Blog Hop

Ok, I know I have been a bit slack over the last few months!  What can I say?  I have been busy.  Actually I have, what with producing orders for my stockists and taking some time out to develop some ideas for new designs, I have had lots to do.  Any way, it is very timely that I have had a nomination from Inky Linky to take part in this Blog Hop, to spur me into a new blog post.  Liz is a very talented jeweller and print maker who creates lovely characterful, atmospheric pieces and you can see her blog entry here.

So the idea is that creative designer maker types like ourselves answer just four questions about what it is that we do and a little bit about how.  

So, to the questions.

What am I working on?

At this time of year I tend to work on what ever needs restocking!  It is the time of year when things go a tad mad.  However, in between fulfilling orders and keeping on top of stock levels I have smuggled in some new design ideas that incorporate some of my ink paintings that I created a month or so ago.  

Recent additions

I have also been playing with an idea I had a long while ago, the use of copper washers in my work.  It comes from my love of the copper colour and how it sets off certain colour combinations.  I have been using a range of metal findings and washers in my cuff link ranges but not yet branched out into the larger pieces.

Bronze cuff links

 So I have a big industrial pack of lovely shiny washers of every possible size and I have been trying them out in some of my designs, I rather like them.

Copper washer range 

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

There are many resin jewellers out there but I suppose what makes my work unique to me is the fact that I use my own photography and art work in them.  My work is recognisable for it's colour and intricate detailing (I use tiny seed beads which need to be added to the designs with a pin!) as well as a strong link to my biological background (many of my paintings are reminiscent of cellular structures).  The comments I have had many times from different people are that my pieces are tiny artworks in themselves, as well as comments on how good my eyesight must be! 

Selene brooch

Why do I do what I do?

I absolutely love what I do and I realise I am extremely lucky to be able to pursue my dream career.  Before this I was a primary school teacher, another job I loved, but it didn't give me the freedom I needed to be with my young family.  So this idea came about - maybe I could make a living from my creativity?  I have always been creative, I have used many media and created a range of artwork either through my educational life or through my own interests.  I had been dabbling in creating jewellery, I taught myself how to work with resin and when push came to shove I took the step to try and make a business out of what I was doing.
  
Over the last few years I have built up my business, honing my ideas, whittling out the things that I may enjoy doing but are not good business sense to sell and I have come round to a more secure identity as a result.  I have grown in confidence and what is more, every day is different.  I have met all sorts of interesting and like minded people and have gained some great friends who understand what it is like to be creative.  Even more astonishingly (to me) it appears that I am creating something that others like enough to buy and so my little business is branching out and I am now stocked in 16 galleries and gift shops around the UK.   I have a real sense of achievement in what I have built up so far, that is why I do what I do.  

How does my process work? 

The creative process can be quite lengthy in my case.  I can have an inkling of an idea months before it turns into anything concrete but I enjoy kicking it about in the back of my head until it is ready to come out.  Sometimes however they may simply spill out onto the page without me really knowing where they have come from!  Most of my ideas are triggered from my background in Applied Biology, I love the microscopic aspect, the hidden world.  Many of my larger canvases are loosely based on cellular structures.  

Xylem

I also love natural forms whether they be tightly wound fronds on a fern or the plumage on a guinea fowl.  I don't go far without my camera which I use to photograph little treasures that I come across.  All these aspects of my interests, once manifesting themselves first in a painting or in a photograph make their way in a cut down form to the back of my pendants.  There they are embellished with tiny seed beads which are finally encased in a dome of resin.    

Organised chaos!

The resin takes up to two days to harden but I love the effect it gives of a lens magnifying the detail. 

Rosa brooch

And there you have it, a little insight to my world and the way that I work.

So thank you Liz for my nomination and now it is my turn to nominate two fellow makers.  My first nominee is Bec Gilray of Do You Punctuate?  Bec is a maker of letterpress printed cards that are both exquisite and at times rather rude!  She has a fabulous sense of humour and her recent profanity ranges are flying off the shelves!

My second nominee is Becky Moore from Becky Moore Handbags.  Becky's bags are lovely (I am a proud owner of one), practical stylish creations made in lovely combinations of wool, velvet and linen finished off with her trade mark spiral design.

Margaret Glackin Ceramics

Margaret Glackin, originally from Ireland but now based in Yorkshire, is a ceramicist and woodworker creating both larger art works and domestic ware.  She is also a very lovely and interesting person.

Margaret's BCTF stand 

Margaret's yarn bowls and domestic ceramics are fired in her own glazes which she has mixed with her Irish and Yorkshire heritage in mind and they all are named accordingly, for example Giant's Causeway and  Brimham Rocks.  This creates everyday items that are also works of art.  

Dipping bowl set with board

Margaret uses reclaimed timber from places such as house renovation projects which she then gives a second life as furniture items.  In her repertoire are large pieces such as dining tables and benches as well as shelves and log carriers.  She is such a capable woodworker that her and her partner built a workshop and studio where she works in her back garden!

The studio.

One of Margaret's most popular ranges are her yarn bowls which she recently had featured in Simply Knitting Magazine.  For those of you unaware of what a yarn bowl is it is a bowl for knitters to put a ball of wool inside to stop it from rolling across the floor at regular intervals.

Yarn bowl

These are stunning in their "heritage" glazes and I know of people who have bought more than one for themselves!  

Should you want to find out more about Margaret and her work you can visit her website here or visit Fabrication in Leeds where she has many items on sale.

Rock pooling on the beaches of Scotland

As a child we used to visit the North West of Scotland once or twice a year, always going to the same place, Mellon Charles near Aultbea on the shores of Loch Ewe.  It was an incredibly long journey, often tackled in one day with us being pulled from our beds at three in the morning and being bundled into the back of the car, stopping for breakfast much further down the road.  Dad wouldn't be deterred from taking his 'scenic routes' but still it was a brilliant place to go.  The instant we got out of the car our shoulders become less tense and the long trip was forgotten.  Well this past year I have had a longing to return, the last time being fifteen years ago and so we booked ourselves into a little croft on the opposite side of Loch for May half term.

Loch Ewe

 The scenery in this area is stunning and peaceful but the thing that makes it even more attractive for me is the abundance of wildlife that you can see.  Just on a daily basis we were spotting sea birds, not your seagulls but divers, oyster catchers, shags and cormorants.

A rather handsome diver just of the beach of our croft

Two shags at Cove

Nearly four years ago now my Mum died and it was lovely going back up to this area as my memories are so closely linked to spending happy, close times with my Mum and so in a way she was with us.  One of her favourite places and mine too was Mellon Charles beach, a very secluded beach with the most amazing rock pools I have found anywhere.

Mellon Charles Beach

We decided to venture down to the beach a couple of times during our holiday.  We found the most varied selection of creatures here including sea slugs, squirts, star fish, brittle stars, crabs and urchins to name just a few.

Sea slug Flabellina lineata

A type of squirt, an odd creature!

Sea urchin

Brittle star

Amorous crabs!

Mum would have loved the couple of afternoons we spent down on the beach, she'd have been in there with the rest of us revelling in the treasures discovered as we turned over the rocks.  What makes me happy though is that my two children were with me and they were building their childhood memories with me and hopefully a love of nature that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Babs Pease Design

I met Babs a year and a half ago as a newcomer to BCTF.  She too was a newcomer and we were to be neighbours for three days and I'm pleased we were as we couldn't have had a nicer person to chat with in the quiet spells!  What's more, it meant that I could stand and look at her work which is truly lovely.

Babs Pease Design BCTF stand

Bab's lives out in the countryside in Scotland and so her work is often on a rural theme.  She is a painter and illustrator and a very accomplished print maker.  Her prints are lino cuts with such stunning detail in them, I particularly love this one of a sleeping fox...

Lino print fox design

...and this one of the rabbit.

Rabbit lino print

I love the gentle humour in her work too.

Hedge hog lino print

Zebra lino print

These are all examples of her larger art work but she has cunningly adapted her designs for smaller gift items and she has developed ranges of cards...

Babs Pease card range

...notebooks...

Babs Pease notebook range

...and mugs amongst other things!

Babs Pease mugs range

Should you wish to see more of what Babs does you can follow this link to see her Folksy shop or visit her website.

Melanie Tomlinson's Magnificent Menagerie

Melanie Tomlinson is an artist working with illustration and metal.  She creates stunning sculptures and dioramas using techniques she has honed over many years that involve her creating gouache paintings which after being printed on to tin are then formed into beautiful works of art.  I met Melanie at BCTF where she was exhibiting her brooches.

Melanie's stand at BCTF

I have to admit I am a bit of a stalker when it comes to Melanie's work and I am lucky enough to own a butterfly brooch of my own. I also have my eye on the dragonflies with the stunning cut out wings.

I love the wings of these insects, so intricate.

When looking at Melanie's stand two things really grab you, the colour and the detail in each piece.  When the brooches are all displayed together they remind me of beautiful iridescent specimens in Victorian collection trays and they draw me in.

A display reminiscent of Victorian collectors trays

beautiful detail

Her jewellery ranges are not just insect based, she has birds and fish too, all equally as colourful and intricate.  Should you want a closer look at some of Melanie's work you can find her website here .

Deryn Relph's fabulous furniture

Deryn is a textile designer with a love of colour, pattern and texture, who likes to think creatively about the use of textiles she designs and constructs.

It's funny, when you first arrive at BCTF for the set up day, all the stands are white and empty and everyone is surreptitiously sizing up their neighbours and working out what is going to be exhibited next door.  Well this was the case with me, Deryn's display stand was white and empty but then...WOW!

Deryn's fabulous stand

Deryn's stand needed to be white to let her furnishings do all the talking.  She describes her products as 'quirky knitted interior products in bright colours with a nostalgic hint of retro style' and there was a real element of fun on her stand.  Looking at her work couldn't fail to bring a smile to your face!

Deryn has a wide range of furnishings available

Deryn has specialised in knitted textiles for Interior use during her BA (Hons) Textile Design course and she makes all of her fabrics herself using UK sourced yarns in natural fibres.  She merges these skills with her previous upholstery and furnishing skills to create unique and contemporary furniture which would add a splash of colour to any home.

Reupholstered chair getting a new lease of life

Around the walls of Deryn's stand were photographs of some great chairs she has given a new lease of life to in the past.  All were a work of art in themselves in their splendid contrasting colours and patterns.  Deryn believes that nostalgia and evoking an emotional response to engage the user with an object play a part too - if something makes us happy, or we love it for the memories it brings then we are more likely to treasure that object for longer rather than sending it to landfill.  

   "Retro influences are often evident in my designs, inspired by my own childhood memories and happy times.”   

Deryn Relph

You can see a wider selection of her work on her website.

Angela Ibbs Stunning Mosaics

Over the next few weeks I am wanting to showcase just a few of the designer makers I met at BCTF whose work I love.  Many aspects of these maker's work have links in some way to my own work whether it be their use of vibrant colour or their links with nature.  All I think you will love.

Angela Ibbs mosaic owl

The first artist I would like to introduce you to is Angela Ibbs She enjoys using a wide range of materials, hues, textures and assembly methods to develop beautiful mosaics that are contemporary art pieces.  Angela gains inspiration from nature and human form through folk art and style movements. 

Fish wall art mosaics

I have followed Angela on her facebook page for a little while now and was thrilled to see she would be exhibiting at BCTF too.  Not only is her work delightful it is inventive and whilst you are taking in the designs you realise that some of the fish have cup handles for fins!

Some of Angela's wall art pieces

 

 The great geometric patterns that Angela uses in her work come largely from 70's crockery salvaged from charity shops and ebay.  Individual leaves and circles are nibbled out of the china to create intricate textured designs. Her website has a gallery showing the range of different designs she has worked on.

Stunning mosaic pendants

Angela translates the beautiful detail captured in her larger wall mosaics into her range of jewellery.  Each is a unique piece incorporating the geometric designs and colour found in her work.

Circles!

As anyone who knows me will know, circles are a bit of an obsession with me and I love the combination of vibrant colours, glass and circles in these pendants and bracelets and I hope to purchase one in the near future.  

"For me mosaic, as a medium, is an exploration of choice and selection to create an effective and durable solution, through picking, cutting, laying and combining materials. The art form also reacts with its environment through the reflection of light giving an extra fascination."  Angela Ibbs