Ring Exchange done, new project announced

So the ring exchange went really well. I'm pleased with how my design went, Elspeth made it really well. Its on display in the corridor at the moment, but photos to follow later.
As a project, it really got me thinking about where I want to go with my jewellery, and I really enjoyed studying old town Edinburgh in my sketchbooks, especially the juxtaposition between old and new, and the history which has been hidden underground and pushed from peoples minds. On that basis, I think my focus may be quite narrative and illustrative. Line drawings are the way forward! I really liked that my final piece has something to say, and can be interpreted by whoever sees it. I'm going to have to get some pictures up now so you can understand what I mean!


Now, the next thing, our new project. We have to research a jewellery artist, assigned to us by our tutors. This artist is given to us on the basis of similar ideas we might have running through our work in a bid to help us explore our own ideas further, or at least inspire us a bit. Well, I LOVE the artist I have been given. Her name is Barbara Christie, and though I had never heard of her until yesterday morning I'm finding her work hugely inspirational already. Here is her website: www.barbarachristie.com
I love the narrative quality of her work, and the almost Oriental images, especially in her brooches. The really predominant use of stones is amazing too, and something i had never really thought about much. I'll have to consider it now!
The image at the top is my absolute favourite (for now anyway)
Sketchbook time!
Helen*

Holy moley, I bought a kiln!

Yikes, there goes all the summer cash :)
Its my new obsession with bronze clay that made me do it (honestly), but i do have some loooovely pieces in the pipeline that i want to start selling through my website eventually....hmm I'll aim for christmas, but we shall see.
Meanwhile at college we are in the middle of a 'ring exchange' project, where we design a ring, then swap the design with someone picked at random from our course and then make each others...no pressure! Get the names on monday, so I'll let you know how it goes!
Helen*

Bronze Clay!

Well, here it is, my Bronze bracelet commissioned a wee while ago :) 

I think it turned out pretty well and the lady I made it for did too, as she has now requested a matching necklace!

The other exciting news is that I am attending Robert Dancik's Faux Bone course in Edinburgh this weekend, so expect to see some results from that soon!

Time to buff up the sketchbook a bit more.

Helen *

Glass and BronzClay

I'm just back from a wonderful holiday in Italy, where we were near enough to Venice to go for a day to see all the glass making in Murano for a day. Well, I have now developed a new obsession. I just spent £50 ordering the lampworker's bible (oops) and I'm dying to try lampworking again. Apart from that, I have also been working with chainmaille (very fancy, photos to follow) and just completed a bronze bracelet which i had for a commission. I'm so pleased with it, I have a photo of that to go up soon too. I made it with BronzClay, the relatively new bronze version of silver clay. Its a bit tempremental, so I was really pleased to see how it turned out. Photo to follow!
Helen*

I'm back...again!!

Dear nice people, It is holiday time again, and so I am back with a chance to keep up my blog. Lets hope I can manage to do it a wee bit more consistently!
Also I have no camera, so photos of my work will be up, just maybe slightly erratically. To start with though, my most exciting news is that I have passed my first year at art college, and am now preparing for third year!! :)
Since its the holidays though, I have been in The Little Bead Shop (www.thelittlebeadshop.co.uk) non-stop, as my boss Gil is getting a well - deserved break! I am in the middle of my Level 1 Art Clay Silver certificate at the moment, and its going well! There is so much paste though, I think you should be expecting to see a lot of fine silver leaves up for sale soon!! :)

I'll be back to post more soon!! (Honestly!)

Helen*

Lampwork - oooh!

Bonjour!
Yesterday I was working away in the Little Bead Shop and got to have a go on Emma's lampwork torch, and I love my beads!!
Emma is the owner Gil's daughter and she has her studio downstairs where she creates lots of silver and glass beauties! Her blog is fab, www.littlebeadshop.blogspot.com, go have a look! I'll get a photo of my beads up once my camera is up and running :). Meanwhile, here are some of Emmas. Needless to say, mine are not of quite the same standard! :)
Helen*

Christmas Holiday Project

Last time I was here I mentioned my Christmas project on Maisie Broadhead. I have been having so much fun doing it!
Her website is http://www.maisiebroadhead.com/ and it has some beautiful photographs of her work. I have been focussing on her 'Bathroom' collection, which features household fittings cast in silver to be worn on the body, giving them a new purpose and meaning.
This took me to the Sam Burns scrapyard in Prestonpans ysterday, to see what objects I could come across which i thought could do with a new lease of life... so £3.00 later I had an old remote control, a games consol handset, some old plugs, a showerhead, a couple of taps, a hard drive from an ancient computer and some old screws. Now, what to do with them? Any inspiration greatly appreciated :) . I'm back at college on Monday so will try and scan some of my sketchbook pages for you to see.
Other news...not too much. I just got back from a gorgeous holiday in the Conaries with my boyfriend, and it was pretty much jewellery-unrelated, although that didn't stop me from dragging him into every jewellery shop we passed! Going to have some fun with a bit of fimo tonight, I have a new idea in the pipeline. Ooh. I'll let you know how it goes and get some sketchbook photos up soon! Helen*

P.S. This image is Maisie Broadhead's 'Pullcord necklace'.