New Zealand born, Australian based artist Julia deVille combines taxidermy (the art of preserving dead animals), with jewellery making and fashion design, DISCE MORI (Latin for Learn to Die). Julia does not kill any animals for her art, choosing only to use creatures that have died of natural causes. She says of the ‘Bird skull brooch’ (from nothing magazine)

That was actually a bird that my old cat caught that I had outside and it was a bit mangled, so I couldn’t really taxidermy it. So I just threw the whole thing in a jar of methylated spirits, cleaned it out, and left some feathers on it. I then filled the eyes with cubic zirconias. That was before I was working with diamonds or precious gemstones.

Julia is inspired by the Memento Mori jewellery of the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries and Victorian Mourning jewellery. She is fascinated by the acceptance of death in these periods. She uses symbols of death through out her to identify with the concept that, we are in fact mortal creatures. She uses taxidermy to challenge people to reassess the way our society views the use of animals for art and fashion.

To find out more read this article in The Age.

Showing at The Dowse in Lower Hutt, NZ from 6 October to 27 March 2008. She shows a selection of miniature taxidermied jewellery pieces from mounted mouse-head brooches to sparrow chest pieces.

Fabulous inspiration for our fibre & mixed media inspired jewellery Whiplash competitions - last day to enter 15 November.

Crochet Jewelry: 40 Beautiful and Unique Designs by Waejong Kim and Anna Pulvermakher, published by Interweave Press (October 28, 2007)

Interweave books tend to follow a formula that means you know what you are getting beforehand. They are always very strong on technique with detailed information on tools and materials, and within the projects themselves there is lots of detailed pictures and illustrations of technique. This book follows this same formula and because jewelry is very material intensive with lots of bits and pieces they have a very detailed section on what all the findings and notions are actually for. And because crochet is the main medium - there is a very good pictorial how-to crochet, with basic stitches, shaping techniques and cables and rounds.

The projects themselves are incredible varied. Many of them utilise advanced jewelry and/or crochet techniques and are quite challenging, but there is an equal amount of simple and quick projects. While most of the projects in the book utilise fibre to create bright chunky style jewelry, however I learnt that crochet does not have to mean chunky - there is some very fine wire crochet used as well to create light and delicate pieces. Each chapter concentrates on necklaces or bracelets or rings or earings etc.

Caption: Loop’n-’link bracelet – for beginners, and is infinitely adjustable—make as many links as you like and work a necklace or belt to match.

My favourite projects are the chunky bright and fun designs like crochet covered beaded necklace, and the felted french knot rings. I think that the simple beaded crochet glasses keeper is very clever, the mixed media gemstone lariat with crochet motives attached is lovely, the organic bracelet is perhaps too chunky for me, but I like the idea behind the freestyle crochet then felted cuff with beads attached to it. There are many projects in here which I really don’t like - not my style at all - but there is enough different projects in here to suit most people.