Owlets

Autumn is probably my favourite season, and for me, is all about forests.  One of my earliest memories is of going hunting for wild mushrooms in the forests of the Pyrenees with my grandparents.  I love that it's called "hunting".  Feels dangerous and subterfuginous.   [That'll do for my word of the day.] 

Back to topic, I've noticed all sorts of foresty-themes making the front pages of the design blogs for some time now...   Leaves, acorns, mushrooms, owls, deer (deer antlers anyone?) - could it be that autumn is becoming everyone's favourite season?

In its honour, I have made some baby owl stud earrings in fine silver.  The deer antlers and mushroom projects will have to wait a little while.

My Inspiration

I have various books of pictures, colours and concepts that I dip in and out of.  My house is a treasure trove of books, leaflets, remnants and bits and bobs that have some creative energy in them, and thus I can't possibly get rid of them and and thus I cannot ever have a tidy house.  I also have a live running list of things that inspire me.  This list is saved on my laptop and is constantly on in the background, ready for me to add a new word, a new idea, a new thought. I retreat to my list on a regular basis, for ideas, for reassurance and for motivation.  There is another, much bigger, source of inspiration however, that is also always on in the background, ready to amaze and amuse and enlighten - her name is Inna.  And Inna started school today.

Inna has a good creative eye already - she was the child who found black the prettiest colour well before pink found its way into the repertoire.  She has decorated the walls and carpets with pens and lipstick because it looks 'improved'.  Given half a chance she would paint herself each and every day just to see how it looks and to be able to show everyone.  She is my biggest fan and my kindest critic.  She drives what I do and if it doesn't pass by her high standards, it does not see the light of day.  She who tells me she knows everything already but keeps asking questions about the world, her favourite concept.  She loves the fact that it turns, and sometimes it shakes - she does a very realistic impression of an earthquake...  So the first day at school will be one to cherish.  Here is to many years of happy learning, baby girl!

Getting Ready - Urchins

Part of my upcoming collection of nature-inspired jewellery - beautiful sea urchins, made entirely from fine silver , with a choice of precious gemstone in the centre.  The one pictured contains a gleaming blue natural zircon.  Stunning.

Getting Ready - the Sapphire Lotus

I plan to have more of the very gorgeous and very popular Sapphire Lotus series - each fine silver flower holds a brilliant 3.5mm padparadscha sapphire.  Very sparkly and very very special.

Getting Ready - The Bee Series

Some handworked fine silver buzzy bees are shortly going to make their way into the shop when it opens - look out for them!

 

A busy bee for your neck

 

Bee babies for your ears

Pebble Brooch

After the peacock fiasco, this was the piece that earnt me the qualification. 

I worked hard to make sure the syringe lines had a form and purpose.  To be honest, I'm not a great fan of the syringe - something to do with my total inability to keep a steady hand whilst also pushing down on the syringe - but I am often amazed at what others can do with it.  So I did want to push myself to showcase some of the possibilities of the syringe in openwork pieces.  The syringe can do more than openwork, but this was the requirement from the certification board.   I had to try really hard for this piece to have well defined lines (I ended up with my arm on a block of rubber, my left hand holding the unsteady right one, and not breathing, ha ha!).   Also this piece is quite small, only about 4 or 5cm square, so you can imagine the fiddliness of the job...   I started by doing a series of pebbles individually, cleaning those up and polishing the edges before choosing the nicest ones and attaching them together with paste.  Attaching the brooch findings is always a bit tricky but I had calculated the shrinkage well in this piece so it all matched up nicely when fired. 

Fine Silver Peacock

I promised a better introduction to the peacock brooch. He was made of silver clay for the body and a more diluted silver clay which is extruded through a syringe which once fired forms fine lines of fine silver wire, for the plumes.   He is quite big at 10x7cm.  This was one of the pieces I submitted for my level II ACS certification, and sadly it didn't make the mark.  The criticism I received was that the tail was too messy, and I have to agree.   The tail actually broke before it was fired, so that made the repair all the more difficult and in the process I lost some of the detail (yes, I had originally syringed individual feathers... so my expletives hit the ceiling when the piece broke and I realised that the repair would make the carefully designed plumage sort of disappear...).  You can't see it so well in the picture, but the tail is actually openwork, which means you can see through it in places, a bit like lace.  

The problem with this piece was confounded by the fact that as soon as you set out, as an artist, to make a respresentation of something recognisable you automatically add another level of difficulty in ensuring that the piece looks like the thing it is meant to look like.  So whilst my melange of feathers did not work as feathers, I wonder whether, had I set out on an abstract piece, the expectation would not be somewhat different.  I'm not even talking about the Art Clay Guild judges, as their requirement is very specific, and this piece would not have passed whether as a peacock or as a Pollock.  However, even for me, as the maker, I find there is something much more unforgiving about a representational piece as the added challenge is to try and achieve a little bit of realism.  

Evidently, a bowl of noodles doth not a peacock's tail make, but I still love this handsome boy.