Megan Bottari, Box, found object(ion)
The Readymade Files: Box werx…
Heritage contemporised…
When everything old is new again. The charm of contemporary jewellery is that marriage of the craft, the art historic and the zeitgeist of the present day (with mutual respect for all three) – particularly in the case of cultural artefacts. Because tradition is a beautiful thing, all the more so in an au courant context. Which brings us to Giuseppe Jack Alexander Murray’s Christening present: what to gift a wee bairn of Scottish-Australian/Sicilian heritage to fittingly celebrate his entree to the heterogeneous tribe…
Ginger Bottari, Murray clan pin, saw pierced brushed titanium, opal and gemstone.
It’s his kilt pin (sans dagger, in the spirit of universal pacifism.)
Over 100 hours in the making (63 saw blades!), 8 layers, the opal to mirror his Antipodean roots – here’s hoping he’ll be a Wild Colonial Boy! – and a bucket of unadulterated Sicilian sentimentality.
A labour of love. Priceless.
But wait, there’s more…
Megsie’s been expanding the fleet, and getting fanciful with a childhood favourite. You can’t imagine how much fun she’s having in the workshop…
Megan Bottari, Surf and Turf: Fleet Review (against the tide), lost wax cast Australian lead crystal
Megan Bottari, Without a paddle (Bluebell, from the Surf and Turf series), lost wax cast Australian lead crystal
Megan Bottari, Surf and Turf: Fleet Review (against the tide), lost wax cast Australian lead crystal
Megan Bottari, The Owl and the Pussycat, lost wax cast Australian lead crystal
Megan Bottari, Cat Overboard!
Ode to the Far South Coast….
Fresh from Megsie’s oven is a new series of work, Surf and Turf, referencing all we hold dear about the agrarian-coastal culture of this glorious corner of NSW that we call home. We have the best oysters in the state (Tathra – wins every year!), fabulous seafood, divine beaches, a pristine (Wilderness Coast) environment and, last but never least, moo cows galore.
But of course that’s merely the surface chat (they’re not really just a promo for our delectable region!) – they’re so much more besides, not least being a classic example of Megsie’s inimitable narrative bent (and her predilection for a tasty melange of material and vernacular.)
We’ve only just launched these little sweeties on their Odyssean adventure, and Megsie’ll be back in the workshop this week to expand the fleet…
Megan Bottari, Surf and Turf, lost wax cast Australian lead crystal
Cast with our glass of choice, James Thompson’s fabulous Blackwoods lead crystal (love it!)
[Mmm, we can feel our fave culinary fusion coming on…yum yum yum!! n(Ed)]
Melbourne with the Muzzbotts…
The Gang jumped into the Dreadnought last week for a quick dash to Melbs to pick up the Muzzbotts/have a pre-xmas fall-about with Granny (…with the sub-plot of Sir Galahad’s Exotica-ca Tour de Banksy) and what a jolly good romp it was. Fast and furious, just the way we likes it (as in get in, get out.) Especially at this time of year, when the city’s at its most frenetic; summed up so perfectly by Banksy’s Christ with Shopping Bags…
Fabbo. All that and more, but perhaps we’ll put it in some sort of vague order…
First up we hung about the Queen Vic Night Market with the Murray boys, as you do…
And then we had our Big Art Fix; Banksy (what else?) Which didn’t disappoint, always so much cooler in the flesh, eh…
…and, of course, the man himself has the last word…
Heaps more to see (we just chucked in our personal faves) – totally worth the bother.
And then we were off to our Christmas treat with Granny; High Tea at the Windsor followed by our habitual bevie with Chloe…
…one of our favourite, and enduring, cultural observances.
And then we forgot to take our camera with us on our night out with Marky and Cormack…
…but we had it the next day at Din Tai Fung (where, omg, we thought we’d died and gone to heaven – best dumplings EVER)…
And then we caught up with the lovelies at The Warehouse Pizzeria…
…and sugar artist extraordinaire Tina at Sugardrops Cake Studio…
…before finally Beating the Retreat…to Toora – for a wind-down in Bevie’s gorgeous garden followed by a divine day at Wilson’s Prom (our first ocean swim of the season)…
Perfeck.
The Food Fetishist Files…
The Wyndham Lemon
Eyecatchers…
Oh the human condition, eh…
by @viktoriamodesta
Love this image – classic! All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others (to quote the great George Orwell.) Lifted from StreetArtGlobe, here.
The cherry on top…
Red letter day here at the workshop; George and Ian were back to finish off the lighting – kiln bay, coldshop and last-but-so-far-from-least…drumroll, maestro…Netster’s blown glass Paper Lanterns! Omigod, we are in dead set seventh heaven…
Beyond fabulous/perfect way to top off the studio fit out. And then, as if that wasn’t enough, the arvo lights are back…
It’s just the beginning.
And contentment settles lightly as a sigh.
[Loving those lanterns Netty, thanks big time, you ROCK. For those who don’t know the Netster (hard to imagine!), you can acquaint yourself with annette blair: glass here. n(Ed)]
The Yorkie…
After a full-on week of social engagement (kicked off by Studio Bitch’s birthday) Megsie finally managed a materials run (plaster, silica, yadda yadda) to Canberra on Friday, swinging past the Glassworks to pick up the Yorkie (and ‘wand’) from the Neon Workshop.
So Studio Bitch wired him up today and mounted him on the wall…
Cool with additional black light.
Noice. And there he sits, a constant reminder of…well, of many things. Needless to say Sir Galahad is very pleased to welcome a new crony into his rarefied coterie.
[See Fb page for a wee movie. n(Ed)]
A noble lineage…
We’ve always known, of course, that there has never been any question of Sir Galahad coming from mere common stock – and so we were thrilled when La Groppa sent us this link to The Guardian’s fascinating article re the Lloyd’s Bank turd; a 7-inch Viking coprolite…
The likeness is uncanny! Needless to say he’s very, very chuffed indeed. Who do you think you are‘s got nothing on this, he reckons…though we’re not sure that we really want his future Exotica-ca Tours to morph into paleoscatological digs…(we’re going to have to try to distract him.)
Thanks Jacq, made our day!
[Sir Galahad, it goes without saying, is certified worm free. n(Ed)]
