2008 Perfect Pieces Jessica Morrison Baked Not Fried My Pet Rock My Pet Rock Jewellery Rocks in my Head Twice Bitten Twice as Nice 2007 Pieces of Eight #2 Sweet Dominance #2 Sweet Dominance Top-Secret Tippling Precious Pretty Things Brooch the Subject Portals and Night Vision Appetising Jewellery 2006 Gleam Weavers Pieces of Eight Nina Ellis Folk Art Nibbles Tasty Little Snags Lucy Folk: Nibbles Fast Food Nation Sightlines Goodbye Robot The Treasure Chest I Made it Myself Correlation Elfrun Lach: Correlation Under the Sea Shop News Flying the Jolly Roger What's New in Town ARTicle Spring 2006 After graduating from RMIT Gold and Silversmithing in 2002, Nina Ellis has worked predominantly in precious metal. However, since becoming the recipient of the 2005 Emerging Artist Initiative and being mentored by ceramic artist Titania Henderson, Ellis has been developing a entirely new body of work. After a long process of experimentation, Ellis has developed an innovative and fresh approach to working with porcelain. Her jewellery pieces see her ‘setting’ stones and precious metal into the porcelain, and all are fired together in the kiln at high temperatures of up to 1300 degrees. What are you working on at the moment? I am currently working on wearable pieces, mainly neckpieces and brooches, for my first solo show, Welcome to Gemrock. I am working with a combination of stained porcelain with fine gold and gem stones. The pieces are the result of an Arts Victoria Mentorship grant I received in 2005 through Craft Victoria. My objective for the mentor project was to introduce a new material into my practice as a gold and silversmith with the intention of showing the pieces in exhibition as a solo show. My current work is tying up the proposed project, but will continue on as a part of my practice. Alongside my exhibition work I am also attempting to keep up my production work in various outlets, including introducing a new range of rings into one of my retail gallery outlets, although this is getting more and more squeezed out of my timetable as the exhibition draws near. Why are you an aritst? I am an artist because my work, being a designer-maker, comes naturally to me. Expressing myself creatively is what has always given me the greatest satisfaction. I have had fantastic support and encouragement from my parents, who never really gave me a reason to question my decision to become an artist. What inspires you? I am constantly inspired by the fine details of nature, including delicate textures and graceful lines. As I work, I am also inspired by the material I am working with, by looking at what is unique about it and ways it will work best. For my current exhibition work, I have been looking at geological texts and images for inspiration as well as historic jewellery pieces which included famous gem stones.