Golden Ink Collaborative - The Beginning

Today we welcome Abby Seymour and Katherine Wheeler, the amazing ladies behind Golden Ink Collaborative. Abby and Katherine are both talented artists in their own right and together have created a unique jewellery and homewares business. This week we will get an exclusive glimpse into the life of the Golden Ink Collaborative- be sure to check out Golden Ink on Twitter and Facebook too!! -Jenny x

Some of the Golden Ink Collaborative Range - images by Olga Bennentt

Behind the small bespoke porcelain jewellery and object business, 'Golden Ink Collaborative,' are two artists, Abby and Katherine, who together handmake and design all Golden Ink creations.

Abby and Katherine

Abby has a printmaking background, and I (Katherine) have a gold and silversmithing background. We met and studied at art school (RMIT) together, and through visiting each other's studios and lots of coffees, found that we both had the same passion for detail, perfection, beauty, the handmade - and hard work.

Some examples of Katherine's silversmithing work

Some examples of Abby's illustration and installation pieces

After graduating, we embarked on the adventure of merging our respective skills and aesthetics to create wearable art works. We wanted to find a way to merge Abby's imagery / illustration with my three dimensional / jewellery works, and make the work in a way that was wearable and durable, without compromising on the quality of artistry or our integrity as artists.

Through years of talking, making and experimenting we trialled different mediums, until we found the happy and successful medium of porcelain, and Golden Ink Collaborative was born.

The first Collaborative exhibition between Abby and myself was 'Hidden Facets'‚ shown at Hand Held Gallery in Melbourne, which then traveled to Gaffa Gallery in Sydney in 2010. This initial joint exhibition consisted of large‚ exhibition works that subsequently formed the basis of the aesthetic for the first range of wearable porcelain jewellery.