9 years in, 9 months out...

The past nine months have been pretty huge for my jewellery/art practice. After 9 years of being tucked away in my humble little home studio amongst the trees, I took a huge leap of faith and decided to move my studio back out into the world.

Working from home made perfect sense while raising my two small, (now not so small, 7yr and 10yr), kiddos. However 9 years is a long time to be working in isolation, and I desperately missed the surrounding hum of productivity and banter.

For those new to my practice, i’ve been hand crafting jewellery and art objects for over 16 years. I launched my studio practice straight after graduating from Gold and Silversmithing at RMIT in 2008. My studio for many years was a vibrant light filled shared space in the famous/infamous Nicholas Building on the corner of Flinders Lane and Swanston street. It was a hive of creativity and inspiration, vibrating with energy and ideas.

When my first was born I tried to continue working by bringing my baby into the studio every day hoping she’d sleep while I chipped away at commissions and gallery stock, (rookie error on so many levels), but it soon proved impossible to juggle and I quickly learned that babies don’t adhere to “regular work hours”. Hence the decision to move my practice into a home studio was made. We packed up our Melbourne inner city lives and in 2015 put our roots down on the beautiful Mornington Peninsula.

This by far has been one of the best life decisions we ever made. Nestled amongst the trees and ocean, surrounded by wildlife, beautiful community and endless surf, life here is bliss.

While the kids were little I was able to work and nurse, creep down to the studio while my babies slept, be home when they were sick, and work around their part time kinder hours. The juggle was hard, but it made the most sense for us as a family over these formative and unpredictable baby years.

As they do though, the kids grew, and gradually I realised there was more consistency in our days. I suddenly felt a seismic shift in my role as a mum and the aching need for myself and my practice to step back out into the world.

The universe was clearly listening when a space became available in a building I’d been coveting for years. Nestled within the Dromana industrial estate, no 24 Collins Rd houses a number of small businesses, bringing together a thriving hive of activity and productivity. My studio within the building is perfectly tiny, housing a compact workshop and a small showroom where I can welcome clients and hold consultations.

I’m now eight months in and loving my new space. I’ve stayed fairly low profile while setting up and settling in, but as spring starts to bud i’m getting excited about some new projects and plans which are in the works. I’ll be sharing more about these in the not so distant future, so stay tuned!

Visitors are always welcome to the studio, I love friendly faces popping in to say hi, however if you’re on a mission to see some jewels or chat about a possible commission, its best to get in touch with me before hand as my hours can be a little erratic. I’m still very much on the clock as a mum with school runs, school holidays, random sick kids etc… and then there’s the surf, she’s a wily temptress.

You can shoot me an email at hello@natalia-mp.com to lock in a time to visit, or you can try your luck and just roll up. If the lights are on, come on in!