Jewellery as Art

Well, last week I blogged about Amazon's new Universal Wishlist Button which allows people to add goods from anyone's website to their Amazon wishlist and the possible consequences for people like myself who sell one-off items.  I have tried to contact Amazon to ask if we can choose to opt out of this system, but haven't had a response as yet.  The editor of UK Handmade is also looking into this on our behalf and I will keep you posted.

Those of you who read my last collaborative blog with Carolyn Saxby will recall her gorgeous beads and I'm thrilled to say that I received a package of the golden pink beads and I shall enjoy making myself something stunning with those - thank you Carolyn!

So, following a suggestion this week on Twitter from ShellyBobbins I thought I would look jewellery as art.  I have always sought to introduce colour into my work and in the early days I did that with patinas of various kinds, and now I feel that I can really explore my painterly side using anodised aluminium and inks and dyes.  I'm often inspired by a photograph, but more commonly, a close up texture or a flash of colour will be enough to give me an idea.  I also find inspiration in pottery and textiles.  When I colour and dye a sheet of aluminium it looks like a painting before it is cut up.  I belong a small group of artists who like to push their boundaries and at a recent meeting we decided to work towards a theme for this year.  This has caused me to think about how I can portray my jewellery as art and so I've cut up a sheet of dyed aluminium and suspended it in slices within a frame to make a free standing sculptural exhibit which the viewer will be able to run their fingers through should we get an exhibition!

I also subscribe to Craft & Design magazine http://www.craftanddesign.net/ and you will be able to see a sample of my work in the Makers Gallery in the next issue!

In other news, my jewellery can now also be found at www.love-local.com which launched yesterday and I wish them loads of good luck!

 This aluminium collection is subtely textured and was dyed first in turquoise and then over-dyed in a beautiful deep blue and these three items are the only ones I produced in this pattern.  I think that they would look stunning with a party outfit.

Oh well, I'm off to find another stunning blog collaborator!  See you next week!