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Artistic Vision
To take a stone that has been moulded and created by superhuman forces and powers; that has all colours in unsurpassed strength, enfolded in hematite and wrapped in ironstone - The Perfect Stone - and be able to give it that human touch, so that God and Man become intertwined, Heaven touches Earth and leaves its mark. Man is left gasping.
We take malleable metal versus a rigid stone and we blend the two. In our clumsy way, we can bend, stretch, drill and screw the unbendable, the unstretchable, the undrillable and the unscrewable.
Here we have an unappreciated and undervalued little-known stone that is screaming out for acceptance. I can play a role in holding the stone high and displaying it to the Planet. I have played my Art.
Artistic Journey
I have always been driven by a burning need to create. My statements are three-dimensional. They have been created to be worn, displayed and shown off proudly to the world; from my early days of playing pirates, using my mother's jewellery box as stolen treasure, gems have led me by my hooked nose up the garden path to paradise.
Customer Appeal
You are an unusual man or woman to share my visions. My jewellery is not for the faint-hearted, or the conventional. You must have idealistic creative vision to share in my fantasy. I bring out the Delight in The Stone, which will then enhance the personality. Often my jewellery needs understated clothing if not pure nudity. The Piece Is All. This then affords a bond between the Creator and the Appreciator of Beauty.
Which, like The Stone, is Everlasting, Honest, Pure and Loyal.
Quirky Detail
Feast your eyes on my face for Quirk! Hewn from the Rock, Sculptured from the Dust. Stone for Bone, I am Mac, and very pleased to meet you.
So stood the Artist's Statement for Ian McArthur at the pinnacle of his career, for the award winning design, 'Earth's Curve', his most ambitious piece and supreme winner of the prestigious Gemmological Association of Australia's Australian Gemstones in Jewellery Design Awards for the year 2000.
After a string of awards you are still likely to find Mac in an ironstone opal stained pair of shorts, sorting opal in dirty water, or cutting the stone whilst being sprayed with dirty water, or bent over his bench, concentrating on wrapping the stone in precious metals, still very down to earth, and with his quicksilver mind mulling over the next project.
Mac will happily stop everything to show customers and everyone interested this stone that inspires him, and to wax lyrical
A fellow artist touched on Mac's buoyant easy-going nature by asking him what he did when he got depressed. Mac replied: "I don't get depressed." This is a forward thinking, forward moving artist. What does the future hold for Mac?
"My aim was always to show people Queensland Ironstone Matrix opal, to educate them in the unique qualities of this Queen of Gems, and then sell two: one to keep and one to give away"Mac's love for working with opal has led him to venture into the outback many times in recent years - to find those elusive, special stones. Early in 2002 he purchased the Brandy Gully Mine, reputed to have been a million dollar mine in its heyday. Mac has high hopes that there is still much opal to be dug out.
"What has inspired you recently?"
"I made a pair of earrings for a UK customer, the commission was to cover the whole ear from top to bottom, and to be delicate and tasteful. I began by attaching each earring to a pair of holes in each lobe. The difficulty was that gravity pulled them out and away from her face. To prevent this, I hooked them behind the ear like reverse spectacles with gold tipped fine stainless steel. They are quite spectacular. Will they catch on? I really don't know.""What of future projects, Mac?"
"Opal eggs have been a feature in our lapidary workshop over the past two weeks. I gave one to a friend, and he has been inspired to commission an opal knob for an electric wheel chair. Ideas are things that grow if you nurture and tend them.""I start with the stone. I carry it around for months sometimes and show it to people to get their reaction, and gradually the plan comes together. the slower I go, innovations result, and the better the end creation. There's always room for improvement. I'm never completely happy, which further inspires me to reach out further each time with each new stone."
That's a luxury not available to many people in their jobs today. Mac is aware of his good fortune.
"Mind you, on the practical side, I've been talking about very special pieces. I still have to pay the bills, and to do that I produce up to half-a-dozen pieces of jewellery a week, and many varied repairs as well. This week I'm making eleven opal belt buckles due to travel to Germany next week."
Mac operates from a studio gallery under his house at the East End of Bellingen, just outside of Coffs Harbour, Northern NSW. The picturesque village nestled in a river valley between the mountains and the coast is in itself an inspiring environment, but with a population of under 30,000 can you continue to sustain yourself in such a small economy?
"The deflated value of the Aussie dollar is increasingly bringing more tourists to the area. Once these people find me, communication being what it is, they never lose me. Email is virtually instant. The home grown customers know when they are on to a good thing and they stick to it. I'm the McArthur, but they return."
If you would like to know more details about this quirky artist his contact details are
MAC ART JEWELLERY
Australian enquiriesFAX: (02) 6655 9422
PHONE: (02) 6655 2588
WALK IN: Art Jewellery Studio
SNAIL MAIL: 2 Cahill Street, Bellingen, 2454 NSW, Australia
