Enamelling in progress

New websites, new blog

2012-01-30T20:44:00.002Z

I have been creating a new website to give more details of the courses I will be running in my newly redesigned studio. Throughout 2012 I will be expanding the variety of courses on offer and inviting guest tutors to teach here. It will be an exciting year, full of experiment and adventure.

If you want to see more please visit either my new website for course details and booking information at http://metal-clay.co

Or to see the developments in my studio and my new work visit me on www.metal-clay.com

Thanks!

A little bird

2011-11-05T20:41:00.001Z

I have been teaching a student today, learning about cloisonné enamelling. It gave me chance to do a little tiny bird pendant, smaller scale than I usually work, this one is approximately 12mm across by 15mm length.

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Flowers

2011-09-28T19:17:00.000+01:00

I have been looking at the flowers that remain in the garden as Autumn draws in. When I view my work it is obvious that I have constantly used flowers as a source of inspiration over the years.

I love both the structure and the colours in this honeysuckle, as well as it's wonderful perfume.

Here are some of the ways in which I have used flowers in my work. For more information on these pieces see my website www.lynne-glazzard.com
or www.lynne-glazzard.co.uk where you can find information about my courses in jewellery making, metal clay, art clay silver and enamelling.

Crafts at the Castle Museum York

2011-09-14T17:57:00.001+01:00

I have had a lovely couple of days at the Castle Museum York, along with other talented crafts people doing demonstrations of workshops that will be running at the museum later in the year. You can see more about this on the Castle Museum blog here
http://www.ymtblog.org.uk/category/castle/

Just as as reminder I will be running a workshop making 1960s inspired plastic rings on the 1st October, booking through the Castle Museum

You can see more about this on my website

There is information about metal clay and art clay silver on my new blog here

1960s Inspired Rings

2011-08-28T09:41:00.001+01:00

I am busy preparing for a workshop I am running at the Castle Museum York Saturday 1st October 2011. The workshop will be inspired by the Sixties Gallery in the museum. They have a fantastic collection of bright and groovy stuff. This is a photo I took on my last visit

Today I have been making a selection of ring blanks ready for the class to use.

The workshop will run from 10am until 3pm and is £20 per person
You will make your own funky sixties inspired plastic ring

To book a place telephone York Museums Trust on 01904 650333

It is part of a much larger programme of events being organised by York Museums Trust (including a silver clay class on 12th May 2012) and there will be two days of taster sessions with demonstrations by some of the makers running on Saturday 10th September and Monday 12th September.

Why not come along and have a look and sign up for something interesting..... Hope to see you there!

Location:York, Castle Museum

More metal clay thinking

2011-08-20T07:11:00.000+01:00

I have begun a new website specifically for my work and classes in metal clay. Find me at www.metal-clay.com You can subscribe and comment and I will be using that website blog style, as I like the more active nature of a blog rather than the traditional static website.

I will continue to post here too - but will keep them different from each other

Mary's shoes with Serena Patridge

2011-08-17T16:40:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I had a brilliant day taking part in a workshop run by local artist Serena Partridge. The workshop was called 'Mary's shoes' referring to an exhibition about the Weatherill family of artists currently showing at the Pannett Art Gallery, Whitby.

Serena demonstrated to the class,showing us her methods for constructing beautiful little paper shoes and we then went on to make our own versions, choosing from the patterns and papers that she had provided. At the end of the day most of us had made two or three little shoes, each of which has its own imagined story.

These are the shoes made by the whole group. As you can see they are very individual and beautifully decorated (and that most people in the group actually made a pair of shoes).

Here are my three shoes. I began with a fairly small example and made them progressively smaller. This was a fabulous day and I would like to do this again sometime. I wish I had made labels and a story for each of them, they do really lend themselves to story telling!

There will be more workshops at the Pannett through August. On the 18th, 23rd, 25th, 30th August and 1st September are a series of drama workshops for children. They are running from 1.30pm to 3.30pm and will be exploring and imagining life in Whitby for the people shown in the Weatherill paintings.

On Friday 26th August from 10am until 4.30pm there will be a drop-in workshop looking at Womens' work in Whitby during the 1800-1900s. You can learn about traditional Ganseys and participate in rag rugging.

Booking for any of the workshops is essential - telephone 01947 602051

Micro fold forms

2011-08-05T10:48:00.001+01:00

I have spent a lovely couple of days in my studio with Jill Leventon, a good friend and talented maker and Enameller. I have made these small copper pleated forms and it is quite addictive. I will need to try more of this as soon as I have a bit of free time, thanks Jill

Time out

2011-07-31T22:29:00.000+01:00

I don't know where the past few weeks have gone but they have simply flown by. Last week I ran a couple of interesting workshops in my own studio; the first for a couple who spent the day making their wedding rings In sterling silver and gold using traditional techniques and the second for a couple who made some beautiful pieces in their first foray into art clay silver. I have a couple of commissions half done on the bench and am making samples for a 1960s inspired rings class that I will be running at the Castle Museum in York on the 1st October. I will try and post some pictures of them in the next few days!

Summertime inspirations

2011-06-25T19:16:00.000+01:00

I have had a few days off this week to catch up with some of my family and relax. The beauty of always having my mobile phone with me is that I can take pictures anywhere. The seeds heads with a ladybird was taken on a quick visit to Harlow Carr Gardens in Harrogate.

This beautiful picture is my Dad's garden. It was lovely to see the roses in full bloom and the sunshine on his collection of unusual plants. He does sometime open his garden to visitors and you can see more here on his website

On the journey home across the Yorkshire Wolds I stopped to take a photo of this field on the rolling hillside, a mass of poppies growing through the yellow flowers of the rapeseed crop.

The birds and the beads

2011-05-31T19:43:00.000+01:00

I am preparing to take part in North Yorkshire Open Studios which this year runs over 5 days June 10/11/12 and 18/19 10.30 to 5.30 each day. I will be having a small opening event on Friday 10th June from 5.30 until 6.30pm when I will be showing my bird inspired Jewellery and launching a new range of small bead bracelet kits.

Just send me a message if you are intending to come along, it will be lovely to see you!

Plique a jour and lots of other fun

2011-05-22T20:05:00.000+01:00

I have had the most amazing weekend. The very talented metal clay artist Lesley Messam has been up to North Yorkshire (together of course with her lovely husband Keith). We were a little sad as Joy Funnell was originally going to come as well, but couldn't because of other commitments. She did very kindly email some notes on plique a jour enamel to help us on our way. On Friday we had a day out in Whitby but Saturday and Sunday were spent in studio, teaching each other all kinds of things and laughing and experimenting along the way.

I have a large stone set and ready to attach to my partly made ring. The main achievement for me was actually doing some plique a jour enamel. I did make two pairs of earrings using this technique way back in 1999 but have not attempted it since.

Bird a week, plique a jour earrings

This is my second attempt. I got a little confused about which colour went into which cell so a couple of the cells have more than one colour in them. I have really enjoyed the challenge of doing these and will think about designing something for plique a jour again soon

I still have my big ring to finish first and another bird brooch is in progress

Forget me not

2011-05-02T11:10:00.000+01:00

This little brooch is a commission for clients for their daughter as a wedding gift. It does have all the elements of something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue together with the forget me not that are her own favourite flowers.

A ring in Seattle

2011-04-28T21:38:00.001+01:00

I am really pleased that one of the rings I made last year has been selected for an exhibition RAD, a Ring a Day for 365 days at the Punch Gallery in Seattle. The exhibition runs from Thursday May 5 to Sun May 29, 2011 and runs in conjunction with the conference of the Society of North American Goldsmiths (my ring is a plastic one, carved faux bone and engraved then coloured using alcohol inks).

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More Birds

2011-04-28T19:13:00.000+01:00

I have had a busy few weeks and fallen behind slightly with the 'Bird a Week'challenge. I have been sketching and thinking about possible birds, just not had much free studio time. Here are the two latest. The first is in sterling silver. roller printed, hammered and slightly domed with a loop soldered on and a jump ring so it can be worn as a pendant.

The second is a tiny art clay silver bead bird (think I need to make another attempt to photograph it though)

Teaching and studio time

2011-04-24T20:54:00.001+01:00

I have had a busy few days teaching in my studio. Here is Barbara working away on her ring on Thursday.

In Friday Jan spent the day making two pendants, one a stylised leaf for her daughter and the other this horse's head

Here is Jan proudly wearing her creation. I do love it when a student makes something they are happy to wear.

Today I have had a quiet time working on a small forget-me-not brooch

I still have quite a bit of work to do on it, but here it is fresh from the kiln. My garden is a sea of forget-me-not flowers at the moment, although a bit battered now after the hail and rain storms yesterday

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Back to the bench and more birds

2011-03-19T18:54:00.001Z

It has been a busy few weeks working on the redisplay of objects at Whitby Museum for the Precious Cargo project so I have had very little time in the workshop. It did quickly make a pair of bird earrings last week and then wore them when I went to do a talk for the Scarborough Decorative and Fine Arts Society on Wednesday.

This sketch was a doodle I did in February 2011

These are part of my Bird a Week challenge. I really liked them so decided to make another, larger pair today.

This pair are slightly more dimensional as I hammered them more to give them a bit of a curve.

Aid to Japan

2011-03-15T07:44:00.001Z

At this time last year I had just returned from a visit to Japan with a group of friends and colleagues. For me this was a life enriching experience and everywhere I went I was met with courtesy and kindness and I really wish to return and visit again some time in the future. In the Guild of Enamellers we were looking forward to our annual conference and we welcomed Toshihide Ueeda as a tutor together with Daisuke Minagawa. I have heard from Daisuke and from another contact in the Japan Enamel Artists Association to say that they and their families are safe. We have all been shocked by the scenes of devastation from the earthquake and tsunami. So many died and many are still lost and unaccounted for, may their souls rest in peace.

We can see that it will take much time and effort to begin a process of recovery and re-building. There are many people who lost everything. The Metal clay community are getting together to make a group contribution to the Shelterbox scheme. You can pay into this using paypal and emailing your contribution to Jackie@artclayworld.com

You can also donate direct using a debit or credit card http://www.shelterbox.org

Monday in the studio

2011-03-09T09:18:00.001Z

I had a lovely day on my own in the studio on Monday and have now had a chance to do a bit more polishing of the two pendants and re-photograph them

I also had a go at making a hollow glass bead

Cloisonne enamel

2011-03-07T20:16:00.002Z

It seems like ages since I had a day to myself in the studio.

I had a go at cloisonne for my next two birds for the 'Bird a Week'challenge (I have fallen a bit behind with this project). They still need a bit of a polish but I feel quite positive about the work I have done today. I also did a couple more embellished beads and have made some glass beads to go with them, although they are still in the kiln anealling.

Just 10gms each

2011-03-05T19:14:00.000Z

I am always amazed at the work students can produce with just 10gms of art clay silver. Here are Donna and Rosie who have been here in my studio to do an introductory class today, they are just on the final stages of polishing their pieces in this photograph.

Here are all their pieces of work (Rosie's on the left, Donna's on the right)

They did roll over textures; had a go at drawing their own; made tiny moulds and embedded small czs. With the small amount left at the end they each made a little coiled bead. I have had a really enjoyable day and hope that they are happy with all the precious things they have made.

Bird watching

2011-02-11T13:40:00.001Z

I am enjoying my visit to the British Museum, looking at some favourite objects and some I have not seen before.

One favourite is this wood and shell bird. It was the inspiration for my enamelled bird brooch and I have a tiny sketch in my sketchbook. Looking at it again I realise itches much larger than I remember.

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Lambs Conduit Street

2011-02-11T11:29:00.001Z

This morning I walked from where I was staying in London back to the British Museum and took a slight detour along Lambs Conduit Street. I think even in the rain it must be one of my favourite streets in London, it feels as though it still has an active local community, it is a real mix of businesses (including a couple of those ubiquitous coffe chains), traditional tailors and of course The Lamb, a Youngs pub, I haven't been in for years. I will have to do that some other time and will be spending most of my day out in the British Museum

This little bird

2011-02-11T07:42:00.001Z

I have had a really busy week and am now away from home so was wondering how I might make something for my bird and ring challenges.

Here is my little bird ring, crochet cotton thread.

60s Inspired flower ring

2011-02-03T21:48:00.000Z

Here is my first ring for February. It is made in faux bone in two pieces; the ring shank and the flower separately. I then drilled the two sections and a small circular piece of sterling silver and riveted them all together. I had filed the lines into both sections and added the alcohol ink before sanding back and then joining the pieces. Faux bone is a great medium for practising rivets as it is very durable. I wondered whether to make a spinner type ring but in the end opted for joining the sections firmly together so this one is static.

Bird a week challenge and another ring

2011-01-30T19:01:00.002Z

I have been a bit late posting this, my bird for last week. This is because they were waiting for me to complete enough beads to run an annealing programmed in my kiln. This is a bit risky as it is better to put the beads into a warm kiln and straight on to anneal. Anyway, they did survive. It is quite a long time since I made any bird beads and they are a little strange.

My ring for last week is in faux bone, coloured with alcohol inks. This is inspired by some examples of 1960s modernist pieces and was really made to work out how long it would take to saw, file and finish. I am planning to do this as a class later this year.

Here is my bird for this week. I feel a bit happier with the overall shape of this one, it is a bit more balanced as a bead although I did marver the 'wing' flatter on one side than on the other. I think I need to get a bit more bead making time into my weekly schedule!

Bird on the hand

2011-01-23T15:45:00.001Z

Here is my bird and my ring for this week. Again it is hollow, constructed in art clay silver with a steel screw embedded so that it can be fixed into this ring. I made a sketch of an idea for a ring with a bird during 2009 but have not had a chance to go back and play around with the idea until now. This one is interchangeable and it has a small jade bead as a spacer. I am really enjoying the challenge but know that over the next few weeks it will be difficult to keep up. It will be a good chance to go back to sketching ideas though

See some of the others from the Bird a Week group here

New schedule of classes

2011-01-16T19:59:00.001Z

I have spent a long time today updating my website to show details of the classes I offer in a slightly clearer way and in more detail. It is quite satisfying to be able to do this, a few years ago I was very resistant to the idea of managing my own website but now, with much better designs of templates available, I enjoy being able to take control of this aspect of my work and business. This site is just about courses I offer www.lynne-glazzard.co.uk

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Birds and rings

2011-01-15T18:27:00.001Z

I have finished two more Bird rings for both the Bird a week and the Ring a week challenges. These are created using Faux Bone, a lovely material to use and to wear. I was intending to tint the one above but after leaving it for a few days realised that I like the clarity of form so have left it un-coloured.

This 3rd one is also in Faux Bone with art clay silver flower bud and bird attached. The flower bud also has a small orange cz set into the top of it. The faux bone is stained using alcohol inks. I may have to take these pictures again as I was struggling with the light and seem to have given them an odd colour cast.

Ring a week challenge

2011-01-10T18:11:00.000Z

I decided to join the Ring a Week challenge before I found out about the Bird a week mentioned in my previous post. I didn't get off to the best start with this challenge and haven't made any rings since last Spring. I began a ring and seem to have mislaid it so had to start again, anyway, decided to start simple so here is my first ring of the set.

It is sterling silver round wire, soldered and hammered

Bird a week challenge

2011-01-08T16:09:00.002Z

I have joined the Bird a Week challenge on flickr set up by Ruth Baillee

The link was sent to me by my good friend Joy Funnell who knows I have been using bird motifs in my work from time to time. This is a good chance for me to go back to some of my earlier ideas and try and develop them a bit more fully.

Here is my first design although looking at it I don't think I quite have the balance right yet.

Beaded bracelet

2011-01-03T16:55:00.001Z

I am working on some large beads for a bracelet at the moment, bit by bit building these kind of spool shapes. It is good to be working properly and in a focused way.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T10:22:00.001Z

Here's hoping 2011 is a positive and creative year!

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Merry Christmas and a very happy new year

2010-12-23T20:40:00.001Z

More snow

2010-12-23T04:04:00.001Z

There has been another fall of snow in the night, sticky and thick with tracks of some small animal going past the front door. So soon after the full moon there is plenty of light, reflecting off the white landscape. I am restless, drinking scented earl grey tea quietly.

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New classes

2010-12-19T11:20:00.001Z

During the middle of winter I don't usually teach classes in my studio because there is always the chance the roads will be too bad for students to get here. This winter has been particularly snowy, I don't remember having this much snow in December before. Anyway, it gives me a bit of free time to play around with new ideas. At the moment I am testing out an idea for a workshop embellishing beads and here are my first two samples. The smaller of the two is 16mm in diameter and they are both enamelled. I will be running this as a workshop later in 2011, let me know if you are interested in learning this technique.

Cloisonne enamel

2010-12-05T11:11:00.000Z

I have at last got around to doing a bit of enamelling, only a little piece but it seems like ages since I did any cloisonne. When I first began to enamel it was a technique I used all the time and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it. It is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but has made me think. I need to get back to my sketchbook and start playing around with some new ideas.

Too much snow

2010-11-29T11:54:00.000Z

Here is a photograph of our drive, although the weather does't seem quite so cold there snow hasn't started to shift yet.... could be a while before I get out

Snow

2010-11-27T13:08:00.000Z

It has been snowing here since Wednesday and is lying quite deep around the house and studio. Although I really enjoyed being snowed in at the beginning of the year at the moment I am struggling with it, I think it has come too early. I am really lucky that I don't have to travel anywhere to go to work, just boots and coat and a (very) short walk to my studio next door. Although the stove is lit and it is not particularly cold in there I have found it difficult to make myself work, preferring to snuggle up with a book and my dog on the sofa in the house. Today I have decided that I need to get a grip and start to think of the snow as an opportunity and as inspiration.

On Thursday I was supposed to be doing a workshop at the museum making paper snowflakes to decorate the tree; these being inspired by snowflake drawings done by Captain Scoresby Jnr. Ironically I couldn't get out so am just hoping the tree got decorated.....

Here is the snow outside my door today and some of the paper snowflakes I made as examples earlier in the week.

More work, at last

2010-11-21T19:01:00.000Z

It seems like ages since I actually made anything! In the past couple of days I have had a chance to get back in the studio and work again. These pale blue beads are my first two attempts to make Melon style beads, based on some ancient Roman beads. I haven't yet got the grooves accurate or even enough, but am quite pleased that I am beginning to understand how to do this.

These tiny enamelled leaf earrings are part of a commission

I have threaded these grey and purple beads onto nylon coated steel cable, with a small silver catch fastener.

These beads are inspired by the sea, plants, waves, sea creatures. The fifth bead from the left has tiny copper shapes cut out and encapsulated in the glass. I was trying to make them look like shrimps!

Enamelling from the Esk Valley

2010-11-14T18:51:00.000Z

Today was the final day of our enamelling exhibition at the Pannett Art Gallery in Whitby. I have really enjoyed seeing visitors peering at the work on a number of occasions as I have passed through the gallery on my way into the museum. There have been lots of nice comments and it has been encouraging that we have each sold pieces too, especially in the present economic climate. Tuesday morning we will be taking the work down and packing it, some of it will return to the walls of my studio which have seemed a bit bare for the past six weeks. Although I haven't done much enamelling over recent weeks I have done bits of sketching and am getting ready to begin working on some new ideas.

Enamelling from the Esk Valley

2010-09-30T18:34:00.002+01:00

Today I have been busy helping to hang the exhibition 'Enamelling from the Esk Valley' in the Pannett Art Gallery, Whitby. This is a joint exhibition of work by Harry Nicholson, Margaret Hopley and myself. We are all members of the Guild of Enamellers. All the work is for sale (so fingers crossed we sell some).

These pieces (above and below) are all works by Harry Nicholson

These (above and below) are my work

And these (again, above and below) are some of the pieces by Margaret Hopley

The enameller Ruth Ball has kindly supplied and allowed us to use information panels that she has designed, explaining something about the process. As you can see this is a fairly large gallery space and the two preceding exhibitions have been of larger scale work, so it was a bit daunting putting this together but I am thrilled with the results. Thanks to Margaret, Harry, Helen (Gallery Curator), Ruth and everyone else who has helped and encouraged us.

Preparing for an exhibition

2010-09-23T21:53:00.000+01:00

I am now in the process of preparing for an exhibition of enamels due to open on the 1st October at the Pannett Art Gallery, Pannett Park, Whitby. I will be exhibiting enamel panels alongside Margaret Hopley and Harry Nicholson, both also members of the Guild of Enamellers.

I am quite enjoying reviewing some of my older pieces of work as well as creating some new work at a slightly larger scale than anything I have done in recent years.

These are three of the older pieces and are all enamel on copper and inspired by my local landscape.

This one is fresh from the kiln, so supported on fire bricks and still probably cooling at the point when I took the photograph. It is enamel on steel, a medium new to me and I have been enjoying exploring the reaction of combining leaded and unleaded enamels. It is 25cm square and slightly brighter colours than it looks in this photograph, taken quite late this evening after a long day of working at the kiln.

Art clay certification projects

2010-09-23T21:32:00.000+01:00

At the recent conference of the Art Clay Guild a selection of new projects for the certification programme in the UK were launched. All of the projects were on display and had been made by a few of the committee and other 'willing volunteers'. I had a preview of these projects during my trip to Japan earlier in the year. This means that there is now a wider range of projects available to students who wish to take the certification programme, although due to the varying sizes of the finished items these are likely to vary considerably in costs. I am happy to be able to offer a bit more variety although will not be teaching any of the projects I have not actually made myself. Here are some of my samples so far......

Teaching Enamelling at the Art Clay UK Guild conference

2010-09-23T21:23:00.000+01:00

On the Saturday of the conference my good friend Joy Funnell and I joined forces to teach an enamelling class. We combined the 'Enamelled Accents' technique developed by Joy with my 'Paper textures' technique. We had a group of 12 enthusiastic students and (unfortunately) we were so busy that I completely forgot to take any photographs during the class.

On the Sunday morning there was a display of work made during conference but not all of the group were present so here is a small selection. I hope everyone was as happy with their work as I was to see the results.

Domed resin workshop

2010-09-23T21:17:00.000+01:00

My second day at the Art Clay World UK Guild conference was spent in a fabulous class,again taught by Ryota Mitsuhashi. Under his careful guidance we constructed a frame of syringe type surrounded by a ribbon of clay. After firing he showed us how to construct UV resin in 3D, removing the supporting compound after the resin had been set. We could then add more colours to the back of the resin to give the piece greater depth of colour.

Here are all of the pieces made by the group.

I really love my pendant and wore it for the rest of the conference.

Thursday's class

2010-09-22T09:49:00.000+01:00

I have just spent a few days at the Art Clay UK Guild Conference. It has been lovely to catch up with old friends and to make a few new ones. The best part was of course another opportunity to learn from Ryota Mitsuhashi with the aid of Daisuke Minagawa, both from the Aida Corporation in Japan. On Thursday we were taught techniques for making texture using cuttlefish bone and applying a layer of copper to the surface of silver.

This picture shows the work of the whole class. I am really looking forward to practising this so that I can teach the technique myself in the future.

Working but not posting

2010-09-13T22:48:00.000+01:00

I have been busy in the studio, working on enamel test samples ready for the Art Clay UK Guild conference in York. I will be teaching a class next Saturday together with my good friend Joy Funnell so have been spending days testing enamels, making notes, preparing handouts, making lists of tools and equipment to take.

The conference starts on Thursday and I am looking forward to meeting old friends and making new ones, learning new techniques and sharing ideas.

Tomorrow I will hopefully finish enamelling a couple of pieces for the themed competitions, not like me to be working on this right up to the deadline though!

preparation for a Wild Wednesday

2010-08-17T17:45:00.001+01:00

I am preparing for a Wild Wednesday tomorrow in Museum Gardens, York.

This is a free and fun event for all the family in the Museum Gardens, with lots of hands-on and exciting archaeology and science activities to take part in. Activities will include making jewellery, casting fossils, making mosaics, hunting mini-beasts, making a stone trough, panning for gold, Chinese writing, birdwatching, firing rockets and exploring Tudor cures and potions.

18 August, 11am - 3.30pm

Just hoping the weather stays fine!

down time

2010-08-16T19:55:00.000+01:00

I haven't been posting much recently as I have been busy teaching mainly art clay certification courses and it doesn't seem quite right somehow to post pictures of the students' work for this. Anyway, this weekend I have been away to my niece's wedding. Just so you can see I am only one of a creative family here is a stand of cup cakes made by one of my sisters. I have kept one of the pretty paper case surrounds but haven't quite decided how to use it yet...... stencil maybe?

Carnac

2010-07-18T16:57:00.000+01:00

While in Brittany I had chance to visit a museum in Carnac and photographed this lovely piece of carving

of course, one of the reasons I love this is because it is another bird!

PMC Guild Francophone

2010-07-16T21:55:00.000+01:00

I was really lucky to be able to attend a workshop with Hadar Jacobson in Brittany at the beginning of the month organised by the Guilde PMC Francophone. What a lovely group of creative people! A huge thanks to all of them, they made me very welcome. It was a fantastic weekend and I hope to meet up again. Here are some of the listening intently to Hadar's instructions.

A special thanks has to go to Veronique who must have done a huge amount of work catering -

she produced an amazing lunch for us all each day. The venue was quite special too, a village hall (or the equivalent) with views out over the sparkling sea and next to a really pretty beach. I did get a chance to sit on the beach a couple of days later!

Hadar Jacobson and the Guild PMC Francopone

2010-07-03T21:09:00.000+01:00

This weekend I am lucky to be attending a workshop run by Hadar Jacobson in Britany organised by the Guild PMC Francophone. Today has been fantastic and quite apart from all the wonderful information so generously given by Hadar it has also been a friendly and very multicultural group. My french is not very good and although I can understand quite a bit it is difficult to sort the words out quickly enough to reply properly but this hasn't really hindered communication, we have just all mixed up our languages and added a few hand shapes, waves and shrugs. The venue is a spacious hall right alongside a spectacular rocky harbour and beach with a view over the sea. Although this is probably about 10 degrees centigrade warmer than my usual studio it hasn't been a problem (yet) as Hadar's versions of copper and bronze are remarkably forgiving and don't dry out as quickly as my usual medium of art clay silver. Hadar has demonstrated a vast number of different ways of using the various clays and we are now working on our own small sample pieces. I will hopefully add some photos when I return home but am already thinking of things I would like to try and still have another day to go.

Colourful days

2010-06-24T22:18:00.001+01:00

I have had a couple of amazing and colourful days this week. On Tuesday I went over the Bradford to take part in a workshop about using traditional dyes at Cartwright Hall. It was a workshop linked to the museum's Precious Cargo project and was great fun. We learned quite a bit about using different plant based dyes to dye a variety of threads including wool, silk and linen.

These are not actually my samples but those of my neighbour, I somehow forgot to photograph my own so will have to take a picture and add it to the post later on. My samples are now lying on the workbench in my studio drying out. Our teacher was Debbie The Mulberry Dyer who was very enthusiastic and informative.

Today, Thursday, I have been down in Stoke on Trent with a small group from the Guild of Enamellers looking around the factory of W G Ball Limited. It was fascinating to learn a little about the making of enamel and to see the two batches of enamel poured out of the crucible. I have used enamel for years now without really knowing anything about how it is made so this was a fantastic opportunity to add a little more to my knowledge. Apart from anything else I now know that Budgerigar green is still available. I was given a small amount of this beautiful colour some years ago and have nearly used it up. Now I can order myself some more! Thanks to John Ball and his team for sharing such a fantastic amount of information and for continuing to help and inspire enamellers at all levels.

The final day of North Yorkshire Open Studios 2010

2010-06-19T21:21:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow will be final day of the Open Studios event this year. It has been lovely meeting new people and old friends and welcoming them to look around my studio, especially as being out in this fairly remote location I rarely get casual visitors. Here are a couple of pictures of my studio as it looks at the moment. Of course I have to move things around to make it safe for visitors to look without being able to do themselves harm on various bits of tools and equipment. The picture below is a selection of small leaf pendants and earrings that I have been enamelling during quiet spells today, they are part of an order for a gallery and I will hopefully finish them in the next couple of days.

More open studios

2010-06-17T13:45:00.001+01:00

My studio will be open again this coming weekend as part of the North Yorkshire Open Studios. The introduction on the Open studios website says 'artists and makers across the whole of North Yorkshire will invite the public into a host of intriguing spaces. From hidden locations on the North Yorkshire Moors and harbourside huts in Whitby and Scarborough to suburban living rooms in Harrogate and beautiful back gardens in the remote Yorkshire Dales.' I maybe am in the category of 'hidden locations on the North Yorkshire Moors' but it is always lovely to meet people who have managed to find their way here. I hope the weather stays nice so that they can also see the stunning views, at their best. It is absolutely glorious here at the moment, reminding me of why I love living and working here.

Here are some Iris in flower in my garden at the moment

Bright bird

2010-06-10T13:13:00.000+01:00

I am still in the process of getting the studio ready for open studios starting tomorrow but did make time to finish my Bright Bird Brooch as an example for the enamelling workshop at the Art Clay UK Guild Conference in September. I will be teaching an enamelling workshop alongside my good friend Joy Funnell so this piece uses both my paper textures technique and the 'enamel accents' technique that she developed.

I still need to make some more samples but am going to wear my bird brooch for the exhibition preview in Harrogate this evening.

North Yorkshire Open Studios '10

2010-06-09T21:35:00.000+01:00

I am now trying to sort the studio out and make it possible for visitors to have a 'safe' look around while still seeing what really does go on. I am taking part in North Yorkshire Open Studios 2010 over the next two weekends. There will be a huge range of artists taking part and a really interesting variety of venues. Part of me wishes I could actually get out and visit a few of the other artists but I always enjoy welcoming visitors and trying to give them an insight into some of the techniques and materials used in my work.

As well as having work on display and for sale in my own studio I also have a number of pieces included in the exhibition Jewellery: Materials and Making at Whitby Museum. The exhibition was due to close on 20th June but has been extended now and will remain open daily, Tuesday to Sunday, until July 11th.

There will also be a number of pieces in the Inspired by Heritage exhibition at the Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate. The exhibition is open from 11th June until 18th July, Tuesday to Saturday 10am until 5pm and Sundays 2pm until 5pm. The Mercer Art Gallery is on Swan Road, Harrogate, HG1 2SA.

A chance to enamel

2010-06-04T20:21:00.000+01:00

It seems like ages since I actually did any enamelling myself. This week I have been trying to enamel samples ready for the Art Clay UK Guild conference in September. Here is the first piece, a feather. Although it looks very plain in the photograph I had used four different enamels, so am not that thrilled that my photo doesn't show all the detail!

Three 'A's

2010-05-31T12:00:00.001+01:00

On Saturday I ran an introductory workshop for art clay silver. I am still surprised by the amount of work new students manage to produce in one day.

These are Amber's pieces, all produced from 10g of art clay silver.

These are the pieces made by Angie.

These are Adela's pieces.

Adela came back for a second day and made these two beautiful rings. The ring with the stone set into the clay has another tiny stone set just to the side - you can just see a glimpse of it. It was lovely to see that Adela was wearing her earrings when she arrived on the second day!

Teaching

2010-05-24T19:44:00.002+01:00

I have had a few new students sharing my studio and producing interesting work in the past couple of weeks. Firstly Ria and Krista who spent a happy day making pieces in art clay silver followed by a second day learning to enamel onto their pieces. This was followed a few days later by Emma Mitchell, who already had some experience but came to learn more about enamelling. She spent a day learning how to grind, wash and apply enamels using a wet laying technique in very thin layers.
I always enjoy teaching and hope that they have all gone away inspired to continue exploring this fascinating medium.

Here is the link to Emma's blog where there are pictures of her work

http://www.silverpebble.me.uk/?p=843

Rachel's project

2010-05-07T12:11:00.000+01:00

Rachel's project was inspired by the Gothic. She has used a wide variety of media and I haven't managed to get pictures of the finished pieces as she took them away to finish off at college. She has learned to saw, solder, file and polish; enamel on copper and to make lamp worked glass beads (and is a bit of a demon with the torch now). The bracelet combines textured and enamelled copper panels and is not quite finished in this picture as she has also made a ring that will be attached to it. She also used faux bone and polymer clay in some of her development work. For the enamelling on the bracelet she has used a scraffito technique on two of the panels and embedded tiny glass beads into the surface of the enamel on another two. I hope she will continue to explore these ideas and techniques.

Zara's project

2010-05-07T12:00:00.000+01:00

Zara's project had a Japanese inspired theme. She learned to saw, solder, sand and polish sterling silver as well as making a smaller setting using art clay silver. She then embedded her original drawings in resin setting them into the pieces she had constructed. In the second picture she is carefully bringing small bubbles out of the resin. The pieces in the box are are charm, pendant and brooch taped in so that she could take them home safely. During the design development process she had also cut out one of the drawings in copper sheet and done some enamelling. It has been lovely to watch her confidence grow as she has learned.

Sarah enamelling

2010-05-07T11:45:00.002+01:00

Sarah finished her college projects yesterday. She selected an enamel colour by matching one of my samples to glass beads she had already made. This was an enamel colour I had in lump form so, right at the end of her project, she had to learn to grind enamel down from lump. She applied wires to the surface of her pieces by firstly depletion gilding the silver (to bring fine silver to the surface) and then using the technique developed by my good friend Joy Funnell to add the wires, without using solder. Sarah then applied two layers of finely ground enamel into the cells she had created. The finished piece relates very closely to one of the sketches in her book. She has learned a lot about basic jewellery techniques and I hope she will continue on this journey of discovery.

Students working hard again

2010-05-04T21:42:00.000+01:00

It has been another busy day in my studio with Zara, Sarah and Rachel working hard to get their projects done. I think one more session and they will be finished. Today there has been a wide variety of things going on including sawing, sanding and polishing, soldering, enamelling and finishing off a couple of pieces in art clay silver. Here are just a few pictures including my freshly repaired kiln. My good friend Joy Funnell gave me a replacement door as the handle on my original one had worked loose and I was unable to make it secure. I am please to say it is now safe and working again!

Flame Off 2010 at Towcester

2010-04-18T22:08:00.000+01:00

This weekend I have been at the Flame Off at Towcester Race course. It is the first time I have been to an event like this. There was a large marquee attached to the main building and inside it were long metal topped tables with torches. There were torches of different types in separate areas, here are torches with propane/oxygen mix I think. Visitors could have a go at glass bead making, under supervision and with a bit of helpful instruction. Basically it was a tent full of people having fun with flames! In the main part of the building were stands selling glass, beads, books and everything a glass bead addict could possibly need. On the first floor were a series of talks and demonstrations by some very highly skilled glass workers including the lovely and very entertaining Sharon Peters. On the second floor (in what are the very smart private viewing boxes overlooking the racecourse) were a series of classes. Lesley Messam ran classes introducing art clay silver.

I ran short workshops introducing enamelling to a small group of people on Friday and Saturday. The workshops were only 2 hours so I had made lots of silver blanks for earrings and charms and pre-ground and washed enamels ready to use. Most of the participants had not tried enamelling before and the results were impressive. They were able to choose colours from a selection of 12 that I had tested and new would behave well on the fine silver pieces. I hope they liked them as much as I did?

A gift and a reminder

2010-04-18T21:40:00.001+01:00

How beautiful this box of rice crackers is, thank you Dice. Everything about it is a beautiful reminder of my short visit to Japan. I have cut a small section of the wrapping paper and glued it into my sketch book.

Mr Ueeda's masterclass

2010-04-18T19:50:00.000+01:00

On the last day of the Guild of Enamellers annual conference Toshi did a masterclass, demonstrating some of his wonderful techniques with art clay silver and enamel for everyone to see. In the first photo you can see Jock Miller videoing the demonstration. This will be edited over the coming year and eventually published by the Guild in its 'Masterclass' DVD series, offered for sale to Guild members. In the third photo you can see the Guild's new Chair, Ruby Tomes looking on nervously while Toshi made her a ring. This was a fantastic masterclass, both informative and entertaining and I am looking forward to seeing the DVD later in the year.

Mr Toshihide Ueeda teaching at Enamellers Guild Conference

2010-04-18T19:07:00.001+01:00

The Guild of Enamellers were honoured to have Mr Ueeda (Toshi) as a tutor at conference this year. Here he is with members of his class (and me). For the first part of the project the group did some spectacular torch firing, Toshi's own rapid firing technique for art clay silver.

This picture is my good friend Joy Funnell firing her piece.

Visit to Nottingham

2010-04-18T19:00:00.000+01:00

On the 8th April I was thrilled to be able to welcome Daisuke Minagawa of the Aida Corporation and Mr Toshihide Ueeda, Vice Chair of the Japan Enamel Artists Association to Nottingham. They arrived quite late on the Thursday evening, so my plans to take them somewhere nice to eat had to wait until breakfast.

This is The Walk in Nottingham, a very nice little cafe complete with Japanese waitress, who saved me the job of describing the breakfast options.

We had a short walk across Nottingham city centre where Dice and Toshi had their photographs taken with two friendly Community Police Officers. From there we went on to Nottingham Castle where they enjoyed the 'Robin Hood' experience and some interesting displays about local history, including ceramics and a textiles exhibition.

Jewellery exhibition makes the local press

2010-04-13T09:37:00.000+01:00

I have just been away at the Guild of Enamellers (more on this later). While away got messages from friends saying that the jewellery exhibition at Whitby Museum had a feature in the local press. I had no idea they meant a full page and what a nice article - thank you Whitby Gazette!

Enamelling again

2010-04-05T22:39:00.000+01:00

When I first started this blog I thought the main focus of my work was enamelling. Over the past year, (ironically while I have been Chair of the Guild of Enamellers) I hardly seem to have done any enamelling at all. I have recently done some testing and made samples ready for the Introduction to Enamelling workshop at the Flame Off 2010 at Towcester Racecourse. Today I enamelled a piece I have been working on sporadically for a couple of weeks. Having finished it I am not sure I like it. It does look better on the finger and the oxidisation has produced more variety and subtlety of colours than the photograph shows. I used textures embossed into watercolour paper to make the background textures on the art clay silver. Added fine silver wires and tiny balls using overlay silver paste, soldered the two shells to the sterling ring band, enamelled it and then riveted the dyed pearls into place.

More of the Jewellery Exhibition

2010-04-03T22:13:00.000+01:00

Whitby Museum is such an amazing place. This carved and painted bird is from New Ireland in the Pacific. He was given to the museum in 1928 by Captain Readman and has been one of my favourite objects since I began my residency at the beginning of 2009. He usually resides in the Cook wing of the museum but a few days ago I had to take him out to photograph him for another project I am just starting work on. The door of the cabinet was a bit difficult to open and that gave me the perfect excuse to move him to a temporary home in the jewellery exhibition (I know he's not really jewellery!).

Here he is though with my visitors book and a few badges and other fun things made during my year. The hands related both to making and to the 'Hand of Glory' (more gory than glory as Peter on the main desk often tells visitors). On days when I have been sketching in the museum I often left my sign out along with paper, pencils and pens and asked visitors to draw around their own hand and say what there favourite thing about the museum was. I never asked anyone to decorate their drawing, it was just something that happened naturally but I have a lovely collection of these paper hands, many of which have been stuck into the album but some are temporarily displayed here on the back of the display case - I am still collecting them.

This bracelet has been made from small items found in the museum during the year, a couple of them I embedded in resin and made silver settings for, others I simply attached. I think the bit of stone was a fragment of amethyst and the glass bear I made a silver wire collar for. It has become a bracelet of things once lost, now found.

My badge project has developed a new life, at different times last summer I made badges for visitors. Now as part of the jewellery exhibition I have created a piece of work called 'Equivalent' which has a small explanation panel and a lot of transparent plastic pockets with badges in. It asks visitors to take a badge and leave me something in exchange. I have left circles for drawings and these are the first six drawings left by visitors. I was also left an interesting chunk of hard green stone with a groove in it and an old sixpenny piece - so they are now on my workbench waiting to become part of something new. I was really excited to find that visitors understood my ideas and am enjoying their responses.

The exhibition opens

2010-03-26T19:19:00.001Z

I realised as I uploaded this image that I took it before I had quite finished. The panel you can see on the right hand side how has a selection of badges in the transparent pockets. It has been a huge amount of work selecting the objects for this exhibition but I am quite pleased with the result. It is the first time I have been involved in anything on this scale. It has historic jewellery selected from many different areas in Whitby Museum's collections and from a wide range of places across the world. It has jewellery made of a wide variety of different materials, including of course many very fine examples of Whitby Jet. I hope a few of you will make the journey up to Whitby and have a look. If you do, please let me know what you think.

Jewellery exhibition at Whitby Museum

2010-03-22T21:46:00.000Z

I am in the final stages of putting together the jewellery exhibition at Whitby Museum, due to open to the public on 30th March 2010. I have had a fascinating time selecting items from the museum collection, particularly as it has meant I could really search out objects that are not always out on display and also that I could show them together with items from other collections - so contrasting items from different periods or cultures.

I have been able to create a small display of jewellery made from different materials such as the necklace or rosary of Water lily seeds from Lake Lugano, Switzerland and the African ivory or bone bracelets. I have also selected this amazingly intricate chain made of horsehair.

More student work

2010-03-17T21:44:00.000Z

My three students have been into the studio today and busy trying out new techniques and materials. Between them they managed to try crochet with thread and wire, soldering a chain and shaped links in copper then texturing them with a hammer. One used resin to embed a drawing, while another had a go at shaping a small piece of faux bone. Then all of us had a first try of the Prometheus Bronze Clay. I hadn't even tried it out myself and none of them had used any form of metal clay until today. I didn't give them much in the way of rules just a few pointers and let them experiment with it. The handling is nothing like that of Art clay silver but it is interesting in that it seems to have a longer working time without drying out - and of course a longer drying time before firing. I think I probably pushed them too hard and we didn't have much time for pre-finishing before firing but the results are quite pleasing overall. A worthwhile bit of testing as between them they tried a number of different methods of texturing and of constructing their work.

Day 4 in Japan

2010-03-15T14:17:00.000Z

On the fourth day of our visit we went to the Art Clay Studio in Shinjuku and then to the temple complex at Asakusa. This was stunningly beautiful and it was also perfect weather for walking around enjoying the sites.

We also visited a museum of traditional crafts where among other things saw these beautiful patinated vessels.

Day 3 in Japan

2010-03-13T18:42:00.002Z

On the morning of day 3 of the Japan visit a number of the group decided we would like to walk from the hotel to the Aida factory. I am really pleased that I did as I got to see far more than on the previous day's car ride.

This is very close to the hotel in Fuchu.

We had a quick look into the precinct of this substantial temple complex.

Even things like the drain or manhole covers and the tops of bollards were beautifully decorated and I loved the detail of the doorbell and security entry to a house we passed. For our afternoon tea break Dice (Daisuke Minagawa) brought us these sweet treats to share. They were sort of soft and slightly chewy and each one had a different flavour of filling. I didn't try them all but of those I tried the pale one was my favourite, filled with some kind of soft cream cheese I think. We had an introduction and overview of the new projects for the Art Clay certification course before making either a bee or spider.

At the end of the day some of the technical staff and artists from the factory came up and we all joined in the discussions of various pieces of work we had taken in to show them. It was a very interesting exchange of ideas although Dice had to work really hard translating all the questions and answers.

Day 2 in Japan

2010-03-13T18:34:00.000Z

The second day of my visit to Japan was spent in class at the factory of the Aida Corporation. The class was taught by Ryota, who most of us had met at the Art Clay Conference in Jersey in October 2009. He is a very skilled technician. He taught us a beading technique for stone setting. Here he is demonstrating how to hold and twist a drill bit keeping it upright and at right angles to the clay.

In the evening most of us went for a traditional Teppanyaki. Above you can see Koskai beginning to cook the first dishes and here Ryota also cooking. The food is cooked on a hotplate set level into each table. It was a very sociable way of cooking with everyone tasting each dish.

Day 1 in Japan

2010-03-11T16:09:00.001Z

I am still thinking about all the wonderful experiences of my trip to Japan. I have decided that I need to take a more structured approach to reflecting on these so am going to attempt to post some of the highlights in order. I went with a group of people who were mainly Art Clay Instructors. On day one of our visit we had a very interesting tour of the factory where the Aida Corporation reprocess a variety of products to recover the metals and from that, make art clay silver and other products.

We had a fully guided tour taking us step by step through a variety of processes.

After this we had lunch in the Museum in the historic park near to the factory. This display is part of a festival for girls and we were told that every home would have a small version of something like this.

Joy Funnell and I had a rapid walk around the park and were able to enjoy some of the details in the beautifully designed tea garden. The blossom was also really beautiful.

The park included a number of interesting buildings such as this small water mill

which had a stunning stand of bamboo behind it.

I then had a quick look around the museum itself. Traditional and historic Japanese crafts were on display, everything was exhibited beautifully and I wish I had had more time to study some of the items.

Engakuji Temple, Kitakamakura

2010-03-09T19:25:00.000Z

What a beautiful place this is. I think more temple complex than a temple. Very peaceful even though there were lots of visitors.

Back from Japan

2010-03-09T09:03:00.000Z

I got back from my Japan trip late Sunday evening. I need a little time now to reflect on all that I saw. At this point all I can say is that it was beautiful, inspiring, magical, wonderful

Trip to Japan

2010-02-26T16:24:00.002Z

I have spent a bit of time this afternoon sorting out and packing my suitcase ready for my visit to Japan. I feel really lucky to have been invited to be part of this group organised by Glyn Mitchell of Zama UK. We are visiting the Aida Corporation, who manufacture the art clay products; have workshops with Japanese tutors and a couple of visits planned. It has special significance for me as in the front of one of my many notebooks a few years ago I wrote that I hoped one day to visit Japan. I can't quite believe that I am setting off first thing in the morning. I will travel down to London by train tomorrow and meet up with the rest of the group on Sunday morning at Heathrow. I will probably not post anything while I am there but look forward to telling you all about it upon my return.

I just found this lovely blog that had beautiful photos of Kamakura
http://www.muza-chan.net/japan

http://www.muza-chan.net/photo/galleries/kamakura/kamakura-hasedera-04.jpg

Safety and more safe working practices

2010-02-26T15:34:00.000Z

Kate McKinnon is always an inspiration on lots of levels. She has recently published a video on her blog about safe working using metal clay. She talks about working in a more safe and clean way, producing less dust, using safer support materials and as usual, everything she says is clear common-sense. It is well worth the few minutes it takes to watch this video.

Working as I do with enamel I am always careful when teaching and verge on the obsessive about my enamelling students wearing their dust masks.

Beginning to enamel

2010-02-26T13:53:00.000Z

Yesterday I had a full studio and a really enjoyable day. I had another maker working in art clay silver who came to spend the day working out ideas for one of her own projects. I also had two students from the local college who came over for their second visit. When they arrived I asked how their projects were going and what they wanted to do. I was (for some strange reason) surprised when they asked to learn something about enamelling as they both want to include colour in their designs. I went through the health and safety in some detail before issuing them with dust masks and explaining one technique for applying enamel to metal. Here are a few of their photographs. They worked really hard and went from a basic introduction to corrugating copper shim, cleaning, applying and firing their enamel then sifting and scraffito then had a go using one of my riso screens.

They finished their day with a quick try at adding colour using UV resin into bits of soldered copper that they had made on the previous visit. I am really enjoying their visits as they keep me on my toes, making me think about materials and techniques that will help them to develop their designs.

More snow today

2010-02-21T11:24:00.000Z

It is snowing really hard again today and Jonathan did attempt to venture out, but had to turn back. The road is worse apparently once out of the valley which is a little unusual as we usually have slightly worse weather up here.

Exhibition research

2010-02-16T18:57:00.000Z

I am still busy with the planning and designing of the jewellery exhibition due to open at Whitby Museum at the end of March. Today I spent the morning attempting to photograph pieces of jet for one of the information panels. For those of you who love beads I am just posting this picture as a taste of what will be in the exhibition. This is part of a long jet necklace where the carved beads are graduated and have round smooth jet beads in between. It is Victorian and is usually on display within the museum's huge collection of jet.

Equivalent

2010-02-11T22:15:00.000Z

e·quiv·a·lent (-kwv-lnt)

adj.

a. Equal, as in value, force, or meaning.

b. Having similar or identical effects.

Just thinking about a new piece of work for my 'Inspired by Heritage' project,

Jewellery out of anything?

2010-02-10T22:46:00.000Z

I have had a long weekend away and although I took some silver wire and had some tools with me decided that at least one of my rings would have to be made quickly from something I 'found'. I had picked this bit of cellophane up at MIMA in Middlesbrough on Thursday evening when I went to a really inspiring talk by the jeweller Ted Noten. It was still in my bag so became Saturday's ring of the day. I like to occasionally play around with odd materials and even though it is just a bit of wrapping tied in a not it has a kind of flamboyance and definitely the sparkle we expect in jewellery. Just a bit of fun really

Direction of travel, Ring 1

2010-02-02T19:05:00.000Z

This is one of my Inspired by Heritage pieces. It is a ring and is called 'Direction of Travel' and based on ideas about Captain Scoresby Junior. He was captain of a whaling ship and did many experiments relating to magnetism with the aim of improving ships compasses. This is the same Captain Scoresby who did the beautiful drawings of snowflakes that I used for inspiration for earlier work.

This ring is also trying to capture ideas about essentials of life and finding the way home again. It has a tiny working compass embedded in resin together with bits of red thread. The compass did originally say 'water proof' but I sanded the 'proof' bit away just leaving the words water and compass before I embedded it. The compass actually shows up more clearly in this photograph than it does really.

Jewellery exhibition preparation

2010-02-01T22:45:00.000Z

I am beginning to put together the information for the jewellery exhibition at Whitby Museum that opens on 30th March. It will be the first time I have ever had to organise anything on this scale so at the moment I feel as though there is a huge amount to do. I have selected most of the objects from the museum collection that will form the basis of the exhibition and have done some of the research. It will have a number of themes or threads running through it and will showcase artefacts mainly from the jet, ethnographic and social history collections. There will be a few pieces made by me as part of my residency. I estimate that I will have to design and produce approximately 40 A2 information panels and the ones I have done so far seem a bit word heavy!

It will have a section on the use of different materials including at least one of these beautiful woven or plaited Victorian hair bracelets

Silver ring

2010-01-28T22:29:00.000Z

Today I have made a silver ring from a bit of wire that was already shaped into a spiral and a few bits of wire with balled up ends, joined onto another piece of round wire to make the ring shank. I am really enjoying this ring making challenge but at some point will have to start making some to sell!

I have started another with a deep cell for resin but have put it to one side to send off for hallmarking. Today's ring can go off for hallmarking too, I usually have work hallmarked before I finish it and almost always before I enamel it - although it is possible to have vulnerable pieces laser marked.

More rings

2010-01-27T20:03:00.000Z

Three rings in three consecutive days. I began with the opals that have been lying in a box in my workbench for a few years. I bought the opal in matrix at a trade fair about 5 years ago and decided to pair it with a small opal triplet which was in the same box. Then I realised I had become interested in the bezel settings again. I used to make bezel settings all the time but haven't done this for a while either. The teardrop textured piece of the second ring is made in art clay silver and was in a box of bits on my bench. I made it when I was showing a student how to make a mould. It was from a plastic button. The round bezel is then filled with resin and gold leaf. The third ring I have used another bit of art clay silver that was lying in my bits box and made this double bezel. In the shallow one I have used tinted resin and in the larger deeper bezel I have used clear resin and tiny chopped up bits of red thread. I am really enjoying making bezels so will have to do some more soon.

Ugthorpe hoard

2010-01-27T19:57:00.000Z

Today I have been to a brilliant talk at the museum by Roger Dalladay. He talked about the Ugthorpe hoard; a collection of coins found some time ago and eventually acquired by the museum. He began by explaining a bit about the Roman monetary system. He then showed pictures of the coins together with pictures of statue heads of the Emperors and explained the imagery in a really clear and entertaining way, putting all the Roman Emperors into context. It was a thoroughly enjoyable talk and I will have to have a closer look at some of those coins now!

That big faux bone ring

2010-01-22T19:06:00.000Z

Here is another view of one of the rings I posted yesterday. I don't really like the finished thing but it has been an interesting exercise in working out how to construct and assemble it. First I roughly cut the circle in the faux bone. I then measured it on a ring mandrel and used that as my 'size' for the art clay silver ring. I rolled out the strip for the ring band and made the ring with the texture on the inside (it has text inside the band) and set it aside to dry. I then rolled out a sheet of clay and textured it to match, cut the side plate, dried it and assembled and fired the art clay silver. I had also made a little art clay silver stamp - this is my initials in reverse done with a photo polymer plate and it had a short post with a knob on it. After firing I added a pin to the back of the plate using osp and re-firing the ring part with the post supported in a bit of kiln fibre, so that I could use the pin as a rivet (it shows on the previous picture). I cut the texture on the top surface where the 'signet' is using a graving tool, the other marks are made using a file I have forgotten the name of (bought it from Robert Dancik). I drilled a hole to take the peg of the signet and warmed the faux bone up so that I could push it in and it is held securely. Filed the end of the peg smooth then inserted the silver ring into the faux bone. I have used a bit of expoxy resin to stick the two sections together as didn't think the one rivet would really be enough - may have been if the fit had been really tight! I then coloured the faux bone using alcohol inks and sanded then back to re-expose some of the white surface and sealed it with renaissance wax.

It has a small area cut out on the other flat surface where I put bits of gold leaf embedded in UV resin - the whole thing is really too messy for my taste but I have learned a lot in making it.

More experiments in ring making

2010-01-21T19:58:00.000Z

I have spent the past few days experimenting with rings in a variety of materials. Here are a selection of the finished rings. The top left hand ring is resin with little pieces of cut thread embedded into it. The top right hand ring is faux bone, art clay silver and alcohol inks. The bottom right hand ring is faux bone but before I textured it I made a mould and then poured a resin version with red thread embedded in it. I am really enjoying my time experimenting like this, it is always good to take a break from the 'bread and butter' work and play for a while, letting new ideas bounce around the studio.

Today's ring

2010-01-13T20:14:00.001Z

I was planning to go into the museum today but put it off as the weather forecast was so bad - actually turned out not to be as bad as expected, anyway, I did spend the day in the studio working on a few ideas. Here is my Ring a day contribution for today. This is made using a scrap of silver left in the bottom of my workbench after I had cut out the shapes making the 'Necklace for the Plant Collector's wife'. It is made using a technique called fold forming. This is something I was introduced to by Jill Leventon when I spent a fantastic day in her studio in Shrewsbury early last year. Jill will be one of the tutors at the Guild of Enamellers annual conference at Nottingham in April running a workshop on press and fold forming.

Enamel samples

2010-01-12T18:36:00.000Z

Today I have been preparing enamel samples for a workshop. It seems like ages since I did any enamelling. I also finished a couple of pairs of earrings that have been lying around on the workbench. One pair is the feather pattern I have drawn to make one of my photopolmer plates and is the same design I used as the basis for the 'Travel Light' ring a few days ago.

Ring a day, day 5

2010-01-11T20:09:00.000Z

Well, in theory this is a ring each day for a year! Here is today's offering and as you can see some days I have very little time to spare and have to really think fast, make fast from anything on hand. I was just finishing off in the studio and suddenly remembered I hadn't done a ring today...... grabbed a bit of card that was lying on the bench and here it is. I actually really like it - so think the challenge is doing a good job

Inspired by birds, flight and travel

2010-01-10T17:34:00.002Z

The ring I have made today is part of my Inspired by Heritage series of pieces. It relates to all the early sketches I did of birds and feathers and the way in which bird motifs are used in all kinds of other objects. I have also been thinking about the way in which birds feature in artefacts from cultures all over the world.

Based on the pattern I used yesterday. This is cut from a sheet of faux bone, filed, sanded and hand engraved (I knew I would find a use for those gravers one day). It is then dyed using alcohol inks and sanded back and polished. There is a bit more variation in colour on the feather than appears in my photograph and because the faux bone is very lightweight it is quite comfortable to wear.

I have a huge debt of gratitude to Robert Dancik, the artist and teacher who developed faux bone for use in this way. He is an inspirational teacher and if you get a chance to attend any of his classes then jump at it! He is due to teach a class at West Dean from 15th to 19th February called 'A bead like no other' and also runs workshops at the Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery from time to time.