Spring Madness!

Hello all! I know, I've been a bad girl and haven't blogged for ages but I'll get on to that in a minute!

It's Spring, we even have flowers in the garden! Yes I know it's still raining, but over Easter we did have a little bit of the bright stuff, a big yellow thing made an appearance in the sky and the birds were singing! Doesn't it make you feel better?

So what have you all been up to?

I've had some good news of my own - my daughter is having a baby! That's right I'm going to be Nanna Val in the autumn! Happy news.  I'm also going back to college in late September to get myself some formal training whilst still running my business so it's going to be a very busy time.  In view of that I am taking the opportunity to make plenty of stock now. That's why I've been so busy.

So what have I been up to? Well, I've found a new aluminium supplier and I've been experimenting with new designs and colourways.  The new metal is much harder to work, but takes colour in an amazing way, really intense and vibrant.  Rust is a texture/colour which I simply cannot pass by, particularly if the metal has been painted and is peeling and I have been exploring this effect in my newest work.

This brings me to my sale - there's 25% off everything on my website, but only until the end of April and this is to make way for some of my new collections.  If you have a favourite piece, now would be a very good time to get it! There's free postage too! Tell your friends! Tell everyone!!

I've also got some fab new stockists, Created Gallery, The Hayrack Gallery, Number Four Gallery and finally Rostra Gallery which is brilliant news! Do check them out if they're in your area.

Finally some pictures of my new work, would love to have your feedback!

These are samples of what I've been up to, more next time! Thanks for reading!

Afternoon Tea and Galleries

Hi folks, I'm a little bit late this week, sorry about that, life took over!

Well, this week we had a real treat - as some of you may know already, we got married last year and we were given a voucher for afternoon tea for two.  Various reasons have prevented us going for it until yesterday, but we set off to find Lewtrenchard Manor and soon found ourselves in an absolutely stunning location.  I have lived near the Devon/Cornwall border for more than 24 years, but I'd never been there before.  The gorgeous house surpassed our expectations and we found ourselves seated in the library, quite alone, with dainty china and a cake stand with tiny crustless sandwiches, fabulous cakes and of course, scones, jam and cream! It was a lovely afternoon, a lovely gift and something we probably wouldn't have otherwise done.  Anyone drooling yet?!?

This week I've been experimenting with some new textures and shapes in aluminium and have been working on distorting the shapes with my rolling mill which kind of gives a faded effect to the applied pattern/printed/dyed surface.  I think I like the slightly industrial feel so I shall continue to explore this and let you see a finished item soon.

On the news front my attention was caught by a report that yet another highstreet store has ripped off the designs of Tatty Devine.  It must be so awful as a designer to have this happen.  Such companies can afford to mass produce and ultimately sell at a much lower cost than the bona fide designer can.  I appreciate that working in similar materials may mean comparison between two or more designers but we all want to work the material in a way that is our own.  There are several designers working in anodised aluminium like myself and I strive to make sure that I'm doing something different and something which is recognisably 'me'.  I really hope that Tatty Devine takes this to court and wins.

Again on the news front, there is a package of my work winging it's way up to a gallery in Inverness as I type!  You will soon be able to buy my jewellery from Hung in Inverness, Scotland http://www.hung-inverness.co.uk and it's also to be found in Gallery Atelier http://www.gallery-atelier.co.uk/ in Barnstaple too! Exciting times.  See you all in a couple of weeks as I'm off on my travels for a little while - tell you all about it when I get back!

A New Direction!

Hello everyone and hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.  I also hope that everyone who received my jewellery as presents were happy with it.

Well, we had a crazy, but wonderful Christmas Day with 9 of us gathering at the home of my daughter-in-law's parents who are very good friends of ours for a lovely family day.  As is usual for any family gathering Jeff managed to set light to something, however, this time it was only a paper napkin in the bin! The indoor fireworks left us all staggered by their beauty.........

New Year was very quiet and saw me writing lists of things to do in 2012, mostly for SlickSilver Jewellery as it will be a period of change and hopefully growth as I plan to spend more time working in the business, funds allowing.

So on to some changes - I shall shortly be adding a Signature Collection to my website where you'll be able to see the highly individual pieces that form a crossover between my silver and my aluminium work.  I shall be featuring, as part of the collection, some new designs I've been working on which explore simple basic leaf shapes with handpierced centres.  The following design started as an idea for an alternative to hearts for Valentines Day, however, I feel that the shape lends itself to further exploration which I plan to do.

This example would make an ideal gift for Valentine's Day or at any other time of the year so don't forget to point the relevant people in the right direction!!

I had a week off this week from my day job and it seems to have vanished into a pile of paperwork for my tax return, however, it's all done now, but I have had a lovely treat to cheer me up.  Those of you who read this blog regularly will know that I often feature other artists in my collaborative items and you may recall that I featured Phiona Richards of Rare Notions with her exquisite recycled books.  I was thrilled to received this from her in the post the other day and I'm really looking forward to wearing it - thank you Phiona - do make sure that you check out her website http://www.rarenotions.co.uk

Ok I must get on with finding some more lovely artists to feature on here - suggestions anyone?

Collaborative Blog 3 - Beads To Die For!

Well it's been a little while since my last collaborative blog as lots of artists have been on holiday, however, the artist I'd like to introduce you to is well worth the wait!

I found this very talented lady whilst trawling through the internet and as soon as I saw her blog I was completely hooked - her backgrounds, her style, her colours and her textures were all my kind of thing and I was blown away by the beauty of her work and I knew straight away that our pieces would work well together.  I'll let you be the judge!!

Carolyn Saxby is a textile artist who is fortunate enough to live in my most favourite place on earth - St Ives, Cornwall.  It is the most inspirational of places as you will see.  I asked Carolyn a few questions about where her inspiration comes from.

Where do you get the inspiration for your designs?

My designs come from my head but I find inspiration from my hometown of St. Ives in Cornwall, from my walks on the beach and in the country lanes by my cottage

I walk with my camera and sketchbook and record things that catch my eye … compositions, patterns and colours. I photograph things like rust and peeling paint on fishing boats, natural lichen patterns and colours, rock pools, seaweed, berries, rosehips, seed heads, pods and autumn leaves

Sometimes along my walks I “gather” things that I notice such as shells, pebbles, sea glass and sea washed pottery, seaweed, driftwood, feathers and flotsam and jetsam washed up on the beach. Some of these things find their way onto my stitched hearts, wall hangings and art cards and some of my finds become mini compositions on my windowsill or a temporary still life arrangement which I photograph. These are “moments in art”. I love to add digital textures to my photos which also inspire my work. I love colour and putting tones of colour together and these come out in the fabrics and accessories I choose for my hearts or in the paint I use for my hand made beads (which I use in my work and sell for others to use in their textile pieces)

I am inspired by nature first and foremost. I love living in St. Ives and try to walk most days. There are so many aspects of St. Ives that I love such as the quirky whitewashed cottages with lichen covered rooftops and the cobbled streets that are hundreds of years old. I find peace in being by the sea and walking on the beach and appreciate the changing seascape, how the sea changes colour and mood with the sky, the season, weather, tide and time … I sometimes try to capture a feeling, a fleeting moment … a seaside experience that lingers in the heart and using text in my work I can express that feeling on my seaside hearts and rock pool hearts

Is there a craft medium that you have always had a hankering to try your hand at?

Well … funny you should ask that as there is something that I am itching to try. For quite a while I have wanted to try my hand at encaustic painting. I already love to use wax in my work … covering images and text in wax to use in my collages … so using encaustic wax in my abstract paintings is a natural progression. However, good encaustic materials are expensive so this extravagance is on hold for just a little longer and will happen at time when I am a little more free to enjoy some time to experiment with the wax. At the moment, I am very busy with many sketchbook projects and work for exhibitions which is taking my mind off of the encaustic at the moment!

If you could see one famous person wearing your designs, who would it be?

What an interesting question! Well … it would have to be someone I respect for their fashion sense and someone who also has a quirky sense of humour and likes to be a little different so it would be very nice to see my scarves and jewellery being worn by Kate Winslet. Kate has such a good figure for well fitting clothes and is a lot of fun.

Where can fans buy your work?

My Etsy shop opened towards the end of May and I am blessed to have been very busy with orders since it started. My aim is to sell pieces of my textile art such as my textured hearts, stuffed cottages and art dolls, large and small art quilts, wall hangings and paintings, art cards, my hand made beads, threads and textile inspiration packs for others to use in their textile art. I am passionate about textiles and textile art and love to encourage and inspire others to have a go

My etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/cornishpebbles

So, beaders out there - how fabulous are these? I really hope that some of these glorious beads will be appearing in a piece of work near you in the not too distant future!! Carolyn assures me that her shop will be restocked this weekend so get your orders in!

Looking at Carolyn Saxby's gorgeous use of colour and texture caused me to have a good look through my work to see what could compliment her work.

As you all know I'm passionate about texture and colour and I love the textures and patterns in this particular cuff.



This is my wide Surf's Up cuff and is very reminiscent of the colours to be found in the sea around St. Ives.  It can be obtained from my website http://slicksilverjewellery.co.uk/page11.htm

This pendant from the Jet Trails and Sunsets collection is also available from the link above.

I also love working in silver and other metals such as copper or brass.  I particularly like introducing a heat patina which would normally be removed during the pickling stage of construction, however, I prefer to keep the gorgeous colours which can be achieved by repeated heating and cooling of the metal.  The piece here is made from a piece of reticulated silver which has a rectangle of copper mesh which has been enhanced with heat laced into it with fine silver.

This piece is called Tapestry and is available from my website at

http://slicksilverjewellery.co.uk/page10.htm

All that remains this week is to thank Carolyn Saxby, and hope that you all visit her Etsy Shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/cornishpebbles and her blog http://carolynsaxby.blogspot.com/ and if you like this blog, why not share it with your friends? Feel free to leave me a comment - I love hearing from you and it's nice to know that I'm not the only person passionate about colour and texture!!!

Oh and Happy Birthday to my artist husband www.davidmuddyman.co.uk!!