In Copper

I've been wandering about the city centre lately and have been noticing the beautiful architecture and how the buildings decay and age over time, something which always seems to inspire me. It reminded me of some objects I'd raised in copper- a very different metal from silver in how easily it tarnishes and the ways in which it does so, and so I thought I'd put up some images of the pieces in copper. It's amazing what you see in the city when you just look up.

New Designers

OK so this post is somewhat overdue but still relevant and so I'll end this month referring back to how it began- with New Designers. Our whole class made our way down to London to exhibit all together one last time at the Business Design Centre in Islington along side designers from art schools from all over the country.

The exhibits covered a range of disciplines including jewellery, textiles, ceramics and glass and it was interesting to see what everyone has spent their last year or more working on. I think everyone must have gotten something out of it as I think events like this are really inspiring if at times a little intimidating- all the more reason to continue with the hard work. I sold a couple of pieces and Anna Hegarty in my class won the Argos prize and everyone receiving interest from various people and companies. So well done everyone and all the best for the future.

Busy Summer

Oh dear, it's been a while since I last posted and my blog has been rather neglected. In the past two months I've moved home to Glasgow, graduated, been to London for New Designers and been on a wee trip round Spain- Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona and the music festival at Benicassim. And so I'm now back on home turf feeling inspired and ready to start new things. I've posted some pics from my trip. I just love the food market off the Ramblas in Barcelona. All in all it's been a busy but good summer.

Close Up

These are images of some rings based on an idea I revisited, the original ring was the one I used for my postcard. The idea was to reuse objects and pieces of old jewellery to make a new piece and one of the pieces I reused was the magnifying glass from an old watch. I liked the idea of using the magnified glass as a feature on the ring. Unfortunately I found this extremely hard to source and so in the two rings shown I have used ordinary watch glass and the lens from a geologists eyeglass. This is definitely an idea I'm going to take further, so long as I can source more lenses.

Shows over.....

Well the degree show is over but that's about it really, everything else is just kicking off. The degree show went really well and all our work was well received. I'd gotten to the point where I was a little tired of seeing my own work but hearing other peoples views and compliments refreshed my mind's eye and reminded me why I'd set out to do all this in the first place. And so, now feeling refreshed I'm set to continue and also start new things. I have a commission and a gallery is interested in exhibiting my work which are both new experiences for me and I'm quite excited about them. I'll just post a couple of pictures of my display just now which I kept quite minimal. I wanted the work to speak for itself so I displayed it upon mirrored acrylic as many of the pieces had detailing on the underside and used some of my photos on the wall which were the basis for my designs and inspiration.

Surreal...

It's nearing the end of a pretty busy and tense week and this is only the start. We all got our results this week and I'm pleased to announce that I'm now a jewellery designer and the word student isn't going to crop up quite as often now. Not only that but our degree show previews tomorrow night, it all feels very strange yet also very exciting. I'll keep you posted as to how it all goes but for now I'll sign off and just wish everyone the best of luck for tomorrow and a big congrats.

Ready for the Show

Oh dear, it's been quite a while since I last posted. Things have been really hectic of late but the works all done now and so hopefully this space won't be so neglected. The degree show is all set up now and we're currently being assessed and gearing up for the preview party on Friday. It's all really exciting and yet feels surreal at the same time. I'll just put up a couple more images for now. These are just some quick snaps of some brooches I made. Hope you're all enjoying the warm weather.