My pearly Suzuka Chrysanthemum Flower Rings are featured on the Platform Showcase website, along with a beautiful selection of jewellery by other makers. If you are passing Hatton Garden way go and take a look, Platform is easy to find on Greville Street just opposite the Bleeding Heart Tavern.
Suzuka Chrysanthemum Flower Rings
I have been having a few ideas about new work at the moment and I have had some fun playing with my mini-mill lately. Once I had got hold of the right milling bit all went smoothly, although I need lots of practice to be able to do what I really want to do. I’ll post some pictures when I have something worth showing you.
I am hoping to get a series of pieces together on a theme of the objects we leave behind us both the trash and the treasure. I hope to incorporate both inspirations from upcycled materials and themes from archaeology. I want to make a trip to the British Museum soon to take a look at some of the treasures of jewellery they have there.
In a really very slack state of affairs I have neglected to care for my poor blog since April! In my defence I have been out there doing plenty of jewellery related fun and games plus being on holiday. Well ok that was only one week. My work is now distributed to galleries all over the UK which is great showcasing from London to Lancashire - humm that is only England isn’t it? None the less I hope my work is well received. There is a full list on my website here.
You can also see my work locally in the Surrey Guild of Craftsmen’s outlets, the Gallery in Milford, Surrey and the newly opened Shop Maltings in Farnham, Surrey.
I am very excited this morning as my new business cards from Moo.com have arrived. It is still a little like a birthday when you get a parcel I find. My graphic design is definitely getting better plus I had some lovely new images of my work to play with. They took a while to design as there was lots of mucking about in Illustrator and Photoshop to get my new logo right and the images the right size. I went for a dramatic close up crop in portrait format on the images which I think works really well. I used the four flower shapes and two fan shapes being the central motif of my new collection. I also got a few mini cards done as they are useful for all sorts of things such as labels, tent cards and packaging.
My lovely new business cards
I am finally declaring it summer, we may be on British Summer Time but it has felt like winter has just dragged on this year! However, I saw five swallows yesterday, looking very much like they had struggled a very long way so I think I shall skip spring and take that as a sign to move straight on with summer. It also means the sun was out and I could photograph the new silver studs I just finished so it is all good. These studs will be available soon on Etsy, in the Surrey Guild Gallery and at The Craft and Design Experience, Henley in May.
New Stud Earrings for Summer
After weeks of hard work my new collection has launched at my first solo show. The Sara Preisler Gallery, Birmingham is hosting the first of my new collection for March and April. Many of my previous posts have been covering the design work involved in such a project so you can see how far I have come from last summer when the first ideas started germinating.
I am so pleased with the collection which has revitalised my interest in precious metals and given me a new outlook on pearls which I would never have thought of using had they not been next to my work by chance one day!
I also created a window hung piece for the exhibition to frame the new work and provide a gateway through which viewers could be attracted to the window of the gallery. It is a flowing piece on silk organza based on the movement of air over the rear wing of a Formula 1 car. The flow has been inverted and mirrored to make an arch. The title of the piece is Airflow Arch. I stencil spray painted the fabric to reflect the urban setting and the surrounding walls which have been turned over to graffiti art.
Here are a couple of shots of the hanging and the display of my jewellery - although I was in the process of setting up so the layout was not final.
If you happen to be in the Birmingham area, pay Sara’s Gallery a visit here is a link to her website with directions. It is in the old Bird’s Custard Factory which is an historic part of Birmingham and about 5 minuutes from the Bullring.
Window piece and jewellery being arranged for the exhibition
Window view of exhibition set up
Suzuka Chrysanthemum Rings - Plain and Pierced Pearl
I’m pretty pleased with these, I’ve had this great photo of some twisty exhausts on my wall for a while now (you can just see it on my Design Wall bottom left in this earlier post) and been wanting to incorporate a hint of their shape into this collection somewhere. These are quite regular but there is a little hint of twistyness in the cross drilled pearl ring which I am hoping I can build on. Having avoided silver for a while I am loving the suggestion of oilyness in the oxidised ridges of each ring particularly against the purity of the white pearl.
Suzuka Chrysanthemum Cross Drilled Ring
Suzuka Chrysanthemum Pierced Pearl Earrings
Suzuka Chrysanthemum Pierced Pearl Earrings
It always gives me real satisfaction when I finally find out what I have been working on actually looks like. From initial concept, through design drawings and models I have a pretty good idea but it might surprise you to know that what the final piece really looks like is often a bit of a surprise to me! I love the way a design changes and develops throughout the process. I make decisions both practical and aesthetic that often take me in a different direction to the way I thought I was going. I find this uncertainty keeps the whole process fresh. I have consciously designed this collection with the idea of play in mind. I have three repeatable shapes, a pearl knotting technique and a precious metal technique that can be used in a variety of ways to create something a little different each time I make a piece of jewellery. These pieces below are currently on show at the Mall Galleries until 17th January 2010. For more details click here.
Suzuka Chrysanthemum Dark
Suzuka Chrysanthemum Light
Suzuka Chrysanthemum Earrings
Another of my sneak peak posts - straight off the jewellery bench a fresh design for my new collection. I have used up the test cut pieces and am now pushing on with making more for Suzuka Chrysanthemum. The four laser cut shapes are flexible enough to allow each piece to be different be they flowers, flat or folded the repeated shapes can be different colours, have different inlays, be laced with pearls like the necklace in my previous post, combined with precious metals like the ring or both like this earring. Each new piece of jewellery will allow me to play with these elements and create something subtly different each time.
Suzuka Chrysanthemum Necklace
First necklace in my new collection, inlaid titanium with hand knotted pearls. It is really elegant and wearable, makes you feel really special while you have it on. I am so pleased with how it turned out even if I nearly went blind hand knotting each and every pearl!