Jewellery Making Supplies Blog

It was while doing a one year 3D foundation course that my tutor suggested I might be good at jewellery. I had grown up in an engineering background and although I hadn’t considered jewellery before, I am very grateful for her insight, as she was right!

I applied and was amazed to be accepted to do a degree in ‘Jewellery, Silversmithing and Allied Crafts’ at Sir John Cass in London.  The course included two placements in the trade.  I graduated with an honours degree in 1987 and was invited to work for one of the jewellery manufacturing  firms I had done my placement with.  I worked as a goldsmith there for several years, doing all manner of work, setting, polishing, occasionally designing.   It was while I was there that I was held up in an armed raid and although I was physically unharmed, it has had a bearing on the person I am today.

After being married for a couple of years I sadly suffered an early miscarriage and decided to leave the environment of the jewellery company as chemicals are a necessary part of jewellery production and I didn’t want to jeopardise any further pregnancy.  I continued to make jewellery from a small bench I fashioned from a plank screwed to the wall at home, but only for myself and friends.  I even took jewellery classes so that I could have access to equipment, but ended up helping out the class tutor!

I did indeed have a daughter and jewellery took a back seat until we moved to Devon when she was two. A couple of years later I had my son. Then I gradually started making again, I did jewellery parties for friends, and bought myself some equipment; my bench and a polishing machine.  I still had all my old tools, several handed down from my father, a treasured Archimedes drill and an ancient tool box.  I was determined to continue without borrowing money, which restricted my progress I think.

I started sketching again, photographing everything that caught my eye, getting out and about in the beautiful surroundings.

This pendant was inspired by the small stones jammed into a pebble on the beach.

I took a job data inputting for few years to help make ends meet, but for someone creative it was mind numbing.  I started doing local craft fairs at weekends, all the time getting my old skills back up to scratch.

This Nobble ring was inspired by a rubber finger protector I used while data inputting!  I always kept a notebook, or envelope handy to sketch ideas.

Then a work friend heard of someone looking for a local jeweller to be part of a co-operative gallery.  It seemed a good opportunity for me to make a go of it with my jewellery so I handed in my notice and thought I was back on track as a jeweller.  I got my jewellery into various local galleries and worked one day a week in the co-operative.  The beginning of a recession was never going to be the best time to start up as a jeweller!

I took my jewellery up to London for Liberties ‘Open Design Call’ which was an experience and one that I am glad I did.  I had a positive response although it didn’t lead to anything.

I was doing regular craft fairs but often not covering the cost of the table.  Which meant I had less to spend on the next fair and so on. I found some occasional ’piece work’ with a local jeweller, which got me back into the small factory set up again, which felt rather like home.  So my work skills have grown as I can work on items all the way through the casting process from model making, mold making,  waxing to finished set and polished casting.

Pair of silver rings over laid with 18ct gold and set with a 3.9ml diamond

I love what I do, I am always making something, often with bits of scrap.  I have a website which performs poorly, despite my best efforts, yet again hampered by lack of funds to invest in a better one.  I have concentrated on enlarging my web presence in the last year and am active on social websites, which has seen interest in my designs grow.  I enter any competitions I can find and have just recently won a new pendant dill, courtesy of Cooksons’s Gold forum theme competitions.  Just in the nick of time as my old one was about to pack up completely!  I work very much in the old fashioned way, no flashy computer design for me, I prefer a pencil and a bit of paper.  I do the occasional commission, and last December I made my first engagement ring, which was a joy to do.

Hand cut and formed baby and flowers engagement ring, set with two diamonds.

Pierced 9ct gold mistletoe and vine necklace wit silver berries.

I am not sure what this next year will bring, but having come so far and tried for so long, I don’t want to give up on something I enjoy doing so much.

To see more of Kim’s beautiful designs, visit: www.stylesdesign.co.uk

In 1992 I left school and took a foundation in Art & Design.

At the point of completing the course, I should have followed my heart, and gone on to study fine art.

I went on to take a degree in Film & Video at (what was then) West Surrey College of Art & Design. In spite of all my best efforts to the contrary, I graduated with a shiny new BA(Hons) in 1996.

Work in television production followed. Highlights included electrocuting myself while testing products for a review show, audibly vomiting during a live cookery programme and being pecked on the head by an eagle owl.

Despite these giddy showbiz heights, I missed my artistic endeavours, so took a City & Guilds in Jewellery Design specialising in Silver at night school. It was here, (thanks to my fantastic tutor Nicholas Keogh) that I discovered a real passion for working with silver.

When I had my daughter in 2005, I became a full-time mum, and my husband and I moved back to Cardiff. My son followed in 2008. A couple of brushes with death for two of the four Niziblians led to us having a discussion about what exactly we wanted to do with our lives.

I dusted off my tools and made a few pieces of jewellery. I showed them to people, and they all sold. With the support of my fantastic family, that same week in April 2009, I became officially self-employed as a jewellery maker.

When I was little I wanted to be an archaeologist, and I think the idea of discovering something hidden in the earth stuck with me.  I love working with gemstones, minerals and crystals in their uncut and unpolished state.  Lots of my work is designed to look ‘found’.  I really enjoy playing with finishes, especially oxidising and the range of colour-play it can give.  There’s definitely a perverse pleasure in making something clean and perfect, then working it back to look distressed, aged and worn. Although I like trying out new materials, silver is my real love, it’s fantastically easy to transform and the variety of ways you can work it are vast.  It’s a little bit magic.

I currently work from a studio in TactileBOSCH in Cardiff, where I am on a constant learning curve. I’m always trying my hand at new techniques, and find inspiration in many places, from nature to science-fiction.  I recently had a go at working with brass, silver and copper for some large-scale autumnal jewellery for an alternative fashion magazine.  The oak-leaf cuff I made won me a new workbench in Cookson’s design of the week competition. I was delighted, and it’s going to see a lot of use!

As for the future, I’m looking into expanding the range of ready-to-buy jewellery I offer.  I plan to keep experimenting, learning and creating for as long as I possibly can.  I consider myself incredibly lucky to be doing something I love so very much.

Take a look at Lydia’s gorgeous work:  www.niziblian.com

Being the son of a jeweller, jewellery has always been a part of my life and something that I’ve been fond of.

I originally studied at Bucks New University as a metalworker but soon found I preferred the smaller scale of jewellery. I came out of my BA with a good skills set and a body of work that whilst looked good, wasn’t something I felt passionately about. This influenced my decision to go on to do my MA at UCA Farnham where I would have the time to focus on a new set of designs that were more “me”.

During this time I did a 1 day course in anodising aluminium, a process that makes the metal more durable but also allows it to be dyed vibrant colours and patterns. Having previously only worked in mainly silver I was keen to see what could be done with this new material.

My ideas were based around ways of making people smile through the wearing of jewellery. As I also work in an after school club I fell in love with the drawings that children come up with.

I find that the way a child picks up on certain details and the quirkiness of their drawings are fantastic and aren’t something that we as adults can easily replicate (I wish I could draw as well as some of these children!)

I particularly like their versions of animals and find that they are something that most people can relate to. As a result I based my range of jewellery on them by transforming these into wearable pieces. I combine the anodised aluminium with mixed media such as feathers to create something colourful and fun.

Pieces such as my peacock brooch are based off drawings that I did when I was a child. But I often have commissions from parents who want their own children’s drawings turning into something they can wear.

Since graduating I was selected by the Designer Jewellers Group to exhibit with them as one of their 6 new designers at their winter exhibition at the Barbican. From that I won their Stephen Maer award which allowed me to become an associate member for another 2 years.

My work can currently be seen at the Barbican with the Designer Jewellers Group from 9^th Nov to 6^th Jan.

Contact details:

Phone: 07973770691

Email: info@TomMcDowellDesign.com

Web: www.TomMcDowellDesign.com

Facebook:

 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tom-McDowell-Design/124983417549475

Louise West, currently studying for her MA ADAPT, talks about her contemporary lace journey so far and her future prospects.

My creative journey started during my BA (Hons) in Textile Design, which I started as a mature student in 2006. During the first year I had the opportunity to do a commission for a London based architect and produce the lace design for the facade of the Nottingham Contemporary, taken from antique lace. The design was then cast into concrete to clothe the building.

This led to other opportunities, doing voluntary work at a local museum, where I now have an exhibition – “The Vital Statistics of Lace”. The exhibition starts my contemporary lace journey, with very traditional pieces of lace, some of which are my own design and others from the 19th century which I have worked and reinterpreted. It also features a contemporary piece from the first stage of the MA programme I am currently studying.

I am now in my second year on the MA ADAPT (Art and Design Applied Practice and Theories) at the University of Derby and this is allowing me to explore a wider range of media for the portrayal of lace. It is this that has led to the development of my silver jewellery inspired by lace. Some of the pieces are obviously from lace but others are slightly more abstract in their appearance. My MA working is currently developing using traditional techniques with historical inspiration and memories but using less traditional materials and methods.

In April this year I took a big step in moving into a studio in Bank’s mill studios, Derby, to allow me to develop the silver jewellery side of the work, to be able to offer workshops in both lace and PMC and also to give me space to continue the larger scale of lace for the MA. It has made a big difference to my work allowing it to develop much faster than previously. One of my favourite moments this year was entering the Cookson’s Mothers day jewellery competition with a piece in memory of my late Mother, and having the fortune to win it. This came at a difficult time as it was two years since losing her, and so an honour in her memory.

Plans for the future – finishing the MA next year, continuing teaching lacemaking and building on the workshops offered for PMC, talks to interested groups, and exhibiting and selling jewellery at the National Christmas Lacemakers Fair,(3rd December) and the Harrogate Lace Event (31st March 2012) and in my spare time continue with the exciting world of Precious Metal Clays.

More photos of Louise’s work, exhibitions and more detail about her designs can be found on her website at http://www.louisewestlacedesign.co.uk