Online Store - 'My Protection'

I have just released a new range of rings and earrings onto my online store: 

http://katherinebowman.bigcartel.com

This range is exclusive to my store. 

The rings which form this group are intentionally heavy, so that their presence is felt when worn. Like amulets and talismans, constant awareness increases experience of the piece. 

Details of each piece are listed on the shop. 

I am more than happy to custom make new work based on these pieces, or make to size. 

New work will be added over the next couple of days. 

Each jewellery item is a 'one off', I do not have multiples of each, I will make a new one as one sells. 

The images here have been put together by Subhadra Mistry who did an internship with me during the year. 

She has used images taken by Marli Scott to sit with the individual jewellery pieces.

The landscape photos were taken in the United Kingdom.

Katherine Bowman Online Shop

'Conversations with Worn Objects' Blog Series - Anna

I have known Anna for many years, in fact she was the year ahead of me at RMIT. We became friends after graduating. I wear a pair of hoop earrings Anna made almost every day. I have great respect for her as a jeweller and as a friend.

1. Why did you choose this particular piece of jewellery?

I loved it on sight.

Kath showed it to me in her studio one day. At this point it didn’t have any stones in it, and she insisted if it was to be mine that it have red rubies and pink sapphires in it for “my heart chakra”. I was ok with this, so long as the stones were set underneath the three gold lobes. At this stage, I didn’t care much for stones, but pink and red are my favourite colours so it felt right. It was to be my first piece of gold jewellery.

It came out so beautifully, and to have a glimpse of pink and red on my hand from the stones when I’m doing something as banal as driving to the supermarket is very special. It looks particularly amazing under water when the light catches the pink and red.

Kath gave me the second ring which nestles into the first a year or so later out of the blue, for no occasion in particular.

2. Tell me about the experience of wearing this piece?

I wear the two rings everyday. I’ve come into mischief when I don’t- I find I misplace things too easily.

I did loose the lucky ring for a while when I was living at a wildlife shelter in the country. I was gardening and a magpie nicked it off a table and flew off. I felt sick, I thought it would be the last I saw of it. The magpie was a released bird from the shelter, so we were able to check a few favourite haunts, but nothing turned up. Around a month later, I noticed one of the gold lobes peeking out of the ground, it had been trodden into the path near the house. I dug it up and I’ve rarely taken it off since.

I only remove it to show my students, or people that comment on how beautiful they are- I want them to turn it over in their hands and to see the stones.

Sometimes, I stack another couple of rings with them.  Two stainless steel rings I made a few years back. (I reason with myself that it’s good to wear my own work sometimes…) They are very different to Kaths rings, but they work together as a foursome somehow. I tend to  tire of mine after a week or so and remove them. Kath’s are a permanent fixture, worn everyday and night.

Kath’s fingerprints and makers mark have burnished out of the back of both bands after so many years of constant wear. My fingers have a permanent indent in them too, so they have a home.

3. What story does the jewellery piece tell, what is its significance to you?

To me it was significant that Kath called this ring the lucky ring. I was going through a difficult time when I received these rings. I felt anything but lucky. It’s a reminder that someone was looking out for me, and it helped tremendously. They also speak of the friendship, generosity and kindness of the maker. Kath has always been a great inspiration to me- both in her practice and how she lives her life.

And they remind me that magpies are naughty.

4. What about my practice drew you to commission your piece?

Not only do I love Kath’s aesthetic, but her process of making is so thoughtful and quiet and beautiful. I had the chance to often see Kath finishing up orders or commission pieces and the way in which she attends to each piece and sends them on their way into the world was a huge eye-opener to me. It was worlds apart from my own frantic way of working….I believe you can sense this in the work.

'Conversations with Worn Objects' blog series- Jennifer

This is the fifth interview in my series, 

Conversations with Worn Objects.

This is a series about tracing the life of objects once they have left my studio, so I can revisit and reflect on them from the perspective of the wearer.

1. Why did you choose this particular piece of jewellery?

I went to see Katherine to commission a ring to wear every day. I had a ring with three sapphires and some small diamonds from India that I was sentimentally attached to and I wanted to make use of the stones. I was vague about what I wanted and Katherine was patient as we worked through what I liked. I really liked the idea of the wonky wedder. For me, perfection has always meant balance and symmetry but the earthiness of her fluid lines and the originality of her work spoke to me in such a personal way. This was a big change for me.  

We spent quite a bit of time together and I really could not see the finished ring in my head so I was nervous about what it would look like. I think she was nervous too and I maybe a little disappointed with my initial reaction when she gave it to me. She read me very well though and the truth is I am in love with it and cannot imagine not wearing it everyday. I feel for it on my finger, I twist it around, I look at it and I put up to the light.  I reach for it during the day and night.

While I was looking at different models of rings I was irresistibly drawn to a citrine solitaire ring - it had chosen me. I had no choice I had to have it so I asked her if she could make it for me. The colour is like liquid gold from the sun. I don't wear them at the same time but I always have one on. Now I have two rings to choose from - decisions, decisions.

2. Tell me about the experience of wearing this piece?

The ring that I had commissioned reminds me of very happy times and I wear it most of the time. I have it on now. I feel the ring and move it up and down my finger as I am writing and I write most days. So as I sit at my desk I imagine Katherine at her desk as she patiently worked on my ring, thinking about me and if I would like it. Shape, scrape, polish, ponder at her desk. I can feel her energy through this ring. I sit at my desk today near the window and watch the autumn sunshine hit the diamonds and it sparkles in the light. Katherine added a small citrine and it lifted the sapphires out of the deep dark blue into the light.

My citrine ring is

my precious

. It is on my bedside table in a small crystal bowl where it waits to be chosen. I wear it for special occasions and then sometimes I wear it to work if I need a positive energy boost. To me it says dark or negative forces don't mess with me, I am only positive.

3. What story does the jewellery piece tell, what is its significance to you?

My commissioned ring tells the story of far away places and times. The setting makes the stones sparkle like the stars in the sky and the citrine is yellow like the desert sands of Rajasthan. The small diamonds remind of a room in the Jaipur Palace. It was pitch black, a match was struck and tiny stars sparkled all over the ceiling. This was where the maharajah took the maharani and if he had been there that day he could have taken me as well.

My precious

sings such a happy song, always hopeful. Will she chose me today?

4. What about my practice drew you to commission your piece?

Katherine and I are bound by ancient family blood from County Antrim, Ireland and although we had lost touch I was aware that she was designing and making beautiful jewellery.  I wanted something to connect me with Katherine and I also wanted something that was made just for me-bespoke.

When I wear her rings I can see her patiently working over them, shaping them, putting them into the light, examining her work. I can see her thinking about them and carefully placing the stones. I imagine her fingers on them and the care and creativity that goes into everything she makes.

I think about Katherine at her desk making this for me – just for me. So I feel cherished that she would do this for me and so so lucky.

‘Conversations with Worn Objects’ Blog series- Subhadra

This is the fourth interview in my series, Conversations with Worn Objects.

This is a series about tracing the life of objects once they have left my studio, so I can revisit and reflect on them from the perspective of the wearer.

1. Why did you choose this particular piece of jewellery?

I didn't, a beautiful ex partner of mine commissioned it as a birthday present, it was a surprise. He is still a really close friend of mine. I don't think he chose it either, other than the colour of the stone. It has a stunning little blue sapphire, like the ocean, the place we are always happiest together. But I like that I didn't choose it, I am terribly indecisive.

2. Tell me about the experience of wearing this piece?

The ring was made while I was overseas, and keeping with the surprise couldn't ask me my size. The ring took a while to find its place on my hands, it was too big for the ones I usually adorned, but I didn't want to get it resized either. It found its way to my thumb eventually, which I thought was fitting because he is my base, stable and strong. The silver has worn shiny with wear and edges soffened too as it moulds to my hands.

3. What story does the jewellery piece tell, what is its significance to you?

The ring tells of loss, another ring of yours that I misplaced. From what I have heard, he wanted to commission one in its image, I had been quite upset when I realised it didn't want to be found. But neither of you could remember what it had looked like, there were no drawings or photos.

I remember the day so well that he gave it to me, the first day of sun in London after a long winter, we sat, two homesick Australians, in the courtyard of the Barbican Centre.

Incidentally I found the lost ring a couple of months later, whilst still in London, it had accompanied me everywhere I travelled since, tucked in the crevasses of a much travelled suitcase.

I had imagined where it had ended up many times, what the person who found it would have thought of the intricate inscriptions, undulating surfaces, the warmth of wearing it, like a hug. I wear them together now, on the same finger, reminders of each others importance.

4. What about my practice drew you to commission your piece?

My mother drew me to your work, pieces of hers you had made that I had never seen the like of before. Complex, intricate, imbued with meaning through surface and texture.

Your jewellery is like artefacts.

You can see the makers hand- your mark it present in every piece, I love that it is a process of discovery. A dance between the interior and exterior, the discreet markings on the inside, the wearers secret. The celestial ring has this beautifully twisted band that seems like it had warped with age. I guess you bring presence to objects and material, then you allow the wearer to make it their own.

'Conversations with Worn Objects' Blog Series - Wendy

This is the third interview in my series, Conversations with Worn Objects.

This series is about jewellery pieces I have made. It gives me the opportunity to revisit and reflect on pieces I have made once they leave the studio from the perspective of the wearer. 

I have known Wendy for many years and felt privileged to make this ring for her. Set underneath the top of the ring are twenty small white diamonds.

1. Why did you choose this particular piece of jewellery?

This was a ring to symbolize my marriage to my partner of 25 years so we wanted the ring to be special as well as being something that I would want to wear all the time.

2. Tell me about the experience of wearing this piece?

I have not taken the ring off since it was made for me last year! It is now very much a part of me and it is a pleasure to wear. I thought it would be very noticeable so was surprised that not many people commented on it when I first wore it.  So it is always a delight when people do comment on it as it says something about these people for me. The ring has fitted my idea of lasting jewellery in that it has that subtlety to fit into my lifestyle, being very beautiful but not so noticeable that I will tire of wearing it.  I do wear other jewellery including silver jewellery as I don’t feel it necessary to only wear gold because the ring is gold.

3. What story does the jewellery piece tell, what is its significance to you?

The markings on the upper surface of the ring are symbolic of the journeys that Chris and I have taken together as well as the bond that we share. The tiny diamonds that circle the underneath surface acknowledge the treasure we share and Chris’ taste, liking diamonds, while being sufficiently subtle for me to wear the ring all the time and to withstand all the work I do with my hands. The precious aspect, also denoted by the feathering underneath is also symbolic of the closeness of our relationship.

4. What about my practice drew you to commission your piece?

I have always been drawn to the handmade feel and asymmetry of your work that has reminded me of ancient jewellery such as Egyptian pieces that I have seen….that timeless quality.

'Conversations with worn objects' Blog Series - Nick

Here is my second interview in this series.

Nick is the husband of Kasia who was featured previously.

I made these two rings 15 years ago.

They are File Mark wedders, both made in 18ct yellow gold. They have engraving on the inside of each ring.

Nick

‘Conversations with Worn Objects’ Blog series- II

1. Why did you choose this particular piece of jewellery?

My wedding ring is the first and only piece of jewellery I have ever really owned or worn.

2. Tell me about the experience of wearing this piece?

I don't have anything to compare it to - so it's hard to explain. For a time it felt odd and I worried about it falling off. Then I found myself rotating it as a slight habit - especially when I feel a bit nervous - which is strange because I had read about people doing exactly the same thing but never seen anyone actually do it.  More recently I noticed that it has actually started to leave an indentation on my finger - so it really feels like it is part of me now. I can see what it's absence would be like although I can't imagine it. 

I touch it sometimes and tap it to feel its solidness. I also run my finger along the edge and feel the smoothness and it's curves - I really like that it is clearly handmade and not machined. It's also very nice to see it in water - especially in the surf. It seems to gleam very beautifully. 

3. What story does the jewellery piece tell, what is its significance to you?
It's my wedding ring so it's a reminder of my wedding 15 years ago but of course we've been together for for much longer than that - so really the story that the ring reminds me of is something much longer and more important than the wedding itself.

4. What about my practice drew you to commission your piece?

You were the only person I could trust to make something as important as this.

'Conversations with Worn Objects' Blog Series - Kasia

Prologue

I am introducing an interview series on my blog called ‘Conversations with worn objects’, about jewellery pieces I have made. It gives me the opportunity to revisit and reflect on pieces I have made once they leave the studio from the perspective of the wearer. 

Objects… have another aspect to them which is intimately bound up with the subject; no longer simply material bodies offering a certain resistance, they become mental precincts over which I hold sway, they become things of which I am the meaning, they become my property and my passion.

Jean Baudrillard (1996) ‘The Non-Functional System, or Subjective Discourse’,The System of Object. Verso: London, pp 91.

The very first wedding rings that I ever made were for my friends Kasia and Nick.
It was also the first time that I had worked with gold.
So their rings are very significant to me. They were the start of where I am now.
It felt like a gift at the time, to be chosen to make these rings which they would wear every day. A gift and an honour. Every single ring that I have made since has felt the same way.
I remember that I played music that they liked as I made them, and wished them well as I worked.
When I make rings for a couple, I always, place them together, from the beginning of the making process to the finish, they sit on my bench as a pair and remain that way. Even with orders for people that I do not know, I wish them well.

Kasia

‘Conversations with Worn Objects’ Blog series- I

1. Why did you choose this particular piece of jewellery?

Tom’s ring

Gold and ruby – ruby the birthstone for July, Tom’s birth month and mine too.

Nick commissioned this ring and gave it to me on my birthday in 2005 – 27 days after I gave birth to our son Tom.

The little ruby is set off-centre in an oval or egg-shaped piece of gold. We thought if we had another child, we could ask you to have the other birthstone set next to Tom’s. As it happens, Tom is our only child, but the ruby has never looked out of place or lonely, rather it sort of sits up and says ‘Look! I’m here!’

It is a very special ring, I didn’t expect it and I think I probably cried when N gave it to me. I love it. It sits on my left hand ring finger, next to my wedding ring, Nick’s ring, the one which joined us and which is inscribed with his name on the inside of the band. Thank you so much Katherine for these beautiful special rings – and for being our ring bearer at our wedding all those years ago!

2. Tell me about the experience of wearing this piece?

I wear Tom’s ring – and Nick’s – every day. I never really take either of them off unless I have to. I would feel lost without them now!

Sometimes the ruby & gold ‘stone’ slides around to the side and I flick it back in front with my little finger – I quite like doing this, it reminds me of my boys by drawing my attention to the rings.

3. What story does the jewellery piece tell, what is its significance to you?

The ring is about family, a ring to commemorate the birth of our son, from my husband – my best friend. It’s about becoming a family, about being together and sharing this crazy old journey. It reminds me daily of how lucky I am.

4. What about my practice drew you to commission your piece?

You drew us to your practice! Wonderful you! And your wonderful work – unique, personal, thoughtful, organic, fluid, living, being. Our wedding rings are particularly special to us, not just because they are so lovely, but because we feel so honoured to be the recipients, from your hands – as maker and ring bearer – of the first wedding rings you made! I remember talking to you about the rings and then you describing the thoughts and process that created the rings. They are old and new, worn and polished shiny by our hands. I love the softness of them, the way they look as if they’ve just been formed by kneading and sculpting the gold like wax, and that little marks and fingerprints – and our names written in your handwriting – are still there to see.

Thank you lovely Katherine.

Great and simple images

  A man’s work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened.

 Albert Camus 

for me it has always been the sea
the sky
birds

A sketchbook story

In the move before this one I recycled a whole recycling bin with sketchbooks, drawings and art/paper related work. This included wire works and the odd pipecleaner piece.
At first it was hard throwing away work, then as I realised how much stuff I have, it got a lot easier.
In retrospect, I regret throwing out my life drawings, however there is not a lot I can do about it.

I now have about 20 sketchbooks that I can not part with. They contain the visual parts that make up who I am and why I do what I do.

I always think that it is essential to be open to whatever is before you at any given moment.
Not to be solely thinking about one thing. This is the reason why my sketchbooks are important to me. They catch things before they are forgotten.
Sometimes, when I go back through sketchbooks, I wonder why certain images have been chosen and collected.
Other times, seeing a particular image opens up a new body of work. This is why until recently I have held on to my sketchbooks.
I somehow hoped that by letting go of a lot of things, new things would fill the spaces that have been left open. This remains to be seen.
My jewellery practice is worked at the same way I go about creating art works.
Each new body of work starts here in these books.
In this busy world filled with things, there must be a reason for creating new things, not just to earn a living, not to just make fashionable things that are discarded with a new season.
I think about this a lot.
These thoughts fill these work books and I hope that there is evidence of this in the work created. That the forms and textures and colours add to a continuing story that is added to with each new year. And that the work created is worth holding on to and being passed on to people who enjoy their individual stories.

Loom

I set a loom in the street
looming above
a puddle of rain.

"We are the thread,"
                            says she
"To weave is to speak."

A thread in the air
a cloud in the mud.

Cecilia Vicuna, 1995

from Inside the Visible, an elliptical traverse of 20th century art. ed. by M. Catherine de Zegher

My makers mark is a the warp and weft of fabric.
This poem was the inspiration for choosing this symbol instead of my initials to stamp on to jewellery that I made.
I was also influenced by the writings of Trinh T. Minh-ha.
Early cultures communicated visually through textiles, jewellery and tattooing, all aids to storytelling and making sense of the world. So jewellery is a kind of storytelling for me, and storytelling fuels my interest in this medium.

My makers mark on my business cards.

Below, beautiful rugs from different cultures.

All rugs from Loom

A jewellery story

This is what my hand looks like today.
A result of making for more than 20 years. It is mainly a result of hammering into my ring mandrel when I make rings.
I had been ignoring the pain in my hand for about 6 months, then last week I could not ignore it anymore and went to a doctor who recommended me to see a hand specialist. I felt very Zoolander for a while then remembered that the character was a hand model, something that I could never aspire to as I have worker's hands.
I am still making as I don't have another option and I am sure that it will get better.

The main reason that I am posting this is to offer a word of warning to other makers: to take care of their bodies and to ensure that the processes that they use to create support a healthy practice.
I despair when I am teaching and I see students sitting at their benches with their legs crossed. I think of their backs after 20 years of making and am continually asking students to sit properly at their benches with both feet on the ground.

The pink shading on the edges of the photo is the result of my new nana phone case which is patent pink. The reflection seems to create a pink edge to images. The fact that it doesn't bother me is also a result of 20 years of making, or being a sort of nana (without the grand kids).

This image is here to remind you of the results of a healthy work practice.
Image by Tim Walker from here

To Have ring

18ct white gold To Have ring set with old cut diamonds.