by Nellie Peoples | Jul 11, 2023 | Handshake8, Nellie Peoples
For many of the previous classes with Estela we had been oscillating between creatively exploring within two and three dimensions. In this session we played somewhere in between. We had a creative brief that was inspired by our latest collection of rings. It was a...
by Tui Diprose | Jul 6, 2023 | Handshake8, Tūī Diprose
Small moments. Fragments of my insides.Threads to pick up. Objects to place. Being with discomfort. Creating from that place. I see forests, oceans, rivers, land, weaving themselves through my mind, speaking their stories. pollution. deforestation. over harvesting....
by Rachael Chapman | Jul 1, 2023 | Handshake8, Rachel Chapman
This Post is like that bloopers section you sometimes get at the end of comedy movies. There were a couple of pieces made during the Estella Workshop phase that kinda crashed and burned. I tell myself “this is a time to experiment. If I’m not hitting the...
by Rachael Chapman | Jun 30, 2023 | Handshake8, Rachel Chapman
I want to say “this was another fun week of play”….but maybe that diminishes the process. With hindsight it’s true, but I am writing these posts several weeks after the online workshop and group crit. In the lead up, I’m always pushing...
by Grace Yu Piper | Jun 30, 2023 | Grace Yu Piper, Handshake8
We have just wrapped up 10 sessions with the fantastic Estela Saez. Sometimes it was crazy fun and other times it was deeply challenging. My practice is very material based, I am obsessed with stone and reluctant to work with other...
by Rachael Chapman | Jun 29, 2023 | Handshake8, Rachel Chapman
Weirdly, going back to the material that started this whole crazy mid-life career change, was kinda challenging. My little world had been so consumed with plastic’s and soft materials that I was a bit anxious getting back on the tools. To combat this, I spent a bit...
by Fran Carter | Jun 29, 2023 | Fran Carter, Handshake8
We are now marching down the path into winter here in Aotearoa, New Zealand and we have now come to the end of our online Masterclass Zoom sessions with Estela Saez-Vilanova. As new handshake mentees, we began our time with Estela in late Summer in February. It was...
by Rachael Chapman | Jun 28, 2023 | Handshake8, Rachel Chapman
I’ve loved all the little exercises we’ve been given to prompt ideas. For example: Drawing with our eyes closed. Drawing or Making with a word in mind They’re great to stop being overwhelmed when presented with a new project. I often think big, wild and whacky,...
by Lisa van Hulst | Jun 28, 2023 | Handshake8, Lisa van Hulst
I am so grateful for the energy of Estela Saez and the Handshake group during this series of workshops in what has been a difficult year for me personally. The spirit of generosity has been overwhelming as we’ve worked together through what has been frustrating,...
by Rachael Chapman | Jun 25, 2023 | Handshake8, Rachel Chapman
Nelson Jewellery Week – April 2023 Fun times in Nelson with Denise Callan and I wearing borrowed brooches as part ‘A Jewellers Game’ at Arden. Denise wears a Victoria Macintosh brooch Denise is laughing so hard in this shot she’s a blur in the...
by Nellie Peoples | Jun 22, 2023 | Handshake8, Nellie Peoples
After our usual feedback session about the previous week’s homework, the series of five rings, we were straight into inquiry through making. Estela had us return to the material that we conducted numerous experiments weeks earlier. I returned to steel signs my...
by Fran Carter | Jun 3, 2023 | Fran Carter, Handshake8
Suddenly we are at that point in the year where we wonder how we are now halfway through it! Feeling the centrifugal force of time consolidating at speed and everything happening all at once. Well, that has been my feeling anyway as I have been thrust from bouts of...
