Royal College of Art: MA in Jewellery and Metal

 

I'm thrilled that I have just started an MA at the Royal College of Art in Jewellery & Metal. It's all very exciting and I am already working on my first project. This does mean that there might not be much blog updating for a while, as the course is full time. I'm also still teaching my evening jewellery making classes at Maiden Erlegh in Reading. As ever, if you have questions about jewellery or jewellery making classes, please feel free to contact me!

Craft Festival Bovey Tracey 16-19 June 2022: stand A11

 

I'm delighted to be participating in the Craft Festival at Bovey Tracey for the first time this year. You can find out more about how to get to the festival and how to buy tickets here: www.craftfestival.co.uk/Visitor-info-BoveyTracey. 

The festival is open Friday - Sunday from 10 - 5 each day. 

Directions

SAT NAV co-ordinates TQ13 9AL

Bovey Tracey is only 2 miles off the A38 Exeter to Plymouth Expressway.

Exit the A38 at Drumbridges Roundabout and follow signs to Bovey Tracey town centre. 

Follow the AA signs to The Craft Festival. 

Nearest train station Newton Abbot. Regular buses from Exeter, Torquay and Newton Abbot stop at Bovey Tracey. The nearest train station is Newton Abbot. Bus 39 takes you to Bovey Tracey from Newton Station. Exeter International Airport is 18.5 miles away. 

Tickets available here: www.craftfestival.co.uk/Ticket-info-BoveyTracey

 

Whiteknights Studio Trail 2022

Whiteknights Studio Trail 11 & 12 June 

11 – 12 June 2022 Whiteknights Arts Trail at the Museum of English Rural Life. 11 – 6 each day.I'll be there, next to the cafe with all the cakes, ha! I'll be alongside Ursula Waechter, a ceramicist. 

Happy New Year!!

Silver Jewellery Making: a complete step-by-step course is NEARLY here. It's published 1 February and is available, amongst others, at the following places: 

• Search Press (publisher’s website)
• Waterstones
• Amazon UK
  
• Penguin Random House (USA)
• Amazon USA   

Janet and I were SUPER excited to get our own copies of our book right before Christmas! It was quite a moment to see it really, truly in print! 

I wish I could tell you about exciting launch events we're doing, but sadly that will have to wait until the situation improves. For now, it's all online! Janet and I will be in the Henley Standard very soon , talking a bit about how the book came about and the content. We're also over on the More Arts website! Various other things are in the pipeline, so I'll update when things happen. 

I hope the new year will bring many positive things for everyone. The vaccination has started, which is great. I am really missing seeing people, so I'm looking forward to the day I can make lots of plans with everyone! For now, the only outing is the post office or the supermarket, so I am glad I have my studio to retreat to as a creative outlet. I've made many new pieces of jewellery, which I am looking forward to showing, but I need to take the photos first! 

While we're all stuck at home, for any fellow jewellers and jewellery students out there, I can highly recommend Metalsmith Society on instagram (@metalsmithsociety) and also the website. Another great resource with very useful and relevant podcasts is Jewellers Academy.

The making of a silver mini locket with a gold ball

Lockdown 2.0 projects! I've been working on a mini locket. Below are the progress photos and also photos of the finished item!

This is the locket before any findings were added:

 And here we have the beginning of the hinge:

 

 

This photo shows the first two side knuckles of the hinge, each about 1mm wide.

  

 

This photo shows the hinge with the middle knuckle now also attached.   

 

 

Here is the tiny bit of tube being soldered on to make the clasp on the other side of the locket:

 

 

 

This is the beginnings of the part of the clasp that will hold the locket shut.

 

  

 

This is the locket before finishing and before the hinge has been properly finished with a rivet.

 

 

Finally, here we have the finished locket. It is a mix of argentium and sterling silver, with an 18ct gold ball embedded in the front which is also visible from the inside. The silver has a brushed finish. And the cat is my parents' cat, Miles, because why not?