The Grand Old Dames of Ballarat
by Charmaine Channells
Alas, exhibition is now finished. Thank you to all who visited! Please contact me for any information or follow on socials for any updates.
Ballarat’s iconic buildings
re-imagined as portraits
The Grand Old Dames pay homage to iconic Ballarat buildings as imagined interpretations of their personas. Dignified identities as portraits with architectural ornament integrated within. A small recognition of the result of human vision and prowess, embedded in the streetscapes that make Ballarat special.
The Grand Old
Dames of Ballarat
As a child, my mind’s eye would wander the curves and edges of decorative items
The carved leg of a table, repeating patterns on wallpaper, aesthetic delights of age-old buildings. I am still the country kid who ‘looks up’ in cities noting transitions between historical decorative periods and marvelling at the architectural motifs, simple or elaborate, achieved by human hands.
These buildings were created with care and flair for development of the city, their purpose and beautification for generations to appreciate. They are what makes the city identifiable. As each Dame emerged a relationship began, both of us asking the audience to observe and contemplate details around them, in architecture and in life. Detail shifts confusion to clarity, curiosity into knowledge and transforms the ordinary into the exceptional.
Are you the custodian of a Grand Old Dame? Would you like to see her personified in portraiture? Speak to Charmaine about commission.
Charmaine Channells
The Artist
Photo by Sonia Macak
A fine jeweller by profession, Charmaine is an emerging artist whose practice is grounded in a lifelong appreciation of meticulous skill. She is inspired by original masters of design and their levels of accomplishment. Where beauty and detail is applied to objects of fancy or function, simple or ornate to become lasting legacies.
Originally from rural Western Victoria, she was influenced by farming resourcefulness, the ingenuity of the men in her family and her mother’s eye for aesthetics. Qualities that guide her work today.
Her fascination for decorative arts led to an apprenticeship in precious set jewellery making with Thomas Jewellers, Ballarat. Under the expert tutelage of Viktor Masinskas, she honed her skills in precious gem set jewellery. Highlights were placing second, during her second year, in the Victorian Workskills (now Worldskills) competition, 1988, and an industry award the following year.
Backpacker travel including participation on an archaeological dig in Israel highlighted, from 2000 years ago, the need for human expression and adornment through artisanal skill.
Later years, in NSW, Charmaine worked with antiques and attained a Diploma of Gemmology. Further study in fine art and design expanded her artistic capabilities. She earnt awards from the International School of Colour and Design (ISCD) and a nomination for Design Institute of Australia, Graduate of the Year Award, (NSW), 2009.
A return to Ballarat and after numerous career interruptions she picked up the paint brush to experiment with a long held ‘twinkle’ of an idea and the Grand Old Dames appeared!
A treasuresmith is a creator or curator of rare and precious things; not just a collector, but someone who crafts or discovers beauty, meaning or value where others might not see it.
“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.”
- Thoreau
treasuresmith
Hand-made bespoke shoelace aglets for bettybossyboots Cameo Comrades
bespoke shoe exhibition.
Before and after etui restoration
About treasuresmith
treasuresmith is the broader expression of Charmaine Channells’ practice, extending beyond jewellery into collaborative design, restoration, replication and repair.
treasuresmith opens the door to collaboration with other makers in designing custom components or accessories for their projects. With an understanding of materials, construction and decorative detail, Charmaine can work across a wide range of disciplines to create and restore functional and ornamental pieces. By listening to identify what someone needs, then crafting something that complements their work, their object, or their story.
Of small antique and sentimental objects too, Charmaine brings care and precision to pieces that hold personal or historical value.
At its heart, treasuresmith is about thoughtful making, whether that’s collaborating on something entirely new, or giving new life to something that already exists.