Showing posts with label David Muddyman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Muddyman. Show all posts

Tuesday 3 September 2013

Art Our Way!

Hello folks - as I said last week, it's all about Drawn To The Valley/Plymouth Arts Trail Open Studios this week!

We opened our doors on Saturday and Sunday and will be open again tomorrow, Friday and Saturday/Sunday again. Who's coming to see us?  We can promise a warm welcome! Would you like to see a few teasers? Ok then.

 




My husband, artist David Muddyman, has been hanging paintings, drawings and collages all around the dining room, hall, landing and stairs.  My jewellery has been hung in cupboards, along with wall art and it all looks lovely!


Here's all the details if you'd like to come and visit us - we'd love to see you! More on how it went next month!

I've also introduced a new shape in dyed aluminium especially for Open Studios and it's the Squiggles Pendants, let me know what you think! See you next week or before if you come to see our exhibition.

 



Thursday 22 August 2013

Open Studios and Stuff!

Hi all!

Well, this week has been all about Open Studios!  Artist David Muddyman (also husband!) and myself are trying Open Studios for the very first time this year.  I think I'm excited about it, I'm terrified that no-one will turn up or that we'll have no sales at all! It's definitely nervewracking! We've started to hang paintings and it's been a good exercise is spring cleaning!





If you're around the Plymouth area I do hope you'll come and see us!

I did have a plan to release a brand new style of aluminium jewellery at this event but my supplies still haven't arrived even though they were ordered a month ago.....grrrrrrrr......hopefully today though and I might still be able to do what I wanted.

I thought I'd also release a picture of a brand new piece that will be available to purchase at Open Studios, but there's only one so if you want it you'll need to be quick!


This collection is called Solar Flare and reflects the gorgeous weather we've had this summer. 

On another note don't forget that my work will very soon be available to buy in the gallery at Salford Museum and Art Gallery in Manchester and at a brand new jewellery gallery that will be opening it's doors in Frome on the 1st September, but more on that soon!

Hopefully speak to you next week with some pictures of how the Open Studios event is going!


Monday 5 August 2013

Hello and Goodbye

Hello again! Where's the summer gone??

I'd just like to start this week by mentioning an amazing metal artist Katie Lake who was a founder member of Flameworks.  A lot of you may know her as having won gold in the Craft & Design Selected Awards twice including this year or will have seen her sculpture.  Katie lost her life recently whilst enjoying the Cornish sea.  She was an inspiration to so many people and enabled students with visual disabilities to use the furnace.  A larger than life character, full of fun and we shall miss her, but we will celebrate her here in Plymouth and at Flameworks.

I seem to have produced an awful lot of work over the last couple of weeks and that's been for a number of reasons. The first reason is now done and dusted because twenty pieces have gone off to Salford Museum and Art Gallery for their brand new sales area and also for the By Hand exhibition happening from October to January at Ordsall Hall in Salford. The second reason for all this activity is that my husband artist David Muddyman and myself are holding Open Studios this year starting at the end of August.  We are part of the Plymouth Arts Trail which comes under the umbrella of Drawn To The Valley's exhibition of art along the Tamar.



Full details of when we'll be open can be found in the booklet from local outlets and also on my Events page. Come and see us, there'll be some amazing artwork to buy and my jewellery and wall art.

Over the weekend I dyed some new sheets of aluminium and I'm really pleased with what's to come - one sheet looks like painted silk or batik in shades of pink, another looks like a field of lavendar just coming into bloom and othe other reminds me of surf and blue/green waves. I can't wait to start cutting them out.

So my project for the coming week to is to come to grips with making my site available to Stumble Upon - anyone else tried that?

Want a sneaky peek and what's going to be for sale soon on the website? This is the PopArt collection and there will be a necklace and earrings too.
 

 
 
 
So, see you next week all - have a lovely week doing whatever it is you do!





Wednesday 10 July 2013

It's Finally Here!

Hello world, have you missed me?

The last three weeks have disappeared into a fog of work, work and a little more work.  I did have a few days away visiting my parents which was lovely and completely internet and phone signal free too (although I confess to being a little panicky about what I might be missing.....).



So what is it that's been taking up so much of my life? It's the new website, that's what. It's now been launched, although there are a couple of little glitches in the way of logos not opening correctly, but the content all works and it does look pretty!  I've also co-incided the launch with the release of some brand new work so take a  look and let me know what you think. Most of the feedback I've received so far has been positive and centred mainly on the colour scheme which people seem to like.

Would you like a sneeky look at one of the pieces I've featured on the new site?  This is Digital and I loved the end result so much that I made myself a cuff and some earrings.  It has been printed on to the aluminium using acetate and then dyed.

Digital Necklace


Artist David Muddyman and myself will be taking part for the first time this year in Drawn To The Valley's Open Studios and will be doing so as part of Plymouth Arts Trail.  There are 101 artists taking part altogether at various points along the Tamar Valley with 27 of us around the Plymouth area.  If you would like further details about our opening times please see Events, however if you would like details about the entire event please take a look at the Drawn To The Valley website. We really hope you'll come and see us if you're in the area, we will have paintings, drawings, jewellery and wall art available for you to buy and take home.  We will be accepting card payments.

So, now that the website's off my hands for a little while I might get back to making jewellery and blogging about it!





Sunday 24 February 2013

Three Beautiful Things No.1

Hello world!

Well this week seems to have gone by in a blur of working on the brand new upcycled jewellery range but more on that later!

In my last couple of blogs I mentioned that I wanted to start a new feature entitled Three Beautiful Things.  This will take place every few weeks and this is my first one.  To start us off I thought I'd feature artist and composer David Muddyman (yes, I know he's my husband, but he's a pretty cool guy!!).
Dave is an artist, composer and member of the group Loop Guru. As an artist he is interested in the landscape around him and his work can be figurative or go towards abstraction as he looks at the shapes and lines within a landscape. As a composer he often creates sound pieces that echo his painting interests, trying to capture the musical essence of a place or take you on a sonic journey.
 
I asked Dave to tell me about his 3 things and this is what he said.
 
“This is going be so hard as sometimes beauty is intrinsic to a piece of art itself and sometimes it is the associated memories that add to its beauty.
 
My first piece is a painting by Cornish artist Saul Cathcart. It is an acrylic on canvas painting of Brown Willy on Bodmin Moor painted from a dell called King Arthur’s Hall. I was introduced to Saul’s work by Val soon after we met. I loved the vibrancy of his colour and method of applying the paint. Soon after we moved in together Val and I visited Saul and were treated to a mini exhibition in a local church opposite his house near the Moors. We had been determined to treat ourselves to one of his paintings for our new house but ended coming away with two – even then it was a hard choice. This painting has added significance to me I was lucky to go out painting with Saul one freezing, November day and he took me to the spot where this was painted. Saul’s paintings have continued to blossom and every exhibition of his we attend has several that I love but we live in a small house already covered in paintings and I am still so happy with the one’s we have.
 
 
My second piece (or pieces) are a small collection of pots. I have always love pots – sometimes it is the shape, sometimes it is the over-glazing. I knew I would have to include one in my list of favourite things but the choice was difficult. In the end I chose a small selection that we bought in the Lake District. I feel bad that I cannot remember the potter’s name and, in fact, I can’t remember exactly where they were bought, but with these it is partly the pots themselves that I love but it also the memories of one the most wonderful holidays I have had there that made me choose these. I think they may have been bought at the Percy Gallery in Cockermouth – a wonderful old building full of treasures. We frequent a lot of galleries and have found that some we walk into hold no interest at all and some are like a lost cave of delights. It is obviously down to taste and some gallery owners have similar taste to us. Cockermouth itself was a beautiful town and it was so sad to see it flooded the following year and realising that the ground floor of the Percy Gallery was under water….. The ceramic pieces themselves are quite small with abstract design which, to me has a Japanese feel to it (I have always loved contemporary and historic Japanese ceramics). They were not expensive, but value is relative and I can get just much pleasure from looking at a pot that cost me £15 as I could from a Bernard Leach (possibly even more pleasure as I would worry much more about the cat breaking a Bernard Leach pot). So, memories and motif combined to make these pots some of my favourite things.
 
 
My third piece is my Appalachian dulcimer. While not really a work of art, being a new and relatively unadorned dulcimer, its beautiful is in its form and in its sound. For one thing it is an instrument that is very difficult to sound horrible. Its three courses of strings for drone, usually based on a root note of D, and the scale of the frets either form a Mixolydian scale or an Ionian (or major) scale. It was used to accompany folk songs in America. It just makes me think of sitting of veranda of a shack in hilly glade as the sun is going down. The only problem is that we don’t live in a hilly glade or have a veranda in Plymouth, but maybe when my talented wife becomes famous for her wonderful jewellery and we have our house in St.Ives…. ah…..everyone needs a dream.”
 
 
 
Thank you Dave for kick starting my Three Beautiful Things blog feature.  If you would like to take part do let me know.
 
So, does anyone want to know details of the upcycled book jewellery? I took some previously loved hardback books and laminated them with retro prints, sealed them and then they were laser cut.  So far I have a selection of necklaces which will be on my website in the next couple of days SlickSilver Jewellery and I'm also working on a series of pins too. The great thing is that they're only £15.00!!! I will also be selling these at craft events.
 
 
 
 
Make sure you get yours - there's loads of shapes to choose from!!
 

See you next week!

Sunday 30 December 2012

2013, Onwards!

Hello folks, it's been too long!

Have you missed me? A lot has happened in the Slicky household I can tell you! 

So, it was like this.........
Remember I blogged about my forthcoming exhibition with Flameworks Art2Go? Well I was on my way to the Private View with my husband, artist David Muddyman (also exhibiting) and my son, Simon Dobson (fresh from his BASCA award ceremony!) when I fell over a metal cover sticking up out of the cobbles in the Barbican, Plymouth - invisible in the dark.  I didn't quite land in the harbour but it was close!!  Shock enabled me to pick myself up and continue to the PV even though I didn't feel quite with it and could feel a lot of pain in my hands.  A sleepless night led to a very long morning in A & E resulting in confirmation and treatment for a sprained left wrist, bruised left shoulder and knees and a fractured right ring finger and tendon damage!! Uh-Oh! Not the sort of injuries a hands-on jewellery maker ever wants to have!

A second exhibition a week later meant that I had to withdraw some of my scheduled work as I couldn't finish it and neither could I attend the rest of the craft fairs I had booked or meet my xmas orders :(

I'm now in a rigid splint for about another month which can't be removed so work is on the back burner for the moment - any of my stockists reading this, don't panic I have enough stock - anyone wanting to attend a course with me, feel free still to book and I will liaise with you regarding what I can and can't do and future dates and there is still some beautiful jewellery for sale on my website.

Coral Reef available from SlickSilver Jewellery


So we're nearly at the end of 2012 and what a year of change it's been.  Our family has adopted 'Onwards' as our motto and so it shall be......

Whilst recovering and one finger typing I have been thinking about some new directions that I might take this coming year and one in particular has been inspired by some comments I received from some lovely visitors to my stand at an Artist's Market in Tavistock in October.  A couple of groups of people said that they loved the colours and textures of my work, but didn't wear jewellery.  I must admit to being a little stumped - I had nothing to offer them.  On the way home I started to make plans and as soon as I am able to make again, my aluminium jewellery will be joined by some colourful wall art. Remember you heard it here first! Ideas are already down on paper - just need a right hand that works!

On another note from the 1st Jan until end of March, should you want to, you will be able to vote for me in the Selected Awards at Craft & Design Magazine  You can find me by following the links in the Selected Awards Section and searching for SlickSilver Jewellery, only if you want to of course! This is my first time in such exalted company!

Thank you for following my blog in 2012, keep checking in to my website at http://www.slicksilverjewellery.co.uk to find out what's new! Hope 2013 brings all of us good health, happiness, peace, luck and good fortune!

Wednesday 18 July 2012

How Do Galleries Find Artists?

Hello again folks!

Funny old weather this! I've been away to see my family and en route got diverted because of floods, saw another 4 closed roads that had me doubling back on myself more than once and finally ended up in a storm.  Saturday morning saw us diverted yet again for major flooding - my hearts go out to those affected.  It's supposed to be summer....... when's it going to happen????  Come on weather get your act together!  I'm really fed up of wearing my winter clothes!

Today has been another day where I've been thinking about what to do next.  I need some more galleries to stock my work - those that already stock me are showing good sales, but I really need more spread across the country.  I'd love to know how others approach stockists - I fear there is a magic formula unknown to me!! I've tried asking in the past, but that hasn't always worked either! Is there a way to become un-shy when approaching sellers? How do galleries find their new talent? I'm open to ideas so do let me know!

This weekend sees the opening of the Flameworks Summer Exhibition 'Pushing The Boat Out' at the Relegacy Gallery, New Street, The Barbican, Plymouth.  I've submitted work, but won't actually know what (if anything) will be included until I get there.  My husband, David Muddyman, is also hoping to exhibit this time so we'll keep our fingers crossed. For those interested the exhibition runs from 21st until the 29th July and is closed on Mondays.



Over the next week I plan to work on dyeing some new designs (preferably without the black thumb debacle of last time *note to self, buy sturdier gloves) and cutting them into some very exciting designs.  I'd really like to see if I could combine bronze with aluminium......... hhhhmmmmmm........new ideas............. watch this space!! And remember, you saw it here first!

Finally, did you all tell your other halves that if they really loved you they'd buy you a Shades Of Grey pendant? If not, whyever not? Direct them here with indecent haste!!! http://slicksilverjewellery.co.uk/page16.htm

See you all next week!









Monday 14 May 2012

SlickSilver Jewellery - The Return!

Well hello all - I'm back from my travels yet again!

We had a wonderful week in London, housesitting for friends in West Hampstead and getting out each day to visit galleries and exhibitions and new places.  My husband, artist and composer David Muddyman, spent most of his life living in the capital, indeed until 5 years ago when he moved to Plymouth and met me, so he truly knows his way around.

As we both love contemporary art, we're perfectly happy to wander around looking at new work and great jewellery and we both found things to inspire us especially in Tate Modern and Electrum Gallery, such exquisite innovative jewellery.  One moment that was really lovely was going into Studio Fusion Gallery in Oxo Towers http://www.studiofusiongallery.co.uk, where we met Louise O'Neill. She took time to tell us about all of the artists involved in Studio Fusion and even showed me her kiln - in all, a really nice lady to have met.

Last monday saw us visiting Brighton (a first for me) which was great but very wet.  It literally poured with rain so we dashed into a shop, bought 2 umbrellas and came back out to glorious sunshine and blue sky and no more rain - oh well!

Since I came back I've been producing new sheets of aluminium pattern ready for cutting.  Very soon you will be able to buy Cherry Blossom and Coral Reef from my website.


Coral Reef

Cherry Blossom


I plan to turn these two gorgeous sheets into a limited number of cuffs, pendants and earrings and perhaps a necklace. The sheets are approximately 10 x 7 inches.

I'm always inspired by nature and I've also been making moulds this week of tree bark, woodgrain, lavarock and all sorts of things in anticipation of my kiln arriving.......one day my kiln will come..........

Ok folks off to wait for the kiln delivery man! I think he may be walking......