Art in Reading

A great opportunity for Reading and for Reading artists:

October 28, 2009

Empty shop windows in Reading town centre will transform into art exhibitions as part of an ‘Art Windows’ scheme this winter.

Arts organisation jelly, teamed with Reading UK Community Interest Company (CIC), will fill vacant buildings with temporary displays featuring pieces by Reading artists.

Suzanne Stallard jelly owner and a former Pride of Reading award winner, said: “When jelly first started we used lots of empty spaces and filled them with beautiful images – it’s how it originated really.

“We are going to exhibit work by local artists and people who have a connection with Reading.

“Anyone who wants to display should get in touch with us.”

As part of the programme jelly will re-vamp the unit, clearing debris, giving it a lick of paint and making it more attractive for passers-by.

In return the groups are asking for free use of the unit and free lighting and power.

Business Improvement District manager at Reading UK CIC, Guy Douglas, said: “Empty shops don’t look good and they are not the nicest neighbours for the businesses next to them.

“This is a really appealing proposition to estate agents and it is great publicity for the artists.

“It is a positive, warm and interesting street-scape.”

The exhibitions, which can be vacated within 48 hours, will be focused around Market Place and the groups hope to have them set up by Christmas.

Interested parties should contact Suzanne Stallard at suzanne@jelly.org.uk or Guy Douglas at bid@livingreading.co.uk.

bowl

It's the super busy time of year - I'm preparing for the Crowthorne Craft in Focus craft fair, which starts this Friday! I hope to see some of you there :-) I did have time yesterday, though, to squeeze in a quick lesson on how to make a bowl. I only started my bowl, so it's just in the beginning phase! I'm making it with copper and I blocked it a bit yesterday and did just a bit of raising. The blocking went naturally and seemed to get into a rhythm quickly, the raising was a bit harder. In any case, hopefully I'll make this into a very nice little bowl:

Reveal in Henley

Click on this photo for a closer look at the gorgeous flyer for the Reveal show in Henley or have a look at the Reveal website:

Craft in Focus

I shall be exhibiting next at

Wellington College, Crowthorne, 30 Oct - 1 Nov.

I hope to see you there where you will be able to view my latest designs

For further details of the show see below or log onto www.craftinfocus.com

The event displays only the highest standard of exhibitor that visitors to Craft in Focus have come to expect. We hope that you will visit us and look forward to seeing you at the show, as rarely is such a wealth of top quality work seen together at a single event.

Due to a strict vetting and selection procedure Craft in Focus has earned an enviable reputation for presenting events of the highest quality, and over the years, reports in the national media have often placed Craft in Focus above all others in the UK. We hope you will continue to visit our events around the country, and do keep an eye on our website for future developments and other shows in your area - www.craftinfocus.com

Yours sincerely

Craft in Focus

photo of stand

Hm, I was in a bit of a hurry when I took the photo of the stand, so it's not that sharp. But I have another 6 fairs to take a good photo, so that's ok! Here's a photo to give an idea, in any case:

Craft fairs!

So the first craft fair of the autumn is over! The Festival of Crafts in Farnham went very well! There were moments of loads of people flooding in and moments of quiet, but overall not too shabby for the first one of the season! I did better than I was aiming for, so no complaints here! Farnham is a lovely town with a beautiful drive into the center and I'm glad that I'll be back there on the 15th of December for the Farnham Maltings Christmas Market. This market is ideal for anyone who leaves their present-buying until the last little bit before the holiday!
I do have a photo of my stand, which I'll probably post tomorrow after I've sorted out all the stuff I didn't do over the weekend because I was away. Until tomorrow....

craft fairs, ahoy!

Festival of Crafts, Farnham Maltings:

£2.50, under 15s free
17^th & 18^th October 2009
10am – 5pm

Farnham Maltings is pleased to continue celebrating the creative traditions of the town of Farnham with the 13th annual Festival of Crafts in October 2009.

Festival of Crafts brings together over 80 designer makers and offers a unique opportunity for visitors to buy bespoke craft pieces, gain inspiration & a greater knowledge from skilled professional makers.

Click here for the event programme and list of exhibitors

Contemporary crafts on show include ceramics, textiles, glass, metal, jewellery and wood. Established craft practitioners will show alongside new exhibitors, with many offering demonstrations to engage and encourage both ‘craft connoisseurs’ and new audiences.

Demonstrations will offer a more interactive experience for visitors to the festival and encourage involvement in and a greater appreciation of the processes behind the work exhibited. Open Studios in the East Wing will also allow visitors to meet the Maltings resident artists and companies and learn more about the creative businesses that are based here.

As well as over 80 craft makers exhibiting and selling work, an exhibition will be held in the East Wing Gallery of new works resulting from collaboration between artist Anne Kelly and Cas Holmes – an ongoing project, 'Resonant Textiles'. Farnham Maltings will be the first venue in the UK that will exhibit their new work, before it tours in 2010...

more gloomy weather

It's rainy and gloomy and the garden looks soggy. My first craft fair of the season is around the corner (Festival of Crafts at the lovely Farnham Maltings!). Things may be cooling down outside, but they are heating up in the studio. Last night my second class teaching silversmithing/jewellery over at South Hill Park arts centre went very well. It went smoothly and everyone was happily working away at their projects. Lovely to see the bangles, rings, etc forming over the course of the class. Today I did lots of phoning - sorting out where to order a sheet of copper at a reasonable price without massive delivery costs. I also phoned for the...hm, I've lost count how many times...nth time to try to get some little post earring display do-dads. I have several of these thingies already and they are perfect for displaying small post earrings. But it's a battle...the supplier still hasn't received stock. It would be so great if I could get some of these things before all the craft fairs are over!!!! Right, now I'm off to paint the last little bit of my backdrop structure. I've done the base coat of paint and now I just need to paint it black and then it'll finally be finished! Hurrah!

random wishlist

There are approximately 10,202,395,385,103,204 different types of skills in silversmithing/jewellery making. As soon as I learn one, I find another two I'd like to learn. Some are more appealing than others, and some I'm happy to get an expert to do, since they are their own specialised fields. Many types of stone setting, for example, I feel are better left to the experts. They are going to do a better job and a good job straight away because they do it all the time. However, there are things that I'm just interested in and someday I'm going to get around to getting some lessons or demos, or at very least some videos! I'm not counting bezel setting as stone setting, for some reason, probably because I can do that and it usually involves quite large stones (or stones that aren't faceted, anyway).

Here's a random wish list of skills I'd like to learn:
1. engraving (see previous post about drooling over hand engraver's course)
2. granulation (this intrigues me and luckily I know a jeweller who knows a thing or two about this, so it's not a pipe dream to learn more)
3. stone setting (yes yes I said I'd rather leave to the experts, but I'd like to be better at doing gypsy settings and possibly roman settings. I like the flush style of setting as opposed to prong settings.)
4. enamelling (I'm sort of interested in this because of the colour options, but then sort of not because of all the extra tools I would need)

Anyway....that is what's on my mind at the moment.

happy october!

It's October already! There's a chill in the air and I'm looking forward to a possible halloween party and cosy evenings near a fireplace. Well, ok, it's only quite mild out, so maybe the fireplaces will have to wait a bit longer! Also, I have to admit I really like my winter coat, so I prefer wearing that to my summer/autumn light jacket.
Anyway, enough of that. I've had a flurry of posting on Etsy & Folksy. Lots of earrings (see photos of some below) - since I retrieved a bunch of items from Slough (since they're in the process of finding a new curator) I have lots of little earrings. I've added some of those, more to come. I've also got a bunch of rings which I'm going to polish, photograph, and put up on Etsy & Folksy at reduced prices.
Yesterday I organised a whole bunch of boxes and items and I'm definitely getting into craft fair mode! The first one of the autumn is a mere 16 days away - 17-18 October Festival of Crafts in Farnham ! I have a mere FOUR tickets left for free entry. They are actual paper, so I can only post them to you if you're interested. Just send me your address if you are...

brief update

Just a quick one 'cause I have lots I want to get done today! This morning I passed my driving theory test, hurrah! I'm so relieved. So, now on to the harder part - driving lessons. I haven't booked anything yet, so I should get looking.
I'm drooling over the hand engraving course being offered by the Hand Engraver's Association. I think I will try to do it in the spring, when they will hopefully be running it again. It's a wee bit too much to do the course now (well, it starts in November) because it's the busiest time of the year.

bump bump

I thought, I must post something because I must bump that annoying photo of the cheery chef lady further down the page! Ha! Well, I did make the 13 course meal (6 were actually cooked, the rest were more bought or just assembled) and it was enjoyed, so that all ended well! Today I am sorting out lots of bits & bobs. Yesterday I sorted out a package and thought about what I'm doing this week. It's a busy week, I have lots of jewellery to make plus lesson tomorrow and various social engagements. Also, tomorrow I have my theory test for a driving license! Wish me luck - I really, really, REALLY want to pass in one go. Oh please please let me pass straight away! First of all because it would cost me money to fail and second of all because it would be a tad embarrassing to fail the theory bit! Yesterday was full of quizzing about pelican crossing, motorcycles, lights, lines, lanes, etc. I hope I pass! It's going to be soooo useful once I can actually drive and we get a car - I will be able to get to more galleries, not need to hire cars for craft fairs, etc etc. So, I'll hopefully have some good news tomorrow!

oh boy...

See this lady? I don't feel that way about cooking. Cooking is alright every now and again, but I find it rather boring and I'm better at chatting to the cook and setting the table and things like that. Anyway, so it's a novel situation today because I have promised to make my husband a 13 course meal!!!!! That's 13 very small courses. Very small. There will be some weird things, some hopefully tasty things, and some things that I buy ready-made....because there's no way I can cook 13 different things for one meal. Well, I could, but it would take forever! ha! So, that's my story today. Tomorrow I'll be working on my lesson plans for South Hill Park. Oh yes and today I'll put some more earrings on Etsy/Folksy from the Lingerie & Lace collection. I was going to put a photo here, but I just realised I've never taken any photos of these earrings...so I'll add that later....

developments....

I nearly typed, oh it's Friday...but of course it's not, yet! So in an unexpected turn of events, I will be teaching one of the jewellery/silversmithing courses at South Hill Park arts centre starting next week! So, preparations are underway and induction was yesterday. South Hill Park is a lovely arts centre with a grand old building. I say grand old building because it looks like it's old, but I don't actually know the history of the building. I guess I'm going to find out more about it! Yesterday Bev and I were introduced to most of the staff there and they all seem really nice and friendly. I think it's going to be a very pleasant place to work! Bev is also a jeweller and will also be teaching. The current artist in residence, Ciara Lennon, will also be teaching. So there are three of us. I already knew Ciara and Bev from the Berkshire Designer Jewellers group. Incidentally, our current secretary is moving so I've become the secretary of the group. So, I'm busy busy!! Being busy is good for me, I actually get more done when I'm busy. So, that's the update!

phew

As the culmination of months and months of work and planning, I've started adding pieces from my Lingerie & Lace collection to Etsy and Folksy. This collection of tactile silver jewellery is inspired by and handmade with imprints of luxurious lingerie. Each piece is unique – only yours.
Below are some photos of the pieces already up on the sites. I'll be adding more (including another type of ring, small earrings, tie clip and bracelets) throughout the month. Each piece comes out slightly differently, showing a different part or type of lace. It's a great collection for weddings, since the pieces can be 'matching' for men and women, but not the same, so it's not too matchy-matchy, if you know what I mean. Anyway....have a look and maybe let me know what you think?

perfume

good morning....it's Monday again, hurrah. Ok, it's not too bad. It's sunny (sort of) and there's a lot to do this week. In the meantime, here's a photo of part of my perfume bottle collection. I really like small perfume bottles and over the years I've received rather a lot of bottles. Word got 'round that I like these teeny tiny over-designed bottles and my grandmother and her friends found out, which meant lots of donations to my collection! I think over the years I may have purchased a bottle or two, perhaps a total of five. All the others are empty bottle donations or gifts. So I have rather a lot...I think this photo shows about half of the collection. I like the way so much thought and effort has gone into the designs and how they look (in my opinion) so much better in miniature. I keep thinking that I ought to trim down the collection, perhaps only keep the small bottles (not vials) and get rid of all the duplicates. But thus far all I've managed to do is put the large bottles in a cardboard box for storage. I'll sort it out some day....in the meantime, I like looking at the mini bottles :-)

things

This week is flying by faster than you can say September. I can hardly believe it's Thursday already! I sent out my newsletter on Tuesday. Of course I tested it and tested it and all was well. Then I sent it out and the main picture didn't show up! Argh! So I had to send another one after it with the photo...oh dear. Well, lesson learnt and next time I'll attach the photo with super glue...ha! Of course, the craft fairs draw ever closer, so preparation continues. I've also added a page on my website about commissions. Hopefully today I'll add a page about my latest collection. And hopefully today I'll also add a new pair of cuff links to Etsy & Folksy. I'm not sure what to do about Coriandr. I get the feeling that site isn't doing that well. For starters I can't find any sellers on there that have had more than a handful of sales. Also I had a pair of earrings on the main page and the views didn't even increase, which makes me wonder who is looking at the front page! I think it might be better to focus on the sites I know are working - Etsy and Folksy. For now I'll keep the Coriandr shop open, but maybe not for much longer, unless there's a change! What else...I'm still working on a tricky commission that involves lots of stones. I'm hoping to finish the first version of that ring today. It's been a busy week and I have some big-ish news as well, but I want to be 100% sure about it before posting, so that'll have to wait until next week!



ps. if you're in or near Reading, something different to do this Sunday in town:
http://thejelly.wordpress.com/

Slough

So some of you may recall I have several items of my jewellery available at Slough Museum. Alas, alack, the curator at Slough is moving on to bigger and better things. She has an amazing opportunity which sounds fantastic. I think she's going to do great, she has great enthusiasm for art, history and is just a really nice person and easy to work with. In any case, she's moving on and new curator has not yet been appointed. Thus I am collecting my pieces at the end of this week until a new course of action has been decided there.
This weekend we inched a bit closer to finishing the backdrop for my show at Crowthorne. It's nearly finished! hurrah! Just a few more bolts and bit of paint and it should be sorted. Speaking of the fabulous show at Crowthorne (30 Oct-1 Nov) - the normal entry fee for adults is £4 but I have in my possession several discount vouchers for £2 off. So if you'd like to go, please just drop me a line with your address and I'll send you the discount voucher! Also, I have a few FREE entry tickets for the show at the Festival of Crafts at Farnham (17-18 October) - again, simply drop me your address and I'll post one out to you!
(my email is machi at magpienest.co.uk)

busy again...

Just a quick post today. I sent off a big box of many items to get hallmarked yesterday. That means that soon I'll be putting up a lot of new things on the various websites! This month, definitely. I wanted to send out a newsletter this week, but I was just too busy so it's going to be next week instead. So, lots of new things coming up... Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

commission

Here are some photos of a pendant commission. It's with a flower lace imprint and has a gallery through the middle to make it more delicate.