amy Zubick

Here are some photos from the festivities…

The exhibition installation (just before the 'main event' began). Photograph by Marc Morel © 2012

The studio filled up quickly... Photograph by Marc Morel © 2012

The exhibition 'list of works' contains a brief description of each jeweller's inspiration for their opal 're-imagining'. Photograph by Marc Morel © 2012

Some animated conversations took place over the course of the evening... Photograph by Marc Morel © 2012

Oh Opal! (re-imagining Australia’s national gemstone) runs until 23 May 2012 at Redox Jewellery Studio.

It’s a conundrum! What to do with the opal? Why don’t more Australians love it?

In our upcoming exhibition, Part B takes on the challenge of exploring the history and legend surrounding the opal and bringing a new fire to this strange and alluring gemstone.