Sunday, August 30, 2015

Sneak Peek - Haiku Pendants


Sneak peek - 'Haiku' pendants. Polished, brushed, textured and oxidised. There are nine individual designs in these sterling silver minimalist pendants, hung on 70 cm chains.


The 'Haiku' pendant is launching soon! Sign up to my newsletter for exclusive access and be the first to know when they're in the shop.

Saturday, August 22, 2015

About Me


It's tricky to condense ones sense of self and ones creative ambitions in to just a few paragraphs. But yesterday I spent some time re-writing my About page, trying to do just that. I want these paragraphs to make sense to those who have been following me for some time, and also for those who may have only just stumbled upon my work. I hope I have found that balance and I truly value your feed back! 

Thanks, as always, for taking the time to share my journey and check in and add your thoughts. xx

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I'm Christina Lowry and I design meaningful jewellery pieces for men and women who embrace a classic, refined style. Each piece is carefully hand crafted in my Brisbane workshop using recycled silver and gold. By combining my fine art university training and my traditional metal smithing skills, I am able to design and make unique pieces for my clients that reflect their own understated elegance in ready to wear or bespoke items.

My clients are men and women who are searching for unique wedding rings, precious gifts, repairs or redesigns for existing pieces of jewellery or strands of pearls that need re-threading, as well as a one of a kind pieces incorporating their own pearls or gemstones.
From concept and design, to execution and presentation, I work with each client to create future heirlooms, documenting and sharing the entire process with them.

My blog is a collection of my creative work, inspiration and musings on motherhood and life.

Find out more by signing up to my newsletter and following me on Instagram.


I'd love it if you left a comment so that I know you've visited and we can connect in this wonderful online community. :)

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Custom Ordered Wedding Rings


I'm celebrating the addition of wedding rings to my online shop, and I would love you to click over and browse through the new collection! 
Each of the nine rings is customisable, so you can add your own creative vision to the creation of your special piece.
To order, choose your design and metal type and add it to your cart. Add a $2 ring sizer to determine your ring size. I'll post the ring gauge out to you and as soon as I have your size I will get started on making your ring. Already know your ring size? Great! Just leave a note at checkout with your size and allow 2-3 weeks for your ring to be made to order and delivered.
If you decide on a listed style in a different width, a different metal type, of the addition of engraving, send me an email and I will provide a quote and list your custom order in the store once you give me the go ahead.
Browse the collection here and email me at christina-lowry@hotmail.com
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PS. Don't forget to sign up to my newsletter in the bar at the top of the page in order to receive news about each new collection, market and promotion!

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

New In The Shop - Wedding Rings


How many times have you been searching for something in particular and though you couldn't describe it, you knew you would know it when you saw it? Like the perfect pair of shoes to match an outfit. The right bedspread for your bedroom. A gift for a loved one. After thirteen years in the jewellery industry I have found it's the same for wedding rings. 

So many people are a bit lost in the woods when it comes to choosing a wedding ring, but when they see the right one, they know it! I've custom made many wedding rings over the years, working on the design with the client. But to make the process easier, I have created a collection of wedding rings and listed them in my store. Each is available to be custom ordered in your chosen metal (Silver, 9ct or 18ct, White, Yellow or Rose gold), your chosen width and finger size. I've listed several combinations of metal and widths in the store, but as the combinations are endless, you need only contact me for a quote on your desired design. The addition of Diamonds, gemstones or engraving are also possibilities when creating a wedding ring that you will love wearing and which says something about you and your love.

Browse the new collection here and get in contact with me by emailing me at christina-lowry@hotmail.com. I would love to take the confusion out of choosing a wedding ring and create a unique, handmade ring, just for you.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Australian Ceramics Open Studio


It's not very often you get to wander around an artist's workshop, peer in to their collections of tools, discuss their gallery of work, while also making and decorating your very own clay plate. But so was my day yesterday. In a picturesque Brisbane street, with trees yawning over the road, a cat languidly crossed from one side to another as I walked up to a tall Queenslander. One might not expect the hive of creative activity on it's ground floor. 

Five kilns line up at attention in Stephanie Outridge Field's Studio. A gallery ringed with white plinths supports work from learned hands. While the work space features work concerned with motifs of home, leaves and texture. Amid the blocks of clay, pots of colour and works of art, one is invited to try their hand at smoothing, cutting, soothing and decorating their very own plate, under the guidance of Rachel Cramer. And what a joy that was! The cold soft clay. The tips and techniques. The act of making. I was reminded that I am more at home working with metal than I am with clay! But I thoroughly enjoyed it.  

My lovely, wonky plate supported a painted and pricked out doily inspired design - of course - which I am so excited to see dried and fired. I could not resist Rachel's scallop textured cups and a faceted sculpture/bowl created by Stephanie. They will be well loved additions to my collection. Indeed, I hope one day to have a few more pieces of my own making fired in those very kilns...

Many thanks again to Stephanie and Rachel, and to Australian Ceramics for organising the Open Studio weekend. If you are local to Clayfield, Brisbane, pop in today (Sunday, 16/2/15), or else check out the other open studio's being hosted all around Australia today.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Good, Good Things


A four leaf clover I found on the walk home from school today - I am planning on pressing it between the pages of a library book, so that someone else may find it by chance.

The Australian Ceramics Open Studio program runs this weekend (15 & 16th August 2015). Potters all over Australia are opening their workshop doors and inviting the public in to see them at work, join in workshops or buy handmade table and home wares. I love ceramics and pottery, and am slowly replacing my mass produced store brought kitchen and table ware with beautiful handmade pieces! I am hoping to visit Rachel and Stephanie in Clayfield. 

A wonderful read for expectant Mothers, new Mothers and even Grandmothers - The Kindred Collective has released their first e-magazine with the theme of Birth. A beautiful and moving collection of pieces written by writers you will recognise. If there are two things I love, it is hearing others birth stories and talking about my own. Find a comfy chair, a patch of sun, a cup of tea and perhaps some tissues, then settle in to read these heart felt words. (A percentage of the profits go to the Hamlin Fistula Hospital.)

A scrap book of images of Composition books owned by famous artists. I write in Composition books on a daily basis - I write my Morning Notes in them and I have another one for jotting down ideas for photo shoots, collections, market displays etc. (I buy mine here.) They are cheap, classic, lined journals without that pressure you can feel when putting pen to paper in a 'nice' journal. 

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Kind and Generous


'I have become what I never wanted to become.' The thought struck me recently as I recalled a funeral I had attended as a teenager. I held my boyfriend's hand as a priest spoke about his Grandmother's life. Despite never having met her, I left feeling so disappointed on her behalf. Her whole life had been summed up by saying she was a wonderful Mother and a kind and generous friend. It seemed paltry praise for a women who had taken a slow boat from one side of the world to the other to grow up on Australian soil. A woman who had waited for family and friends to return from wars. Who had watched as domestic life changed and her copper boiler and ice chest were replaced by a washing machine and a fridge. Who watched with wonder as man walked on the moon. Who traveled the world. My teenage self railed against this distillation of her life to 'wife and friend'. I never wanted to be 'just a mother', 'just a friend.' I wanted more. A bigger life. A life you couldn't contain within one sentence.

Yet, with age and wisdom I realise how deep and meaningful those words were. I realise I am following in her foot steps. I am wife, friend and mother. And these are big things. I am valuing similar ideals. I too want to be a wonderful Mother, a generous friend. What is more important in life than to be kind and generous? How simple and profound to be remembered as such. 

There are different ways to live a big life, but surely none are more important than loving and being loved?
Go and tell someone you love them. xx

Monday, August 3, 2015

Conquering Creative Block



I'm always trying to better understand my own creative process. Creativity is never constant. It comes and it goes. You can train yourself to turn it on when you need to - like designing to a brief for a customer. But when it kicks in on it's own time, those are the precious time when my mind starts spilling over with ideas and my main aim is to catch as many on paper as possible before that tap switches off again.

I cherish those creative streaks. I believe that feeding your creative self is the first way to make sure that well doesn't run dry. Keep consuming new books, blogs and podcasts that excite you. Make contact with other creatives. Take time to make things unrelated to your creative field. Visit galleries and museums. Fill your bucket with pebbles each time you nourish your creative self and eventually that bucket will over flow and all your authentic ideas spill out.

And so it has been lately. I have been reading books like Lisa Messenger and Sophia Amoruso, I have joined The Thriver Circle, and as a result I have critiqued and revamped my online shop, I have designed my next three collections, I have been planning my next two photo shoots with my photographer, I have purchased a new collection of gemstones, and I have been taking notes and sketching ideas and planning blog posts constantly. Once the flow begins to peter out, it is time to truly get to work making all those ideas a reality.

This week my bench time is reserved for resizing a pair of custom made engagement rings, hand making a pair of while gold wedding rings, and crafting a white gold sapphire and diamond pendant to match a custom made ring I made earlier in the year. Then I will be back to working on my latest collection - gents wedding rings - and planning the photo shoot, location, model etc. I can't wait!

The key to conquering creative block? I think it is to love what you are doing, and feed your creative self!

Here's to a creative week! xx

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Photos by Trudi Le Brese.
Model: Harriet McAtee
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