Melissa Gillespie portrait at her home studio in Adelaide, South Australia. Melissa creates handmade Contemporary Jewellery from Sterling Silver for her customers for gifts or personal treats.

About Me

BIOGRAPHY

Melissa Gillespie is a Contemporary Jeweller from Adelaide, South Australia who has been designing and making jewellery since 2004 following the completion of her Bachelor of Visual Arts Degree specializing in Jewellery and Metal at the South Australian School of Art.

During an eighteen-month tenancy at Adelaide’s collectively run jewellery studio Gray Street Workshop in 2005 and 2006, Melissa began to further immerse herself in the world of contemporary jewellery and objects by utilizing the unique opportunity to experiment with various ideas, materials and metalsmithing techniques in the presence of South Australian artists and mentors, Leslie Matthews and Julie Blyfield.

Since 2005 Melissa has participated in over 80 group exhibitions in South Australia and interstate including “New Design 2005” at Object: Australian Centre for Craft and Design in Sydney (NSW) in 2005, “The Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize” at the South Australian Museum in Adelaide (SA) in 2007, the “National Contemporary Jewellery Award” at Griffith Regional Art Gallery, Griffith (NSW) in 2008 and, the “Contemporary Wearable’s 21 Biennial Jewellery Award and Acquisition” at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery in Toowoomba (QLD) in 2021.

Melissa currently lives and works in the Northern suburbs of Adelaide pursuing a full-time jewellery practice from her home-based studio whilst her daughters are at school. Inspired by nature’s fragility and vulnerability Melissa continues to follow her passion for art and jewellery making, predominantly working with sterling silver and natural objects.

As well as producing a broad range of contemporary jewellery and objects for various shops and galleries across Australia, Melissa enjoys creating specific themed work for upcoming exhibitions and takes delight in the design and manufacturing process of hand crafting unique, ‘one of’ commission pieces for her clients.

Melissa’s unique Contemporary Jewellery pieces are currently available through various shops and galleries across South Australia, and in New South Wales and the ACT. (Please see her STOCKISTS page for specific locations).

Melissa Gillespie seated at her jewellery bench inside her home-studio in Adelaide, South Australia working on some handmade Contemporary Jewellery pieces in Sterling Silver.

INSPIRATION

When I was a little girl, my Grandpa taught me how to draw. He handed me a selection of lead pencils for my birthday and showed me how to introduce light and shade into my ‘still-life’ sketches. A year later he gifted me a fancy pen, a set of nibs and inks, and a lined notepad and taught me the art of Calligraphy.

Grandpa was a creative and skilled artist who dabbled in all kinds of different mediums, including drawing, painting, sculpture, furniture making, porcelain enameling, sign writing, stenciling, metalwork, welding, calligraphy and more.

Grandpa was a wonderful person, and an inspirational figure throughout my childhood years who nurtured my passion for art and keen eye for detail. He would often involve me in various creative projects of his own, always motivating and encouraging me to give things a go. But most of all, I remember the warmth and enthusiasm in which he showed me in relation to my own personal interest in art, and desire to create things.

When he passed away from a sudden stroke when I was eighteen years old, I was utterly devastated. Drawings and paintings from that time seemed to reflect the monumental loss, and so, from then on, art soon became an important part of my life and a means of therapy and self expression.

Years later I still think of Grandpa, and have a photo of us drawing at his kitchen table together when I was about five years old, and one of his hand painted watercolors from 1935 hanging up on display in my home-studio for inspiration.

Melissa Gillespie at her jewellery desk inside her home studio placing a new sterling silver and wrapped pendant onto a foam piece to place inside a personalized gift box. Melissa Gillespie's jewellery is always placed inside it's own gift box for her special customers.

ARTIST STATEMENT

As my interest and passion for art has evolved and grown over the years, so has my desire to create three-dimensional forms in metal, particularly Sterling Silver. I love bending, shaping, manipulating and creating unique forms and objects from wire. I love experimenting with how different pieces might fit together, and how they might be soldered together. I’m always thinking about what I can make next and how I can construct it. I love drawing, collecting, reading, brainstorming and daydreaming about new ideas and designs.

I draw inspiration from the fragile elements of nature and truly appreciate its vulnerability and beauty. I have always loved visiting local parks and gardens to not only see, feel and explore the native plant life, but also to collect unusual, organic objects from the garden floor that delight the eye. I enjoy utilizing some of these delicate forms in my art practice by wrapping and binding them with various materials such as cotton thread, fishing line, wool, silk, string, and wire, to evoke new and intriguing forms that can be worn on the body.

I am particularly fond of collecting twigs and transforming their rough surfaces into soft, ‘cocoon-like’ structures by wrapping them with fine cotton thread. After many years I still enjoy the repetitive nature of this wrapping process and find it quite calming and therapeutic - a bit like art therapy for my brain. I also take delight in wrapping Sterling Silver too, whereby layering the surface of the metal not only introduces a pop of colour into the piece, but also presents an interesting contrast between the polished or oxidized exterior of the metal, and the textural element of the coloured cotton thread.

Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATION

2002-2004
Bachelor of Visual Arts (Jewellery and Metal) Degree, Uni SA, South Australian School of Art, Underdale, SA

CAREER DEVELOPMENT & INVOLVEMENT (selected)

2019
Artist Talk - Gallery 1855, Tea Tree Gully, SA
Artist Demonstration - Fringe Festival, Pepper Street Arts Centre, Magill, SA
2018
Artist Demonstration - ProVision National Conference, Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide, SA
2015
Artist Demonstration - Little Treasures Christmas Show, Pepper Street Arts Centre, Magill, SA
2013
Artist Demonstration - ‘Artist of the Month’, Pepper Street Arts Centre, Magill, SA
2009
Consignment Artist - The JamFactory Contemporary Craft and Design and the Adelaide Festival Theatre, Adelaide, SA
Consignment Artist - eye2eye Fine Art, Rundle Street, Adelaide, SA
2008
Artist Business Workshop - Adelaide Town Hall, Adelaide, SA
SALA on Sale - Rundle Street Markets, Adelaide, SA
“Putting My Art Out There” Forum, Fullarton, SA
2005-2007
Volunteer - The JamFactory Contemporary Craft and Design, Adelaide, SA
2005-2006
Access Tenant - Gray Street Workshop, Adelaide, SA
2005
Basic Silver Jewellery Making Course - Adelaide Central School of Art, Norwood, SA

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022
“New Growth” March Front Window Exhibition, Naomi Schwartz Jewellery Design Gallery, Henley Beach, SA
2013
“Artist of the Month (November)” Pepper Street Arts Centre, Magill, SA
2008
“Intricate Red” (SALA Festival) Adelaide Arcade, Adelaide, SA
2006
“Artist of the Month (June)” Soda and Rhyme, North Adelaide, SA
“Simply Natural” Urban Cow Studio, Adelaide, SA
2005
“Fifth Floor” Grote Street Public Library, Adelaide SA (initiative of the Adelaide City Council & Carclew Youth Art Centre)

GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selected)

2024
"Zu Me & JCB" (SALA Festival) Zu design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
"Mother's Day Exhibition" Naomi Schwartz Jewellery Design Gallery, Henley Beach, SA
2023
"New Beginnings" Naomi Schwartz Jewellery Design Gallery, Henley Beach, SA
"REFRESH" Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
"Christmas Exhibition 2023" Art Images Gallery, Norwood, SA
“Small Works Art Prize 2023” Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy, VIC
2022
“TAG ME” Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“Charmed I’m Sure” KIN Gallery, Braddon, ACT
“Odds & Ends” (SALA Festival) Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“The Australian National Brooch Show” Contemporary Art Society of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
2021
“NEW” Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“Contemporary Wearable’s 21 Biennial Jewellery Award and Acquistion”, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Toowoomba, QLD
“The Australian National Brooch Show” Contemporary Art Society of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
2020
“Covert-20” Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“Emerge” (SALA Festival) Naomi Schwartz Jewellery Design Gallery, Henley Beach, SA
2019
“From the Kitchen Table” Gallery 1855, Tea Tree Gully, SA
“Christmas GIFS” Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“In the Drawer” Small Space Jewellery (Radiant Pavilion), Fitzroy North, VIC
“pins and needles” Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“The Australian National Brooch Show” Contemporary Art Society of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
“The Nature of Things” (Fringe Festival) Pepper Street Arts Centre, Magill, SA
2018
“Christmas Rocks” Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“Arty Party” Art Images Gallery, Norwood, SA
“pattern” (SALA Festival) Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“Entropy by the Sea” (SALA Festival) Naomi Schwartz Jewellery Design Gallery, Henley Beach, SA
“The Australian National Brooch Show” Contemporary Art Society of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
“The Doll Redefined” Gallery 1855, Tea Tree Gully, SA
2017
“Crackers” Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“BLOOM” Gallery 1855, Tea Tree Gully, SA
“d’angle it” (SALA Festival) Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“The Australian National Brooch Show” Contemporary Art Society of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
2016
“Naughty or Nice” Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“The Australian National Brooch Show” Contemporary Art Society of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
“linked” (SALA Festival) Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“Birds of a Feather” (Fringe Festival) Pepper Street Arts Centre, Magill, SA
2015
“that’s the spirit” Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“Thread” (SALA Festival) Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
2014
“Wear a Piece of Adelaide” Adelaide College of the Arts, Light Square & Adelaide Arcade, Adelaide, SA
2013
“Splash Out” (SALA Festival) Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“1st Anniversary Community Exhibition” Gallery 1855, Tea Tree Gully, SA
“HARVEST” Urban Cow Studio, Adelaide, SA
“the finer things” (SALA Festival) Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“Sound Echo Repeat” (SALA Festival) Red Poles, McLaren Vale, SA
“The Nature…” (SALA Festival) Gallery 1855, Tea Tree Gully, SA
“The Australian National Brooch Show” Contemporary Art Society of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
“Wear a Piece of Adelaide” Adelaide College of the Arts, Light Square, Adelaide, SA
2012
“the grass is always greener” (SALA Festival)  Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“Unravelled” Red Poles, McLaren Vale, SA
“The Australian National Brooch Show” Contemporary Art Society of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
“Wear a Piece of Adelaide” Adelaide College of the Arts, Light Square, Adelaide, SA
2011
“A Roman Christmas” Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“The Madhatter’s Tea Party Exhibition” Pepper Street Arts Centre, Magill, SA
2009
“It’s Simple… they match” (SALA Festival) Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“Brooch – The subject … III” Contemporary Art Society of Victoria, Fitzroy Library, Melbourne, VIC
2008
“CONCURRENT” Gallery 139, Stepney, SA
“National Contemporary Jewellery Award” Griffith Regional Art Gallery, Griffith, NSW
“Hooked, on the ear” (SALA Festival) Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“The Collectors Exhibition” Contemporary Art Society of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
“Linden Postcard Show 2008” Linden – Centre for Contemporary Arts, St Kilda, VIC
2007
“My Happiness Exhibition” Onya Soapbox, Adelaide, SA
“On the Cuff” (SALA Festival) Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“The Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize” South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA
“30th Alice Craft Acquisition” Territory Craft – Alice Springs, Alice Springs, NT
2006
“Definitioncy” The JamFactory Contemporary Craft and Design, Adelaide, SA
“Wrapped” Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“National Contemporary Jewellery Award” Griffith Regional Art Gallery, Griffith, NSW
“SIGNATURE + FORECAST” Bay Discovery Centre, Glenelg, SA
2005
“I see RED!” Red Poles, McLaren Vale, SA
“Zuest” Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“Full Circle” (SALA Festival) Zu Design jewellery + objects, Adelaide, SA
“New Design 2005” Object: Australian Centre for Craft and Design, Sydney, NSW

AWARDS

 2008
JamFactory Contemporary Craft and Design Award - High Commendation Award (SALA Festival)

PUBLICATIONS

2017
North Eastern Weekly (Messenger), Exhibition is just blooming, Pg.13 (Dec 6th 2017)
2014
Adelaide Matters, Issue #165 (Feb-March 2014)
2008
Adelaide Matters, Dare to be Different, Issue #100, Pg. 11-12 (July 16th – Aug 12th 2008)
2006
City Messenger, More than Fashion, Pg. 3 (Feb 2nd 2006)

Thanks for having a look around

Stay a while and meet my stylish Hook Earrings delicately handmade from my home-studio here in South Australia...

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