Christine Pyman - 'Lustre Galleries': Lisa visits this workshop and gallery in the Adelaide City region of South Australia
The sound of hammering and polishing coming from Lustre Galleries tucked away in Peel Street, (a tiny side street off Hindley) gives a hint about the creative endeavors inside. Christine Pyman is the resident goldsmith and jewellery artist who uses all types of precious metals and gems to create her own fun brand of designer jewellery. Christine studied print-making but she's combined her design skills with jewellery making.
Christine Pyman, 'Lustre Galleries': "I went to an exhibition of jewellery at one of the Adelaide Festival of Arts and I had one of those total light bulb moments and I saw the work and it was the first time I realised that jewellery didn't have to be boring - it was small sculpture, it could be anything I wanted."
And that's exactly what she does - her take on wearable jewellery is sometimes quirky and offbeat. Insects feature a lot with ant broaches, mosquitoes, blowflies and dragonflies capturing her imagination. Christine is best known for her 'Joyous Woman' series, which depicts the more whimsical side of life…
Christine Pyman: "They are about celebration - they are celebrating yourself, they are about being joyful. They are called Joyous Women and celebration and so people buy them for special events, they buy them if they feel that's a milestone in my life…"
To create her Joyous Woman series Christine combines her specialist mediums. After carefully crafting the figure - she uses her print-making skills to create their colourful dresses.
Christine Pyman: "I make the dresses from aluminium printed with images. This was a bunch of poppies and when the petals fell I thought they were so beautiful I couldn't throw them away and went and stuck them on the scanner on the computer, so printed them like that."
Photos of clouds, the fur of her pet Burmese cat, Miffy, and even close-up photos of chook feathers all make their way onto her joyous women.
Christine also holds workshops in her gallery where she'll help you design and create your own hand-made piece of jewellery. It can be as simple or as complex as you like. The workshops are small - a maximum of six students means Christine can give personal attention to everyone.
Christine: "The workshops are a continuation of the Joyous Women because it's about empowerment and being happy. And I think that when people learn a new skill it really does empower them."
Christine runs a variety of classes from single sessions, weekend workshops through to intensive six-week courses in jewellery making techniques. Her workshop, gallery and exhibition space - Lustre Galleries is at 18 Peel Street in the city.
Lustre Galleries
18 Peel St
Adelaide
Ph 8410 2061Published 18th October 2009
