News, news, news!

Hi - hope you're all safe and dry and haven't been flooded! What a horrible start to the year!

I've been keeping busy, it's that time of year when new ideas get tried out, some work, some don't and some don't work yet but I feel they will in time.  I've reworked a couple of old silver pieces which had been shelved and are now shelved again pending further inspiration!  I started off this year by thinking about the things which inspire me (rust - plenty of that round here with all the seawater being thrown around) and looking at how evident that inspiration is in my resulting work.  I realised that what floats my boat isn't always obvious and so I'm making a more concerted effort to find ways of showing that inspiration. Sometimes it's the colour of rust, particularly on old concrete and sometimes it's the lovely knobbly texture blistering through layers of old paint. With all this in mind I painted and dyed a sheet of aluminium last week which I do think represents my ideas.  I dare say the finished pieces (when they are finished!) will appear on here for you all to see.

A few weeks ago I had a fun day teaching polymer clay bead making at Orchard Learning Centre in Gunnislake, Cornwall.  For most people it was the very first time they tried using polymer clay and a great day was had by all, with much hilarity and some great results.  I'll be there again on the 2nd March if anyone would like to try their hand at making polymer clay pendants using foils.  If you'd like to book a place please book through Orchard Learning Centre direct - oh, and Jay the centre owner includes a lovely lunch!!
Here's some pictures of what the students made during the day.












The following picture is an example of the kind of pendant we'll be making in the forthcoming course so hurry and make sure that your place is booked and I'll look forward to another day of fun and giggles!

 

I've also been working on a statement piece of jewellery - the Dazzle neck piece is now available to buy on my website and I can even produce it in the colour range of your choice, be it blues, pinks, greens etc. All you have to do is let me know! Do you like it?

Dazzle Neck Piece 

In other news this week, I'm proud to announce that Created Gallery is going to be a new stockist and they are in Chesterfield so if you're in that area pop in and take a look. 

I'm also going to be exhibiting with Number Four Contemporary Art and Craft Gallery from 12th April for twelve weeks so I hope you'll go and see what they have to offer up in St Abbs, Berwickshire.  It will be a selling exhibition so take along your pennies!

Anyway, back to the workbench and I'll see you all soon.

Inspirations and Giveaway

Hello folks!

Well, isn't it cold and dark? It feels as if it should be at least 5pm and that I should be drawing the curtains when it's really only lunchtime - what's going on? Can't wait for the Spring! Carry on reading for news of my Giveaway to make us all feel less wintery!

So what I have I been up to, apart from doing my accounts and filing my tax return - lots of admin stuff, that's what.  Been replying to lots of emails etc. and I started physio for my finger.  Think it's going to be a long haul to get back to where I was before the fall, but hopefully I'll be able to do light work soonish.  My new designs are all there in my head and some on paper looking like they were drawn by a two year old on an off day, but it's a start!

In the absence of hands-on making, I thought I'd talk about the things that I find inspire me.

1. Shade Cards
Am I the only person who could positively drool over paint charts? Possibly! Wool shops have a similar effect on me. My husband is an artist and he often makes sample charts of colour mixes so they're always around the house. Thankfully I'm also able to produce Pinterest boards of stuff I like and if you're also a Pinterest fan, feel free to follow my boards - isn't it a great idea? Why not follow me on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/slicksilverj/

2. Books
We have a house full of books. I collect jewellery books and my husband collects art books.  The work of Kurt Jackson and Gerhard Richter have inspired several of my dyed aluminium sheets.

3. Paris
I love Paris and the colours and elegance of the buildings (not to mention the patries) always make me want to capture the essence.

4. St. Ives, Cornwall
Possibly my favourite place on earth, beautiful light and stunning scenery with houses tightly packed and clinging to the terrain and golden beach everywhere you look. Fabulous galleries too.  No-one could fail to find inspiration in such a place.

5. Rust, Old Brickwork, Peeling Paint
When I see a texture such as this I grab my phone to take a picture. I'm rarely able to capture the texture exactly but often take elements of it into my next piece.

6. Chocolate
Now obviously this doesn't directly inspire me, but it certainly helps!! 

So what inspires you to be creative?

Tell me your answer coupled with the name of your favourite piece currently on my website in any of the collections and I will chose a winner but don't forget to leave me an email address or way of contacting you! The winner will receive something from a collection which hasn't appeared on my website before so I will tell you no more!! Start browsing SlickSilver Jewellery and good luck!

Closing date Thursday 17th January at 5pm

Favourite at the Fair and Inspiration Pics

It's been another busy week folks! What's new, I hear you groan......

You may recall that last blog I was telling you that I was meeting the Ladies Wot Tweat for another lovely lunch and so last Friday, 10 of us met up for lunch at Jolly Jacks.  A fast-paced and hilarious few hours ensued and I didn't return from lunch until well after 4pm! I got chance to speak with those I hadn't managed to chat to before and met another new member and we found that we had musical offspring in common amongst other things.

The weather on Saturday was dire, but, as my husband was on a photography course, I spent the day working and on Sunday we woke up to sunshine so set off as planned to visit the Contemporary Craft Fair at Bovey Tracey, Devon.  I've been before, but the familiar excitement of seeing so much beautiful jewellery soon set in and no, I wasn't disappointed! I couldn't go last year because of surgery on my shoulder but really enjoyed the opportunity of chatting to makers whose work I was already familiar with.  I also met some really lovely designers, who had stunning work on display and who were really friendly.  To the two ladies who were manning stalls and who didn't look up from their mobile phones or acknowledge me the whole time I was looking at their work - bad move! I cannot pass up the chance to mention just a few designers who really caught my eye.  Anne Morgan for her amazing ability to reticulate large pieces of silver, Bryony Stanford's amazing crumpled cuffs, Jed Green's incredible shaped glass tube jewellery and Kokkino for some absolutely stunning new work. I also loved the aesthetically pleasing designs of new jeweller Katie Roberts in the One Year On marquee.  I'm a real sucker for ceramics too and have contacted two of my favourites in the hope that they'll take part in a collaborative blog. Fingers crossed!

Anyway, this week we've had a visitor to stay who was mixing an album with my husband, so after hearing many snippets of music many times, I retired to my studio to work!  I'm hoping to exhibit in the summer so I'm currently working on pieces for that theme.  I'll tell you no more than that, but you can see a picture of one of the pieces so far.

I thought that you might also be interested in seeing what inspires me.  We took a little trip down to Royal William Yard yesterday for a coffee and a look at Plymouth College of Art Degree Show which was well worth a visit, so if you get a chance to visit their two venues down there, do go.  Anyway, on to inspiration.  Texture and colour, every time.  We wandered round and I took some photos for my inspiration board - I hope you like them too.

An amazing rusty old door!

Old stone wall

Peely paintwork

Well, that's all for this week, hope you like my pictures!

Competition for a Valentine's Treat!

Hello folks! We've just been to the Seco Lounge to meet up with other Flameworks members, however, no-one turned up so we had dinner and forlornly came home, checked our emails and realised that the meeting is next week - hey ho, dinner out next week too!! #notaseniormoment

So, who would like to win a delicate Valentine's inspired pendant? There's no cost to enter so why not have a go - you could give the pendant to someone you love or you could just keep it yourself!! I know what I'd do!

So how do you enter?  All you have to do is guess the weight of the pendant with chain and the nearest guess will win it!  The closing date is Sunday 5th of February at 5pm so start guessing and post your answers below!

What is the weight of this pendant with chain?

Last week I blogged about Alison Branagan's books on business for Artists and Designers, so I thought I would tell you about another book which is providing me with a lot of inspiration at the moment.  We all get our inspiration from many diverse directions and I get a lot of mine from naturally occurring forms, such as the bark of a tree or a lichen formation.

This book, which I received for my birthday at the end of last year, is proving to be such a source of ideas, even if I only use a colour combination or a small pattern repeat from within the pages.  If colour and texture are your thing too, then give it a try.

It's called Heaven & Earth, Unseen by the Naked Eye by Phaidon and contains stunning photographs of our planet and us, but mostly from the inside!

Do you remember the piece from my Signature Collection I showed you last week? Well this week I have used to same form but in shades of yellow ochre, green and blue, forged it and also designed a pin through it to make a very desirable brooch which would look sensational against black clothing with simple lines.  The oval head of the pin is made from heavily reticulated silver and perhaps I'll post some pictures of it next week.  I've also been working on some simple aluminium adjustable band rings and some not so simple ones!! Pics next week!

Hope you all have a good week - competition results Sunday night!

Colour and Texture Collaboration

As an admirer of the work of many others I thought it would be a good idea to show you that of an artist I particularly like and whose work I feel has a synergy with my own and I really hope to make this a regular feature of my blog.

I recently did a mini interview with Mhairi Wild, designer of utterly beautiful knitted and felted accessories. I asked her the following and would like to thank her for taking part:-

Where do you get the inspiration for your designs?
The Scottish coastal communities that I have visited and researched form the basis for much of my inspiration.  The colour, texture and narrative all play a part.  A constant companion on these trips is the work of poet Thomas A Clark, more specifically, ‘Distance and Proximity’.  The visual patterning and imagery of the written word throws up inspiration in equal measure, and is a core part of my work.  So far the Island communities of Easdale, Seil, Mull, Iona, Harris and Lewis, are among the list of inspirational settings and more recently, Cromarty, Auchmithie, and Crovie on the East coast of the Scottish mainland.

Is there a craft medium that you've always had a hankering to try?
I’ve always fancied trying my hand at ceramics.  I’ve dabbled a bit in the past, but would like to develop my skills to perhaps incorporate ceramics and textiles in some way.

If you could see one famous person wearing your designs, who would it be?
Without hesitation, I’d say Tilda Swinton.  I’m a great admirer of her cinematic and community work.  She is well known for supporting the Arts, across the board.  I think she would like the flexibility of my ‘gather’ scarves as they work well as a statement piece and are just as happy worn with a big jacket and wellies.

Where can fans buy your work?
My work is available online from Papa Stour, and baffie.  My biggest retailer is Concrete Wardrobe, Broughton Street, Edinburgh, where I am launching a new extended range with homewares, and new gathers on 1^st August.  Sheila Fleet Gallery in Kirkwall is my Orkney retailer, with The Tayberry Gallery holding my work, a bit closer to home.  I’m diversifying into luxury handpainted yarns, inspired by the islands, and am working on a new woven textiles collection for Winter 2012-13.

These stunning designs from Mhairi caught my eye for the rich colour and texture and three dimensional quality she manages to achieve.  They are statement pieces.  The skinny scarf is part of her very latest collection. Please do make sure that you visit her website and either treat your self or make sure that everyone around you knows what's on your Christmas list!  You can find Mhairi
 Wild at www.mhairiwild.co.uk

The View From The Tate

Colour and texture have long been my inspiration and my anodised aluminium jewellery lets me fully explore that and you will see from the images below that I was naturally drawn to Mhairi's work as it similar in concept to my own whilst being in a completely different medium. It would be wonderful to think that some day both of our designs will be worn together.

Sandstorm In The Desert

As you can see, we have often used similar colours in our work and I particularly love to introduce a texture which I achieve by using layers of powdered pigments, alcohol inks, aluminium inks and aluminium dyes.

For further information see www.slicksilverjewellery.co.uk

Inspirations

This week, whilst still exploring and learning about online marketing, I have been thinking about the sorts of things that inspire me.  Really I'm yearning to start making again, but physically my shoulder hasn't recovered enough for that yet - so let's take a look at my inspiration board.  It sits obediently at the side of my workbench and I glance at it periodically, but I'm not entirely sure that I'm using it as I should.  It's covered in pictures I really like, postcards, odd ideas that I've tried (some of them really odd!!), love notes, business cards, application forms, a couple of little paintings by my husband etc, but does all that just make it a noticeboard??? When does a noticeboard become an inspiration board anyway? I feel like it needs to fulfill it's potential by being draped with beautiful swatches, colour charts and the like and perhaps I'm letting it down a little - holding it back as it were.



Reticulated Sterling Silver Pendant
 with Blue Seaglass



So here's the thing. I like having somewhere to keep the bits I don't want to throw away. If I'm really honest, my inspiration comes from what I see outside the house.  I can go into raptures over the colour and texture of an old stone wall, rusty metal, lichen (don't get me started!), the bark of a tree and whilst I don't always try to recreate those textures, I do believe that they show in my work, particularly in my reticulated silver. 

Recently on honeymoon in St Ives we spent a great deal of time in galleries, in fact, there were few we missed in the area.  There are a couple of places that I particularly love that we visited again and previous visits had led me to some designs.  The first is Barbara Hepworth's studio and garden.  Her amazing scultpures immediately make me wish I was at my bench. My other favourite place is the Tate overlooking the beach, particularly out on the rooftop coffee shop on a gorgeous sunny day.  I don't think there's a more stunning view.  Recently I was colouring a sheet of aluminium, and as I've said previously, I'm never quite sure what the final result will be, but as soon as this particular sheet came out of the dye bath I knew what it would be called.  This collection is called The View From The Tate and if you've ever visited the area and seen the amazing light you'll know what I meant.

The View From The Tate Cuff and Pendant (there's also earrings available) and indeed the silver pendant above are all available from me should anyone be interested in buying them by contacting me at info@slicksilverjewellery.co.uk

or through my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/SlickSilver-Jewellery/241037522592328 or you can contact me on Twitter at SlickSilverJ

One final shoutout this week to my lovely Twitter friend S L Jewellery and Accessories.  She wrote a great blog about me but she also makes beautiful wedding jewellery and button bouquets which deserve a look so check out her site at http://www.sljewelleryandaccessories.co.uk/