Crowning jewellers

MARION VAN DIJK/Nelson Mail

BEJEWELLED: Klustre 2008 curator Peter Elsbury with Gaya Selder's Frosted Leaf with gold, left, Claire Allain's brooch and his own Elemental brooch, below.

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Look out Dunedin - Tom Hunt discovers Nelson jewellers believe they have the ability to knock the southern city off its jewellery perch.

A loosely formed group of Nelson-region jewellers has come together for an exhibition that could threaten Dunedin's reputation as the headquarters of New Zealand jewellery.

"I guess it's an informal group," curator and participating jeweller Peter Elsbury says of the 11 artists exhibiting in the annual exhibition Klustre.

"There's no constitution - no one's signed anything."

Klustre was founded for an exhibition to coincide with the Nelson Arts Festival in 2000, he says.

"It was the largest and most diverse of its kind that Nelson had seen, and so well received that we were encouraged to carry on."

Over that time the standard of jewellery in Nelson has steadily improved, he says.

"It's getting to the point where Dunedin had better watch out. That was traditionally the centre of jewellery but I think it's shifting this way."

This year, "to continue in the vein of innovation and diversity", the group has extended invitations to Golden Bay jewellers, with two joining the exhibition.

"A major objective of the Klustre show is to highlight the rich diversity of design, fabrication techniques and experience to be found among its members."

Elsbury, a Channel Islands-born jeweller who works out of Nelson's Lustre Gallery, says his own works reflect his love for the environment.

Takaka artist Gaya Selder is a first-timer in Klustre.

"The jewellery scene in Nelson is very artistic," she says.

"It's very good quality and good variety and choices, but lacking, I think, the gold part of it."

Expensive materials appear to be a fascination for Selder who, as well as working in gold, does a lot of work in blue pearl - a pearl from Akaroa paua that can take nine years to grow and cost up to $1000 each.

She says she wants to specialise in working with the pearls, which are rarely used by Nelson-region jewellers.

The Dutch-born Selder says she used to make jewellery in her homeland but moved to New Zealand 18 years ago and has been working as a nurse until a recent accident caused her to become a fulltime jeweller.

"It's a big difference and I think I am now totally ready to let the whole nursing part go."

After five to six years back in jewellery, she says she finally feels that her work is good enough to exhibit in Klustre.

Her work is available from various outlets around the region and many pieces, including the ones in Klustre, are one-offs.

Also exhibiting in Klustre are Nic Wooding, Mieke van Dam, Liz Kendrick, Laura Richards, Jenny Ferrow, Ian Longley, Duncan Leask, Claire Allain and Ashley Hilton.

The exhibition at Refinery Artspace, 3 Halifax St, runs until February 8.

- © Fairfax NZ News