photograph by Rebekah RobinsonLatest comment Kyla - 3 October 2009
I was drawn to this brooch from day 1. I loved the crafty homemade feel of it, the softness and simplicity. I was really looking forward to my turn with it. But when it came, I just couldn't find the right thing to wear it with. No matter how hard I tried. I also found I got bored with it in a way... there didn't seem to be any layers to it. It seems I loved it and yearned for it from afar... but once I had it I expected more from it and didn't get it.
Fun journal drawings by Ajay...
In a very awkward meeting with a developer and her architect, the broach broke the ice.
ReplyDeleteShe said "great broach", our eyes met, locked and we smiled. We could have been friends in real life. And the rest was history...a happy redevelopment in the Ellerslie town centre.
Yay for Rachel B.
Received lots of enthusiastic comments about Rachel's broach at the Matakana Markets the other weekend. I feel very special when wearing this broach and wish I was as talented as the makers to create such items of social glue that bring strangers together.
ReplyDeleteThe lady in the gallery there wanted to know more about BOTM for possible consignments at her shop?
So check out the sorts of things she (Emma) stocks at www.piecegallery.co.nz email emma@piecegallery.co.nz
I'll email her this link too so some more business may arise?
N
Just a little something to throw into the mix - have you noticed some of Rachel's brooches are reminiscent of part of the 'abstract' painting of Len Lye's work, Pond people, painted in 1930. Some people might say that work is appropriated images from Australian aboriginal work. is there a connection here or is Rachel mainly concerned with domestic craft and it's place in 'art'
ReplyDeleteHello lovely brooch wearing folk!
ReplyDeleteNicole - thankyou for your feedback. It's really nice to hear how the brooch interacts, or causes interaction! I'm glad that you've had a nice time wearing it. Although I've heard of Piece Gallery I haven't checked it out yet.
Pene - I'm not familiar with that body of Len Lye's work. Thankyou for the reference point though, I'll look into it as soon as possible. I like it when links are made!
These pieces definately came more from a place in which i was thinking/referencing different domestic craft practices. But what I was enjoying at this piece in particular was the way in which it was losing some of the preciousness and fineness with the larger/messier stitching and how this abstracted them out.
This one I felt was really soft and casual so I took it on holidays with me to Tonga!
ReplyDeleteIt makes me think of sports, maybe because it reminds me of a tennis racket? Actually it looks like a tennis racket and a tennis ball squished together, like they were chucked in one of those crazy machines from "The Fly" and this was the result.
It was also a very tactile brooch - because it looks so soft people wanted to touch it, but I thought it was funny that they would always ask me first, whereas the other brooches were fondled without permission! I wonder why? Did it seem like they were invading my personal space more with this one because of it's texture or it's size or because it's flat or or or?
A simple and soft circular brooch... this lovely piece suffered from it not being winter! Yes... I'd never given it much thought, but you're far less likely to wear a brooch on light summery clothing, than on a coat or jacket...
ReplyDeletePlus, the fluffy nature of this brooch makes it very wintery in my mind... so i have to apologise that it didn't get a lot of time out in the wild. When it did get out there were a few times where it was worn front and centre on a shirt, almost like an over-sized top button.
Being one who likes to get a bit of attention this helped up the profile of the brooch. When worn to the side people rarely commented.
The detail of the red cross (the tennis ball?) was my favourite aspect of the brooch.. but still. perhaps just a little understated?
Some friend enquired why it didn't "do more" .. like have some additional felt sticking from it, or something to make it less flat and more 3-dimensional. Maybe they are like me, and like a little bit of outrageous over and above pretty and stylish.
As always, it was a pleasure to take on another month and i have to say this was less stressful to wear than some others as the catch was secure and chance of loss or damage was slim! Good craft-womanship!
I had this brooch after I'd had Jacqui's, and it was quite a nice change to have something soft, especially because I'd hurt my boyfriend hugging him with the sharp metal!
ReplyDeleteI think of it like a map, like Maori explorers used to wear, with stars and islands marked. I'm keen on the tennis racket idea though, now I've read that!
I didn't actually wear it very much though... I'm not a habitual brooch wearer, but still, I didn't even think to really. Maybe I just wasn't excited enough by it. I think if I owned it I might get a favorite piece of clothing that it worked particularly well with and leave it pinned on always, especially as it's so well-made, soft and durable, I might even get away with washing it! Or end up with a new result!
I feel a bit mean, as though I have put in too many negative comments, and especially as I think Rachel's loooovely and definitely respect her and her work, it gets in the way of me posting... It's interesting having a reply from her too. But I'm going to leave what I wrote anyway, I hope that's what she'd want. I'll give her a hug at the next meeting!
AJ
Nearly a year ago I spotted this brooch at the inaugural meeting and loved it - spent a bit of time in fact checking what Rachel was up to, on the internet, and looking at other jewellery she makes. I have always been an advocate for 'domestic arts' and it seems the womanly arts of embroidery, knitting, felting, baking and gardening and very fashionable these days - is it because in theory, women are out of the kitchen and in the corporate environment that these quaint old ways of doing things are now a valued practice. Maybe they are valued because these activities take time and in the TV, ipod, processed dinner world of today, things that take time have a special value. Actually it used to be damn hard work and financial necessity that the 'domestic arts' existed but it is the the natural instinct of women to make every day chores into something beautiful. No-one ever slaps a chocolate cake on the table without some form of sweet decoration and a good plate to eat it off - women just do it because like the cheese - good things take time. But I digress.
ReplyDeleteRachel's brooch looks like a bit of quilting, a bit of embroidery and a bit of bling with the golden thread around the edge, also it is a circle - my favourite shape. So, why did I not wear it once. Because it was grubby that's why. Filthy. I considered giving it a little shave with a razor to remove the pilling and dirt from 10 months handling by 10 different people, but I just left it and looked at it in the box from time to time.
I know some people love the look of wear and tear but this is no worn leather couch or a pair of faded ripped jeans or a bit of battered silver - it is a pretty white fabric brooch that I needed to be immaculate. There is a picture over on Masterworks website of a bright yellow version in the style of this brooch that might have withstood my rigorous cleanliness standards, but alas I got the dirty white one. Mother would not be happy with having to bil the copper to clean it.
I was drawn to this brooch from day 1. I loved the crafty homemade feel of it, the softness and simplicity. I was really looking forward to my turn with it. But when it came, I just couldn't find the right thing to wear it with. No matter how hard I tried. I also found I got bored with it in a way... there didn't seem to be any layers to it. It seems I loved it and yearned for it from afar... but once I had it I expected more from it and didn't get it.
ReplyDeletekyla