Tattoos Down Under feature

 

Check it out! I was fortunate enough to be featured in the latest issue of Tattoos Down Under magazine! I am super excited about this, because I love Tattoos Down Under and have been reading it for years. Since well before I had any tattoos - I actually used to cut pages out of it for inspiration! :) The photos of my work, taken by TDU's art director and awesome photographer Nicole Reed, look so amazing. I couldn't be happier. Its available at any good newsagent, so go pick up a copy now.

eels all over the interwebs

I have been so lucky to be featured in a few gorgeous blogs lately, thought I'd share...

The amazing Danielle from Sometimes Sweet featured me in her regular Tattoo Tuesday post. Have a read here.

It was so great to have the opportunity to talk about myself outside of my work. It was heaps of fun to share images of all the artwork I collect on my body, which is something I haven't really done before!

I also wrote a guest post on Winter Love for beautiful mama Natalie about the love of my life, my son Cash. I talked about the awesome adventure of motherhood and juggling working at home on my jewellery business with a young baby. Find it here.

The very talented jewellery designer and artist Sophie from That Vintage also did a shout-out to me and my work on her blog recently. This is such a huge compliment, because she's a super rad lady! Have a look here.

Keep an eye out on the tenmoregirls blog too! I will be a featured artist on there very soon.

While I'm sharing links, I should also let you know that I have recently listed some new stuff on two more online marketplaces... 

The awesome new Young Republic site will be launching very soon, and I have already started listing items. The brand new site is very exciting and the Australian designers featured on there are looking brilliant. Check out a sneak preview of my shop here.

I have also joined the Australian based ethical handmade store Blue Caravan. It is a beautiful site that promotes sustainable design, locally made products, organic materials as well as ethical and fair trade production. All the stuff I love! Have a look at my shop here.

Custom Work

I've had so many requests for custom work and commissions lately that I've started to think about the strengths of my work. I have always known that a special quality of my work is its uniqueness. Working with organic materials and a very hand-made process means that my pieces each have an individuality before even being worn. Before I have even started crafting them, the materials I use often seem to have a story of their own. Whether it is in the swirling caramel variations in the surface of horn or the fine mottled grain within a piece of bone, these materials have a history. This is part of the reason I love working with them so much.

From the feedback I've had so far, I'm not the only one who senses this. The organic nature of my materials makes them a perfect base for a special gift or personal treasured item. Bone and horn have been used in jewellery since its inception and are beautifully strong, yet warm materials. I've had customers ask for the names of their loved ones or other meaningful images and words carved into jewellery. These requests make my job as an artist and jeweller so much more meaningful and I would really love to get more of them. 

Thinking about this, I began to draw some parallels between my commission work and the work of a contemporary custom tattoo artist. You choose the images and words of a tattoo in a very meaningful and personal way. You approach an artist, who then transforms your thoughts into a workable design and etches it into your skin. The difference of course, is that I etch designs into bone and horn, and not into skin! 

Although, I could just be making these analogies because I have also been playing around with a tattoo machine at home lately... hmmm. :)

In any case, I do very much welcome and enjoy receiving requests for custom pieces. I have various types of organic materials; bone, horn in a few colours, mammoth ivory, and can combine these with sterling silver, gold, or other metals. I can make pendants, brooches, earrings, bangles, rings.... Have a look around this site for some ideas. You can contact me via eelsjewellery@gmail.com if you'd like to talk to me about something you may have in mind for yourself or a gift for a loved one. 

TE x