Feedback.

I am endeavouring to update content for this feedback page as items are sold so that new customers can get a feel for me as a trader. Please stop by regularly to see new entries and thank you for your interest!

After happening upon Renee's beautiful and unique jewellery on her web page I contacted Renee to ask her if she would customise a design I had fallen in love with. She was quick in reply and happy to make the piece of jewellery to the specifications I desired. She was incredibly quick in making it and the same in posting it off to me. I am extremely happy with my piece of unique jewellery and have had many people comment on it when I wear it. I am looking forward to adding more of Renee's jewellery to my collection. Which design to choose though is the hard part, as they are all so lovely!    Julie Meagher.

There appears to be some strong interest at present and I am just waiting for the first sale. Seems your works really does look better in 3D than on the website.   Matthew Nisbet, Beauty, Opua, NZ

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Excellent jewellery item. It arrived quickly and very well packaged. Would highly recommend to others.   Moni Warring.

Great trade. Very happy with the brooch. Delivery was prompt, friendly and professional. I really recommend these quality, handmade pieces.    Rebeckah.

Drop dead gorgeous! Very beautiful jewellery as usual, thank you.    Corrinne.

Fantastic work of art. Very unique, thank you.    Pauline.

It has arrived and IT'S PERFECT!!! The photo didn't do it justice at all and we're thrilled with it. It arrived in perfect condition and was well wrapped.  We really appreciate all the thought that went into the design and are amazed at the short amount of time it took you to think of something so intricate. It was exactly what I had in mind but didn't have the know-how to do! Thanks very very much and good luck and very best wishes for your future as a jewellery designer!  Thanks also for the "blurb" you put with it - perfectly presented. The temptation to present it before the ceremony is very strong but we'll wait until 11th September.  Thanks Renee!   Jan McFarlane.

When I needed "something special" to complement my outfit for my son's wedding I approached Renée. With colour and style in mind she crafted me a wonderfully delicate choker and bracelet, crocheted in silver wire and incorporating tiny beads. I did feel very special wearing something just a bit different and from my part of the world. When guests from Auckland asked about my jewellery admiringly it was a real buzz to say it had been made in Marlborough by Renée.   Margaret Pringle.

I am delighted with my exquisite little lavender 'sprig' brooch. The silver stalks feel real and the soft purple colour in the flowers - How did Renée do that? It is just lovely!   Catherine Parker.

I love it! It's a delicate, texturally rich, colour filled dollop of happiness, even though it is a red cross through a heart. People stop to admire it where ever I go. I want more. I feel dressed up and original.   Kristine Hudson.

The brooch was given from the heart. I love wearing it and it means a lot of different things to me. I love the colour orange and the copper really enhances the colour. The intertwining of the wire symbolises the intertwining of friendships that I have made and the feelings that I have and that I can share.   Stephanie Doole. Adelaide, Australia

My brooch is like a magnet. Those who see it are immediately drawn to the beauty and style of it. The brooch is classic and that is what one wants, a high-quality classical piece of jewellery/art. It's the perfect liaison worn close to my heart.   Andrea Donaldson.

I love hearts so when I saw this heart brooch in red and black, my two favourite colours, I couldn't resist it. Whenever I wear it I get so many positive comments.   Carolyn Gibbons.

Thank you so much for the beautiful brooch, it is a stunning piece of work and I feel very lucky to have received it! Thank you!   Kate Hawkesby.

Keep up the good work. You are very clever! 10/10. Thanks. Lisa McLennan.

I came home today and your brooches were on the mat. Many thanks, they're beautiful!   Abigail McLellan. Glasgow, Scotland

In the News (1).The Marlborough Express, Tuesday, December 20 2005.

Self Promotion Best Marketing Tool, by Catherine Hubbard.

Making wearable art from wire couldn’t be more different from Renée Clothier’s day job.

Renée works at Marlborough Boys’ College as a Media Studies teacher, but has been keeping herself occupied out of class for several years by making jewellery out of copper, silver and gold-coloured wire.

“I really like to make things. When I am focusing on creating something I’m not worrying about other stuff which is happening in the world or my life,” she says. “This is my de-stress or unwind time.”

Renée has been collecting treasures like a magpie ever since she was a young girl. She especially loved storing the things she found on family holidays, such as shells, glass worn down by the sea and the skeletons of leaves.

Beginning with a whole lot of cats-eye shells, Renée made her start as a jeweller.

After seeing the work of 2004 World of WearableArt winner Claire Prebble, she began to se how versatile the medium of wire could be and started experimenting, using the wire to create in the same way wool is used to knit or crochet.

“It’s a simple technique, but it takes a long time,” she says. She uses harakeke (flax), beads, shells, sequins, and other treasures from her collection.

Renée has sold her unique pendants and brooches on Trade Me, but says online auction bidders seem to want a real bargain rather than paying a price which reflects that amount of work which goes into them.

There are also a few pieces around the country, which she has also given to friends. “I start making each piece as if it’s going to be for me,” she says. “I put a lot of myself into the pieces which means they’re all really hard to give away and sell. I like all of them so when I give them away as a present they’re quite special, they mean something to me.”

Renée says she has about 10 items she regularly wears. “It’s the number one thing on the marketing plan, to wear it myself. I get a lot of really good comments that way which is good, and it’s good to get feedback on what colours people would like to see and that sort of thing.”

Renée operated a stall at the car boot sale last year, where Gillan Gallery owner Toni Gillan was her “biggest fan”. Toni now sells her work in the gallery directly across the road in Appassionato 3, an extended exhibition of works from Marlborough artists themed around notions of passion, creativity and love or affection for Marlborough.

She likes her work to have a “real kiwiana feel”. “I use a lot of paua, that kind of aspect. It’s a big part of who I am – I’m proud to be a New Zealander and I like to incorporate that into my art as much as I can.”

Renée’s mother, Gill Clothier is also an artist known for her collage creations, one of which is on the Marlborough 2005 White Pages. While Renée and Gill’s mediums are very different, her Mum is supportive and encouraging. “It’s like a mutual fan club really.”

Renée’s work is at the Gillan Gallery, along with work by other Marlborough artists such as Clarry Neame, Sirpa Alalaakkola, Roger Sunneland, Nola Higgins, Peg Moorhouse, Jim Tannock, Rahel Brodi-Sharrock, Tika Greenlaw, George Dight, George Baxter and Brian Baxter.

In the News (2).The Marlborough Express, Tuesday, January 15 2002.

Patrons Promote Art Society, by Tessa Nicholson.

Increasing the profile of the Marlborough Art Society and its gallery are the aims behind a survey of patrons this summer.

Spokeswoman Renée Clothier said the survey forms had been in place during the latest exhibition, Summer Season, Marlborough Artists. She hopes the results will show just what works in the gallery and what doesn’t, from a viewer’s perspective.

Members and non-members have been targeted, with Ms Clothier keen to see how visitors find out about the exhibitions.

“We have the gallery on the Internet, on two sites. One site we have to pay for monthly, the other is free. Some of our members weren’t happy about that kind of medium or the money being spent. So it was important to find out if it attracted patrons to the gallery itself.”

What she has discovered is that word of mouth is the most prominent source of advertising, with a second group saying they had been encouraged by coming to a previous exhibition.

The number of visitors passing through the gallery was also a surprise, although Ms Clothier said there were four times more locals visiting than people from out of town.

“I was thinking that most of our (out of town) patrons would be from Christchurch, but I was totally wrong. It appears that most are from the North Island. A very high percentage are from Wellington.”

Knowing where the out of town market comes from will make it easier for the society to target areas when promoting the gallery in the future. She said the survey would also allow the society to evolve a programme that would suit not only its 250 members, but also the public.

“When it comes down to it we are a service organisation and we are not in it to make money. We want to offer the best possible exhibitions.”

“And a lot of people have commented that they have been really surprised by the quality of work, which is really nice. Because a lot of time people hear an ad or see a picture in the paper and have an image of an amateur organisation, before being surprised by the quality of the work.”