How To – a glimpse into jewellery design 2

As a member of the Association of Contemporary Jewellery I was able to put forward an application for a members exhibition of work to be shown at the Gill Wing gallery in Islington, London.

The theme was Tales of the subconscious:
‘Exploring the magical world of the jeweller’s subconscious.
Concepts that have come to you like a bolt from the blue, patterns in forgotten memories or dreamscapes which hold the key to your waking thoughts.
Challenges that reveal their solutions to you in the dead of night, ready to blossom into new designs by day. Your wildest ambitions made into reality. Creations you wondered could ever come to be.’

The words that stood out for me were ‘Magical’ and ‘Dreamscapes so I put forward 5 designs accompanied by the following statement:

‘I observe the natural world, examining its textures and colours as a whole and on a microscopic level This collection of work is founded in the beauty of ‘the Ancient’, woodlands with decayed stone walls that have been reclaimed by nature and, the highly manicured traditional Japanese form of Moss Gardens. My mind then moves on to pondering how to represent what I have seen, combining materials to depict the solid manmade structures in combination with the softness of the natural flora. How to connect glass, metal and paper and display it on the body as wearable art? I start with only a vague idea, no drawings and measurement. Once the materials start to come together, they steer me towards the final design, each one interacting with the last to guide me to the next move. It is an organic process which comes to its natural end when the completed piece is revealed to me.’

I am happy to report that they ACCEPTED my entry. Yay!

Here are 3 of my designs and a quick peak at the process involved in their creation.

Ancient Stone Wall necklace: mixed media necklace in silver, steel, paper, glass beads, felt.