Little bits of coral to Giveaway

Brain coral brooch detail

I have a couple of little pieces of embroidered coral that were created as sort of byproducts in the long process of making You are an agent of change. They were, each in their own way, experimental. By backing and filling them, then sewing brooch pins on the back, I have made them into jewellery.

Back of staghorn brooch

I'm considering making more embroidered jewellery, partly to counterbalance the big fossil project I have committed myself to, which is going to take a year to complete. By interspersing that work with a variety of small, finite pieces, I hope to keep my enthusiasm for stitching fresh.

Through expanding the inventory in my Etsy shop to include some stitched jewellery, I hope to increase my sales. It certainly seems like jewellery sells a lot better than artist's books, both on Etsy and in real galleries where I have stocked books in the past. Naturally it would be nice to be making more money, especially from doing what I most enjoy.

But I'm also excited about the possibility that people wearing little pieces of stitched coral etc out in the world will find themselves having conversations about the stories I am stitching. For example, this piece of brain coral combines an embroidered representation of the bleached, dead coral with a crocheted representation of the live coral. In its 10x8cm size it encapsulates the threat of extinction, the hope of resiliance, hyperbolic and fractal mathematics and the links between small domestic actions and their cummulative environmental consequences.

Brain coral brooch (buy here)

The Bibliophilia July Giveaway is a staghorn coral brooch, embroidered to represent a fragment of bleached coral. If you would like to become an agent of coral conversations by wearing this subtle collection of white french knots on grey linen, simply comment below before 5pm 14 July (NZ time). How it works is the names go in a hat (black velvet at this time of year) and I interrupt my flatmate's enjoyment of rugby commentary on Sports Radio so he can pluck the winner. I love receiving comments, and I look forward to your feedback on this new line of jewellery.

Stitched staghorn coral brooch ( 6x3.5cm)