"Damn it Granite, I love you!"

I was recently asked to transform a customer's own cube specimen of pyrite into a ring for a surprise gift for their partner.

The pyrite for their commission was more of a gunmetal colour than most gleaming "Fool's gold", and after discussing different colour options, we decided together that it would be a great contrast to use a pale pink for the ring.

The pyrite cube provided was gun-metal grey, metallic with hard edges.

Bringing together these opposites, a crisp cool metallic with something so soft and delicate seems unnatural, but we can find references in nature. Think of pink granite!

Granite is an igneous rock is formed from the crystallisation of magma below the Earth's surface. It's composition from many different minerals including quartz and feldspar give the colours white, pink and grey with dark flecks.

Pink Granite

We encounter granite everywhere in our daily lives inside and outside our homes:

We run our hands over cool, smooth counter tops,

We are warned not to slip on floor tiles when it's raining,

We are impressed by the grandness of pillars, stairs and building fronts,

We carve in it the names of those we wish to remember

I love plundering the rich resource of rocks and minerals for less obvious uses of colour to evoke and appreciate them.

If it is found somewhere in nature there is still a harmony to be found.

 

 

I walked past this lamp-post everyday in Manchester and it was part of my inspiration for my Modern Ruin series.

Although man made, the bark like texture from the natural rust made this painted metal pillar pleasing to my eye, and I grew to love it in the same way I would instantly connect with  a tree in the woods.

 

The commissioned pink pyrite ring

One of the leading PANTONE colours of 2016 is ROSE QUARTZ, one of the components of granite.

"A persuasive yet gentle tone that conveys compassion and a sense of composure. Like a serene sunset, flushed cheek or budding flower"

"Rose Quartz reminds us to reflect on our surroundings during the busy but light-hearted spring and summer months."

I hope this specially commissioned ring is able to also carry these properties to the new wearer it was made for!

If you have your own mineral or materials and you would like to know more about how it could be made into an object to keep or wear, just drop me an email.

I'm happy to answer your questions or have a chat about some ideas: info@jademellor.com

Colour Me Happy

I believe jewellery should feel like an extension of yourself-a little reminder of the amazing qualities you possess, and how you belong in the world around you.

That's why I love making bespoke pieces, especially in such diverse colours. The colours can be taken from nature, like a particular mineral or a treasured item of clothing or favourite object which reminds you of home.

My lovely friend Natalie Laura Ellen is a fabulous textiles designer, often influenced by plants and flowers. Her nurturing green fingers turned her Manchester City centre balcony into a jungle of thriving botanical beauties, encouraging happy ladybirds, buzzy bees and jazzy caterpillars. Here is Natalie wearing a ring I made for her, designed for the summer weddings and celebrations she was going to. Small yet instantly uplifting and full of bright and interesting things, I think it suits her perfectly! 

 

"Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!)" Henri Rousseau, 1891 is one of my favourites thanks to a huge mural in the school corridor accompanying WIlliam Blake's poem, "The Tyger". Seeing these luscious colours and those bright white teeth instantly reminds me of daydreaming about swinging through tall trees with monkeys in exotic jungles whilst queueing for morning assembly.

In the wild  COLOUR  is a whole language. For us, it can have an instant impact on our mood and conjure up emotions or memories in just one stroke. 

The effects of making colourful jewellery are inescapable! My tools and workspace are often drenched in the palette of my current pieces.

A pair of my contrasting Hewn rings, Blue and Pyrite and Orange and Carnelian. The orange patterns remind me of "The Tyger".

Colourful Jewellery is a key to your interests and passions, condensed in a wearable format to communicate to others.

I love the freedom of expression I have by being able to work in colour, and create pieces inspired by the vibrancy and diversity of the natural world from bold and saturated, to delicate hues and marbled shades.

I'M REALLY EXCITED BY  THE NEW  PANTONE COLOURS FOR 2016  IN PARTICULAR, "ROSE QUARTZ!"

"COLOURS THIS SEASON TRANSPORT US TO A HAPPIER, SUNNIER PLACE WHERE WE FEEL FREE TO EXPRESS A WITTIER VERSION OF OUR REAL SELVES."

Leatrice EisemanExecutive Director, Pantone Color Institute™

Email me at info@jademellor.com if you have an idea for your own special colour or texture and we can chat about the rainbow of possibilities! 

London Couture at the V&A

I spent last Saturday at the Victoria & Albert Museum's "Study Day" of lectures in celebration of the new publication London Couture. See a glimpse of the beautiful new book here .

                London Couture 1923-1975 British Luxury

The lectures were given by contributors to the book tackling various subjects on London Couture's history:

• Amy de la Haye, London's Court Dressmakers

• Edwina Ehrman, A Brief History

• Joyce Fenton-Douglas, The Ancillary Trades

• Beatrice Behlen, Clients

• Timothy Long, Constructing Couture

• Jonathan Faiers, The Timelessness That Ran Out of Time

Amy de la Haye, London's Court Dressmakers

Firstly Amy de la Haye set the scene to give us an idea of who these early couturiers were. Courturier was a legitimate career for a married Edwardian women, or a road to independence and success for a divorcee. Kate Reily was an example of a shrewd business woman using her creativity and cunning to keep up to date with the thirst for the latest fashions.

Even though Reily's original designs were highly praised, the British customer only had eyes for Parisienne models. In attending the show, Reilly would be obliged to purchase at least one model, but to get the most from it, she would send two buyers to view the new designs. With the idea that two heads were better than one. they would dash back to the hotel to sketch what they had seen to reproduce for their own customers on their return.

 

Born with Silver Scissors

We learn of prestigious dressmaker, Madam Clapham of Hull who made a point of not paying her apprentices as she wanted girls from "good families". She felt that those from a wealthy family who could support them, they would be a better class of trainee. Sadly this excluded many talented individuals born without a pair of silver scissors in their hands, unable to learn by working full time for free.

This is still affecting the fashion industry today. Many designer brands have been criticized that their unpaid intern-ships are elitist,  allowing only a lucky few from privileged backgrounds to gain valuable experience with them to get the best start with their careers. 

                                               c.1937 Hand embroidery class - 1 Collection London College of Fashion - College Archive 

Edwina Ehrman, A Brief History

Edwina tells us of the shift in dressmakers of the 20s and 30s. The new favourites were young men like Norman Hartnell with a creative approach and an understanding of the glamorous lifestyle of their clientèle.  

A Shift in Dressmakers

These men socialised with their patrons, a complete contrast to the couturiers that pre-dated them who were so intimidating to wealthy out-of-towners they would often turn to department stores rather than seek out an illustrious dressmaker and face their scrutiny.

Norman Hartnell with his models in 1930 courtesy of Getty Archive

Even the term "Designer" was now coined to appeal to a wider audience, thanks to the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers aiming to boost trade overseas during WW2. I learned more about IncSoc at The Imperial War Museums "Fashion on The Ration" exhibition, hopefully I'll share in another post soon, but here's some more info courtesy of wiki:

In March 1942 The Board of Trade invited the IncSoc members to design:

The iconic CC41 label, also known as "The Two Cheeses" there was also the double 11, much rarer and introduced to signify a finer quality item. Look out for these when out vintage shopping! 

 

"34 utility garments suitable for mass manufacture in order to demonstrate how high-fashion elegance could be achieved within the strict rationing restrictions"

The designs were featured in Vogue magazine,

"Known as the Couturier Scheme, the project had a very high profile in the press at the time with a fashion show held to launch the clothes"-wikipedia

                                                                          Pages showing Edwina's chapters in the book London Couture

Parallels can be drawn to modern high street giant H&M's collaborations with elite houses and designers like Margiela, Stella McCartney and Karl Lagerfield bringing their signature style to a mass market on a global scale. (You can view previous H&M collaborations here). The most recent collaboration with Balmain has even seen their sell out pieces fetch more in online auctions than original Balmain garments!

Balmain x H&M another hugely popular collaboration between couture and high street giants which hit stores in November

 

"Revealed this morning in all its embellished, whipstitched, skintight glory and, as expected, there's not one item that hasn't got wish list written all over it."

Vogue Magazine on the most recent, highly anticipated collaboration of Balmain for H&M

Joyce Fenton-Douglas, The Ancillary Trades

H&M fans have complained that the retail prices of the Balmain collaboration are too high, going into hundreds for some of the more embellished and leather pieces, which is a big step up for a high street chain with average prices usually at £14.99. However even a few hundred is still a fraction of the thousands that the official couture collections from Balmain can cost when bedecked in the finest materials. This is something Joyce Fenton-Douglas brought up when talking about the Ancillary Trades.

View fullsize

            Reville Rossiter trompe l'oeil tassel detail from a couture garment from 1919

"WOW" Factor

Couture dressmakers relied (and still do) on the Ancillary Trades for specialised skills, such as pleating, embroidery and embellishments. Rather than just the finishing touches, these can be the most desirable aspect of a whole design or be the structural basis for a garment.

These can provide the instant wow factor that gives you the fist sign that this is a special, more luxurious item.

Secret Skills

This charming video below was brought to our attention in the lectures. It shows the Australian maker Harry Nairn hand cutting, shaping, dying and assembling all the individual parts of a silk flower in his own workspace at home. 

Couture houses would historically send "matchers" to the addresses of specialised makers. These girls would seek out matching flowers, trimmings or other embellishments in the very particular shades or styles necessary to co-ordinate with the fabrics for the garments.

The names and addresses of the top artisans would be their best kept secrets to give them the winning edge against competitors.  Although flattering, this was unfortunate for these highly skilled individuals, trying to maintain a living by providing an already niche service.

Harry Nairn who makes intricate artificial flowers. We see him cutting out petals, colouring them, shaping them with a heated metal tool then crimping petals. We see a pink rose taking shape as Harry moulds the petals around wire.

A Sign of Superior Quality

Joyce did highlight the fact that today's top couture designers will still work with modern artisans for these embellishments, utilising very labour intensive techniques. This gives them the maximum impact for the catwalk as well as distinguishing them from the follow-on designer copies which although can often get a close general look, will never be able to feature these specialist skills which take such a long time to produce in the originals.

Beatrice Behlen, Clients

The women who can tell these extra special pieces from the inferiors are the subject of Beatrice Behlen's talk. We learn of the rarity of these couture clients which the industry relied on and the relationships they had, often choosing only one particular couturier. Being polite and prompt payment made a client very liked and appreciated.

The couturier would send sketches of the design to their clients for their approval receiving back comments such as "Like V.much" or  "Nice, but what's the Price???"

 

Textile Timeline, The life of Lady Fox

Beatrice was even able to trace the life of one such client, Lady Fox, using society columns alongside the garments she had procured to see her defining style as a textile timeline to her life. As an early adopter she knew her stuff and designers would rely on patrons like Lady Fox to invest in their work.

The term "working wardrobe" came up quite often in these talks. For these women it was part of their lifestyle to have these clothes, fit for the purpose of each area of their lives, whether it was salmon fishing in the Highlands or cruising along the Dalmatian Coast. Although extravagant in our terms the cost of these pieces meant they would fit well and be made of the best natural materials or heritage fabrics, returned to year after year so they would  have to last well.

Timothy Long, Constructing Couture

Timothy told us how he originally delved into the world of couturier Charles James after discovering a collection of his garments wrapped up on mannequins in an archive he was working in.

Without formal dressmaking training Charles James had a unique approach heavily influenced by his millinery experience. We learn that to create his amazing garments, James would create hand sculpted abstract forms more like a block or last than a mannequin. By using these to create a garment it would have unexpected and new shapes, fitting the body in a different way than conventional dressmaking which relied on padding and corsets to fill and fit the body into a desired shape.

Charles James “Butterfly”, 1954. © Getty Images

Charles James also used hidden architecture but with alternative materials for a new spin. Structures were formed by heating plastic to mould and form the unusually shaped skirt  as seen in his famous "Clover Leaf" dress formed into the four portions of the leaves. 

Charles James "Clover Leaf" Dress from 1953.

To gain insight into the internal structures of these magnificent shapes they even used technology such as hospital scanners to discover the secrets used by the celebrated dressmaker. 

Fashion to Transform

Although he had  a temperament and hands-on approach of a passionate artist, James was also an incredibly technical designer. The women who bough his garments were in love with how they made them look and feel. Charles was a pioneer in understanding how fabrics worked, using them in new ways to accentuate a women's body with a fanatical amount of study going into investigating and harnessing the powerful effect of materials. James was famously quoted in saying;

"Make The Grain Do The Work"

 

These garments were thoughtfully engineered, and this combination of vision and technique along with the support socially from Cecil Beaton and the wealthy friends of James' Mother gave him both the exposure and clientèle for his unique designs.

                                                                 A Charles James design repeated in a later variation. © Getty Images

Exciting & Contemporary

Timothy showed us how Charles James used the same designs again and again, taking patterns from many years previous to make a new version. It is proof that if something works well for the body, it always will and the lasting beauty and desirability of great design. This is why gowns by designers like Charles James have held such appeal and can be worn today looking as exciting and contemporary to a modern audience. This was celebrated in the exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art last year, of which you can take a video tour with the curators here:

 

Jonathan Faiers, The Timelessness That Ran Out of Time

For all the appeal of couture as a sight to behold, the "London Look" was never going to last and this was explained by Jonathan Fairs. The "uniform" which was relied upon to give strength and order to British society during the Second World War was no longer required. 

Using examples from the media coverage of couture in the mid 20th Century we can see how although beautiful, the elaborate gowns and traditions they represented were out of place in this post-war era.

Evening dress by Rahvis, for British Vogue, June 1947

Photo by Clifford Coffin

Beautiful Ghosts

One iconic editorial photographed by Clifford Coffin shows elegant models poised amongst the bombed out structure of a London mansion, intended to be "still standing strong & untouched" by the war but instead they appear as if haunting the desolate space as  beautiful ghosts of the past.

A New Era of Cool 

Outside the Biba store in 60s London

New designers were setting up their own ready to wear boutiques. Rather than the high price demanded by fine, fashionable garments, the 60s sought a new cutting edge of style where being made quickly was a bonus rather than a sign of inferiority. The quick turnaround meant it could be seen on TV and bought the next day. Instead of being confined to the high spends of the rich these new fashions were available for anyone brave enough to wear them creating new fashion muses and customers in a world outside that of the débutantes at their elite functions. 

Rule Breaking Youth

It was a free for all with young girls earning their own wage to buy their new clothes or even steal them in the famous Biba store where it was almost too easy to shoplift these must have exciting pieces, made for the rule breaking youth culture.

                                     A mad dash by Biba staff taking the fashion directly through the city streets as Biba changed premises

"Girls For Girls"

These women wanted to make their own future and forget the past. Biba founder, Barbara Hulanicki was the eldest of three girls, raised by her mother and aunt following the assassination of her diplomat father by paramilitaries.

 

Biba Founder, Barbara Hulanicki made the highstreet luxurious and exciting with her original designs and enticing concept stores

 

Hulaniki described Biba as run by "Girls for Girls".  She explains in an interview with the independent Nov 2014;

“That’s why in Biba we only had women,

  “It was meant to be for girls in the street. They were earning money and they had nowhere to go. "

Future of Couture

As in the overview from the corresponding lectures The V&As new book London Couture shows us many of it's historical aspects. For an industry which catered to the very rich and relied on highly skilled specialists we see how Britain firstly followed, then lead triumphantly, and eventually faded as the times changed and people's needs also.

But London is a thriving city of Fashion, so what can we learn from London's Couture past to use today?

ORIGINAL & BEST QUALITY

• Ancillary Trades and original, specialised artisans are still necessary to create the finest fashion. Our leading British designers like Mary Katranzou rely on quality embellishments to set their designs apart from the follow on copies

 

INSPIRATIONAL

• Although only worn by the few, couture can inspire a generation: proof of which is the sell out Alexander McQueen exhibition Savage Beauty at the V&A this year.

 

INVEST IN THE BEST

• Good quality lasts: vintage fashion has become a whole industry in itself, with concessions in high street giants like Topshop and even huge standalone stores, with branches in multiple cities like Cow. These pieces have lasted, can we say the same will be seen of some of the the cheaply made clothes we buy in bulk today?

YOUR COUTURE

• Although few of us can afford the luxury of couture, we can take a lesson from the way these women built their "Working Wardrobe".

With constant "Sales" emails from online shopping deals and (alarmingly!) low prices from competing retailers it's easy to be tempted to purchase without any consideration or too much consequence but each "cheap bargain" eventually adds up...

In resisting a few more of these it may result in affording a smaller, yet much more usable & better quality wardrobe to look and feel our individual best, which to me is a bit of British Luxury we all deserve.

London Couture: British Luxury 1923 - 1975 is available in the V&A and online  bookshop here. See below for a sneak peek:

 

Let's go For a swim at Kalithea

This is one of my favourite places to instantly melt any cares away. Over these few years we have seen the Spar be restored to it's former glory and eaten lots of tzatziki in the little cafe overlooking the beach and it's straw parasols. The most blissful hours have been spent in the cooling waters on baking hot days, encircling the volcanic rocks and spying crabs and colourful fish.

The traditional Spar, now restored

The baking hot beach-too hot to stand on the sand!

Lovely textures of volcanic rocks where gases bubbled and the shells of  prehistoric sea creatures fused with them.

Shell mosaic made from pebbles in the floor of the spar

Mosaics in the spar carry motifs from the sea and beach around it.  I also found inspiration in the shapes of these sea creatures to create a special present.

I incorporated sand from the beach we all visited together into a pair of cuff-links. The two shapes are taken from my cast of a real pre-historic ammonite, and a perfect pink shell I found on the beach on our holiday.

I hope this present is a little reminder of the wonderful holidays we have spent so far, to carry a bit of those happy times away with us.

Silver & resin cuff-links, using sand from the beach in Greece.

Dirt Pattern Material

Accidental patterns

Love this idea from Mair Wennel. Called "Dirt Pattern Material" the beautiful, random patterns on this cotton shirt are created with everyday household substances which often mark and ruin clothing. By purposefully layering up colourful splashes of these pigments they have created the perfect camouflage for a piece of clothing that can happily incorporate many new additional marks from accidental spillages from every day life.  

Many a slip 'twixt cup and lip.

Party On

New special bespoke jewellery launch for The Weekender at Old Granada Studios

I am really excited about bringing this new special project  to Manchester this Saturday and Sunday for The Weekender at Old Granada Studios 20th 21st June.

The concept of this ring is to involve you to make your own contribution to create a unique piece  just for you.

Inspired by the wonderful world of nature, it is the Caddisfly's clever larvae which helped to create the concept of this new piece. 

To give themselves protection when they are in their young state they create their own tailor made casing.

They build their homes from the natural materials around them, each marvellous creature crafting their own perfect fit using their own choice of organic objects they find.

The artist Hubert Duprat even created an environment of minute gems and  golden nuggets so that the larvae that lodged within could en-robe themselves in the glittering treasures. I was blown away by this when I saw them in Paris at the Dries Van Noten exhibition at Les Arts Décoratifs.

For this new collection of rings I want to allow each individual to be the crafty caddisfly collecting for their own ring.

Bejewelled cases left behind by the craftings of a clever Caddisfly larvae thanks to the artist Hubert Duprat.

I made the very first of these rings for myself to signify a big change in my environment and keep a piece of it with me and I am really looking forward to allowing others to wear a part of the places that mean something to them too.

 

For each bespoke commission you can find your own materials which I can use to create your own beautifully encrusted ring. 

This could be a little sand from your favourite beach, or some gravelly debris from your very own doorstep.

I will be at The Weekender, the free designer festival at Old Granada Studios this weekend to meet you and chat about this special project, but please also feel free to email me at info@jademellor.com with any questions ideas or just to say hello!

The Weekender

Old Granada Studios has announced ‘the Weekender’ – a free weekend event bringing together the region’s most covetable designer-makers, independent brands and local food producers under one roof.

Sat & Sun 20th- 21st June

Sunglasses from Lissom & Muster

Old Granada Studios, Manchester.

I'll be here with my latest work in the pop-up designer store and probably dancing around the gin garden.

YES I said GIN GARDEN!

Other fun treats to enjoy include:

Pop-Up Cinema

Cocktail Bar (in a vintage Citroen!!!)

PLaYROOM Art & craft workshops for the little makers

Specially curated products and hand made pieces from designers like Joe Hartley, Wonderhaus & Lissom & Muster boutique

Hope to see you here to join in the fun! :D

Exploring Uncertainty

"What happens when makers eschew certainty of outcome, instead embracing chance, volatility and impermanence in their work? Wood artist Nic Webb, and silversmiths David Clarke and Hazel Thorn discuss with session chair Lottie Davies, Taylor-Wessing Prize-winning photographer and BAFTA-nominated short film artist."

The sugar crystals took 6 months to form on this silver object by David Clarke.

Hazel Thorn creates her own material through fusing rods of silver and gilding metal, creating an alloy, seen as the the third green stripe.

This was another great event held at Collect on Friday. It invited three artist makers with different forms of using unusual and "destructive" methods to give an insight into how it can help make something new and exciting. 

BURNING

Nic Webb was pointing out the difference he found between the work he makes and other artists using natural materials like Andy Goldsworthy. Goldsworthy's work is fleeting, to be experienced but only for a time as it is left to the elements meaning that without photographs many people would never see his creations.

By making an object you see the effect of a person on a material, having some degree of control in order to leave a tangible record of their existence and ideas.

Webb likens it to the Castillo Caves where the hand of the pre-historic artist is traced in pigment for future generations to see. It is good analogy for an artist maker who harnesses the powerful, primeval force of fire to scorch out his designs.

It is this fine line between chaos and control that allows the most exciting work to be created. Our idea of beauty is often formed through the unpredictability of nature.

"MAKING IS A JOURNEY TO A PLACE I HAVEN'T BEEN"

Nic Webb

For Nic Webb his chisel is the force of the flame and his paint is the blanket of soot it creates. He says the decisions he makes are like sailing close to the wind. Go too far and you have lost the power but on riding on the edge you can control your manoeuvres and use the natural forces around you.

CUTTING 

Hazel Thorn gave a really thorough account of her making process which I really enjoyed hearing. She explained the many steps where she will make decisions on how to form her piece. Although appearing random she plans the outcome through instinct, using ongoing analysis and careful thought allowing a piece to "grow" to her design.

Hazel says how daunting a fresh sheet of silver can be, but she is able to lose that pristine preciousness through her approach where she literally cuts her material into pieces. Then it is almost like a series of repairs, each twist and turn as the material is altered is not a limitation but an opportunity she can work with.

Hazel also highlighted how important the hands on aspect of her making process is.  The incidents that occur such as when she unintentionally overheated a piece creating a new shape, means she has discovered something about her material. She can then choose whether to use this in her work having learned how to allow or deny it to happen.

DECAYING

David Clarke's work often provokes a big response. A skilled and talented silversmith with his graduate designs flying out to the V&A and Goldsmith's collections he eventually grew bored of making work he found repetitive. 

“It’s the level of perfection in silversmithing that I really moved against – the belief that you should polish every joint until the process becomes invisible,” he says. 

He insists on being called a silversmith rather than an artist. This recognises his understanding of this material through his working life so far devoted to learning and practising the skills to create with it. Through this he has earned the right to challenge it and push it. Like a close family member or old friend who can call you out on something you've done wrong when no-one else would dare, push you beyond your limits, and even make jokes at your expense. Just like your best buddies you both know how much you love and appreciate each other and would only ever want to bring out the best in both of you.

He goes against the conventions of a precious and revered material by fearlessly devouring or engulfing the silver using other materials, like baking it in salt or with lead. His work is a lesson to lighten up and enjoy a wonderful material for everything it is. It also serves as a memento mori reminding us of the fragility of a fleeting existence, to live life and enjoy it as it comes as we don't have the control we believe we have.

Living Wood, Not Wooden Living

When is a wooden table not a wooden table?

When it's a Marigold.

"Wooden Table", Peter Marigold, Libby Sellers Gallery

That's the designer Peter Marigold, and I was lucky enough to get an insight into his work as he spoke with us at Collect.

Marigold is a resourceful designer-maker, utilising the materials and ideas that come to him through his immediate environment. Often exploring wood in his designs he harvests the fallen branches from his neighbourhood of Hampstead Heath to use for timber. Having this local resource to hand has encouraged him to explore it's properties in many ways.

The textures of Peter Marigold's Wooden Tables, created using a repeated grain surface from a sample of wood.

Not only does he use wood to make many of his designs, it is through experiments with this organic material  that he also brings the qualities he discovers into other very different substances.

"Characteristically, these are not straightforward forms, but instead have been created using wood rather than being made of wood. They therefore reference wood as an active verb rather than a monumental noun; the resulting forms highly animated and not ‘wooden’ at all." Libby Sellers Gallery

By translating what he sees in the formation and degrading of wood into something very hard and processed like metal he is breathing life into a manufactured material.

Through playing with our expectations of what materials look and feel like, it makes us want to engage with these objects, question them, pick them up, touch and interact. 

One of Marigold's "Wooden Forms" where he uses wax to capture the surface texture of wood. The fragmented, fragile looking shapes are then cast in materials like iron.

It is the natural wearing-out of the objects we use in our lives that gives him great pleasure. Every knock, scuff and dent that marks a surface is like a tree ring documenting their lifespan.

This also shows them to be of a greater quality, worth keeping even with their lived-in "damage" teaching us the patience to invest in an object and forming a bond with our environment.

"Bleed" series of locally ebonised cedar cabinets by Peter Marigold showing at Collect 2015 with Sarah Myerscough gallery.

At this year's Collect, Marigold was showing his cedar cabinets stained from the reaction with steel nails holding them together. Entitled "Bleed", the beautiful black streaks became the most prominent feature of these sturdy cabinets. 

"Man builds things up, and then nature begins a slow steady process of taking them down again. A normal response to this effect might be despair like King Canute trying to hold back the sea, but I see beauty," said Marigold.

A close up of the inky patterns made by the steel nails reacting with the wood in Peter Marigold's "Bleed" Cabinets

Rather than fighting nature in preventing this unpredictable marking, these displayed the reaction of the untreated metal with the tannin in the wood showing a truth to the materials.

I loved seeing his way the designer was letting go of the piece they had made, allowing nature to take it's course to create a unique, naturally beautiful object. It reminded me of the way mascara can run down a perfectly made-up face showing an overwhelming emotion, too much sadness to mask and hide or a joy too powerful to hold inside.

For more information of Peter Marigold's projects visit his site here.

There are lots of great Artist's talks still going on at Collect on from 9th - 11th May 2015-check them out HERE

Oh My Gobstopper

With the Amirah Kassem's installation of gumball art ready to spread joy and fun amidst the party goers at Brooklyn Artist's Ball I thought it would be the perfect time to share one of my favourite creations. My own Gobstopper ring is made one-at-a-time and one-of-a-kind in resin with a sterling silver band. Custom colours and sizes are available, to pre-order yours or make any enquiries drop me an email to:  info@jademellor.com.

10000 Gumballs making up Amirah Kassem's installation at Brooklyn Museum's Artist's Ball. Photo courtesy of Tmagazine.

Flower Shop is one of my "wish list" places to visit to have a dream cake made by amazing artist Amirah Kassem . I love her work and style, and the message behind her creations is definitely to enjoy life, with her phenomenally vibrant sweet treats becoming a way of interacting and sharing delightful experiences with one another. This definitely has a lot in common with the kind of jewellery I like to make. It's a way of communicating what you  are interested in, in a way you can share with others. And this kind of art, whether to eat, see or wear is often made to commemorate a special occasion, or brighten up the mundaneness of the everyday to appreciate a colourful world and a life worth living. A tasty, playful treat!

“The Murakami flowers have got to be one of my favourite things ever,” Says Kassem. She chose these iconic smiling blooms for her installation created by sweets at Brooklyn Museum. Photo courtesy of Tmagazine.

Enjoy The Gum-Ball! Wish I was there! 

Delicious Jewels

Easter Feast!  I love big family get-togethers and Easter bank holiday is usually a lively weekend enjoying home cooked food complete with delicious veggies.

The luxury begins with  the colourful variety, choosing beautiful stripy tomatoes or even the  occasional home-grown courgette complete with foraged edible flowers.

My family are great at cooking tasty treats, but I also really appreciate the care in how they present them. As makers they get  busy creating things both in and out of the kitchen, soldering a  delicate metal cake topper as the crowning glory to sit upon another family member's luxurious, home-made chocolate cake.

Another might have made a special journey to snaffle the best game pie, or produce some vintage linens they had squirrelled away for such a celebration. This time and care in presenting and enjoying the food makes sharing the day together even more special, showing everybody how appreciated they are. Whether it's for their baking skills or corny jokes, everyone has something to offer.

If you know any corny jokes, I'm all ears.

The scrumptious  images in this post are of Hemmerle's Delicious Jewels. This amazing vegetable collection made by these  talented craftsmen  was created in 2011  to celebrate a new chapter in their history. The book  they produced featured these gorgeous works of art in combination with the delicious recipes of Tamsin Day-Lewis. It really is a sumptuous read, a feast for the eyes and belly.

Jewellery making and food at the top level are not dissimilar, both rely on technique, long experience and tradition, purism and originality without pretentiousness, elegant simplicity at best, both are beautiful to the eye and a joy to the senses.

Tamasin Day-Lewis
Food Writer and Author

Roasted artichoke!

The Hemmerle history is incredibly  impressive, beginning in Munich with the medals and orders made for the Bavarian Royal Family. When they began by taking over an established Goldsmith's at the turn of the 20th Century they brought their unique combination of  refined craftsmanship and  a more challenging and artistic approach to materials. Their  forward thinking, whilst utilising amazing technical skills of a fine jewellers has carried through to the present day. Finding links to modern life they make unique works of art where creating the most beautiful object is more important than the quantity of jewels used.

"We felt that the cabbage did not
invariably need a pavé setting to come to
life. The crafsmanship of themetal was
sufficient." Hemmerle Jewellers

The collection highlights nature’s artistry, both vegetal and mineral, turning the mundane into the magnificent.

I hope you enjoy this time celebrating the arrival of Spring and new growth with delicious fresh treats and the warmth of friends and family. 

A Pea Easter

Playing For Keeps!

Aggie either a marble made out of agate or a glass marble that looks like it's agate. A glass or imitation aggie is also called an immie.

Some marbles in my studio on a sunny day

Alley A marble made of marble. Alley is short for alabaster.

Bombsies Dropping your shooter on the target marble.

Histing Lifting your knuckle from the ground while shooting.

Hand sculpted from resin with a sterling silver shank and marble detail, a one-of-a-kind piece available at Craft & Culture

Keepsies Playing for keeps. You get to keep all the marbles you win.

Unique resin, marble & sterling silver ring at Craft & Culture

These two new resin and silver rings have recently arrived in Seattle's Craft & Culture. I designed and made them around some of my own collection of glass marbles. I love their perfect shape and lustrous colour. To contrast these glass orbs in texture and colour I chose to work in  an angular bright blue with flecks of orange to sculpt these one-of-a-kind rings.

Here are more details on these pieces at craft & Culture

Knuckle down To put one knuckle of your shooting hand in contact with the ground. Most players put the knuckle of their index finger on the ground. You position your shooter in the crook of the index finger and flick it out with your thumb.

Lagging A way of choosing who shoots first. Players roll their marbles toward a line in the dirt (the lag line). Whoever gets closest without going over gets to shoot first.

Lagging A way of choosing who shoots first. Players roll their marbles toward a line in the dirt (the lag line). Whoever gets closest without going over gets to shoot first.

Mibs The target marbles in a game. Another name is Kimmies.

Playing for fair All marbles are returned to owner after the game.

Plunking Hitting the targets on the fly.

Taw Another name for a shooter. Shooters are often slightly larger than target marbles. In some games you shoot from behind a taw line.

PLAYING FOR KEEPS THE WINNER KEEPS ALL THE MARBLES AFTER THE GAME ("WINNER KEEPS, LOSER WEEPS").

Metal Shadows of Rock

You may have seen from my Facebook status that I am lucky enough to be blogging from the British Museum today! 

This is such a wonderfully rich and inspiring atmosphere, but with so many amazing objects it can be overwhelming. So today I set myself a task to find and learn about just one single object in depth to share with you.

Squeak! Carved netsuke decoration at The British Museum.

Finding myself in the Chinese gallery, my attention was immediately drawn to a table of objects you could handle along with a friendly guide to explain their provenance. Amongst them a beautiful little netsuke mouse was curled into a shy ball and an ancient jade pendant was worn smooth in a shape of a fish, still perfect after thousands of years. But these were not the objects for my mission for today. I was surrounded by so many cabinets of intricate, exquisite treasures it took the sight of something completely different to made me stop in my tracks. It was a large shiny silver object, appearing amidst the antiquities as if it had fallen straight from another world and into the museum. But there was no visible hole in the roof or debris where this alien object had crash landed. And here it was this piece of sci-fi, presented carefully on a traditionally carved wooden plinth. This was a sculpture by the artist Zhan Wang.

Artificial Rock, number 82 by Zhan Wang. Polished stainless steel

"In the past, collectors displayed craggy rocks on their desks as objects of aesthetic appreciation. The rocks also allude to the mystic of mountains that were thought to be dwellings for men of pure thought."

Another steel sculpture by Zhan Wang - the artist also calls them "floating stones" .

Chinese scholars collected and revered unique rocks with beautiful shapes created through natural erosion. By displaying them in their working surroundings for their aesthetic value they also wished to be reminded of the mysticism of the mountains where men of "pure thought" were supposed to dwell. Their sculptural forms displaying positive and negative space were so admired that artisans tried to reproduce copies of these rocks in various materials, including jade, glass, and ceramic.

Zhan Wang forms his sculptures by moulding sheets of stainless steel around real rock formations. 

The artist says; "The material’s glittering surface, ostentatious glamour, and illusory appearance make it an ideal medium to convey new dreams.''

Zhan has also created his own personal universe by recording the sound made by exploding a giant boulder. Read more here

Zhan Wang's work often uses the use of simplistic object that serve a purpose of telling a complex idea. By using the industrial material stainless steel Zhan perfectly captures the organic shape of the original scholars rocks he forms his pieces around but with it's eerily perfect finish, too shiny for nature it's purpose is still that of internal as well as external reflection.

FASHION TREATS LFW A/W15

London Fashion Week can seem a bit of a chaotic time. From the outside it could look like a lot of fuss over frivolity, peacocks parading for street photographers and avant garde outfits sailing down catwalks in outrageous styles and unnatainable prices. For me the whole point of going to fashion week is just the same as visiting a museum or gallery. It's chance to see the outcomes of everything the designer/artist has most recently been obsessed and in love with. Their fascinations, what they have been dreaming, eating, living, and now created as beautiful things we can wear. 

But the serious side of fashion means this is a crucial time for designers, their chance to promote and sell their creations to international buyers and gain press coverage for their work be seen and known. As Alexander Fury writes in Issue 1 of this Febs Fashion Daily; "There's one thing that frequently gets overlooked about the fashion business. Namely, it's a business...Hence I aplaud the BFC's new Business Pillar. It emphasises the industrious work behind fashion, which generates billions for the UK economy."

Inspiration "mood boxes" in Topshop's NewGen area of Somerset House

With all this in mind, I'm happy to say that the joy of fashion is still being upheld. The escapism, fun and enjoyment you can gain from what you wear keeps us creative and individual. This is what makes it such a lucrative business. Enough with the mundane, the sensible option, the reality of life. We can have that any-time. Here are some of the designers I saw with the theme of enjoying life and the freedom of wearing your favourite things, evoking a time of innocence, excitement and curiosity. So let's  pour ourselves a bowl of (designer) sugary cereal and enjoy...

First up is Sadie Williams. I loved her collab for & Other Stories so it was great to see some of her catwalk pieces up close in their scrumptious textures. Indulge in softly metallic stripes reminiscent of luxurious Tunnock's teacakes and playful shapes assembled on diaphanous fabrics these were sophisticated, wearable versions of collages we might have pritt-sticked and glitter-glued out of sweetie wrappers at playtime.

Sparkling textures from Sadie Williams

Sadie says her own childhood was hands on and creative, with a DIY  attitude encouraged by a mum who loved textiles. You can tell from the way these pieces seemed free and light, unaware of anything else apart from the enjoyment of colour, shape and texture.

These combinations of woven fabrics and futuristic flashes was like seeing a scrap box of snippets of salvaged fabrics curated with a magpie's eye. It makes sense that her mum also had a bric a brac stall, from these combinations of old and new stating her influences as "early constructivist Rodchenko and folky shapes" and with an auntie like Venetia Scott, Sadie really makes it work to feel fresh and desirable for a fashionable fan-base.

Space Age plants for Sadie William's showroom

Walking on a Sugar High! I was addicted to these PEZ shoes- a fantastic idea dreamed up by Camilla Elphick. 

My eye was immediately draw to Kirsty Ward's new collection as I wandered the corridors of Somerset House. Kirsty studied her Womenswear degree in my own old uni city of Manchester before her MA at London's Central Saint Martins. Her latest offerings featured sugary shades with baubles and beads reminiscent of strawberry bon bons and twists of licorice.  "I like to make pieces that the wearer will love, with thought going into every last detail. I also love to mix jewellery with clothing - blurring the line where one stops and the other starts."

Kirsty Ward has also collaborated with another favourite of mine- William's Handmade, to make her neat but usefully sized and shaped bags to put the fun into functional with their embellished leather cubes in the same sweet palette.

Here are the rest of William's own bags in her new collection shown at London Fashion Week. These portable pouches, and takeaway totes are an everyday version of the asymmetrical  silhouettes and jukebox inspired steamer trunks from her big luggage pieces I first fell in love with a few years ago.

Casual leanings, these smart bags will always put you at ease wherever you take them.

Williams Handmade, fun, functional and beautifully made in quality materials, bags to fill a niche in your wardrobe.

If Warhol was doing Pop Art in the Thirties...  getting an appetite for Cleo Ferin Mercury's "Diner" scarf.

I would have to combine this scarf from Cleo Ferin and and a pair of Termite shades for the ultimate brunch outfit.

The Factory set might also be wearing some of the amazing shades on offer from TERMITE, mixing materials for fabulous frames in modern shapes with a 6Os sense of psychedelia.

So it looks like there's plenty of fun to come with the next Season's offerings from our designers. Let's enjoy having fun with fashion a little bit of what you fancy and a LOT OF WHAT YOU LOVE!

Roses are Red

Some vibrant hues available in one of my favourite places to shop for art supplies L.Cornelissen's & Son's "Artist's Colourmen".

Natural stones in wondrous colours provide eye candy in one of my Hatton Garden gem suppliers.

Red Arrow Jasper Necklace this unique necklace is available in my online shop here.

Mixing pigments in my studio.

Red Hewn Ring with a bright marbled blue stone. This one-of-a-kind  piece is coming to my shop soon...or email me at info@jademellor.com for details.

From beetles to bark, natural pigment samples I saw at The National Galleries "Making Colour" exhibition.

Matching lipstick and jewellery

Red clematis leaves remind me of home...

My fave lip tint looks just like a neater version of eating a bowl of cherries

Do you love God's Own Junkyard too?

My favourite red shoes.

Red Arrow Jasper necklace is available in my online shop here. For more information or to commission your own unique piece email me at info@jademellor.com with your query!

Make yourself at home

verb live in

...bide, exist, hole up, inhabit, reside, squat, abide, bunk, continue, crash, flop, locate, nest, occupy, park, perch, quarter, remain, rent, rest, room, roost, settle, sojourn, stay, tarry, tenant, establish oneself, hang one's hat, hang out, keep house, locate, occupy, populate, possess, reside, dwell, live, lodge, people...

environment c.1600, "state of being environed"; sense of "nature, conditions in which a person or thing lives" 

I always say how much I love how Hubert Duprat drew attention to how the Cadi Fly larvae carefully construct themselves their protective cases. The larvae use whatever is available to them to build their homes, and the  precious materials Duprat gave them in his controlled environment  illustrates their skills and intuition beautifully in gold and glistening jewels. I have recently made some big changes to my own surroundings, relocating ready to begin a new chapter in a new place. Before I left my old home I made this piece of jewellery. It is a portable keepsake literally using the very materials of my old environment, containing the dust and debris that had surrounded me. To me it is also a protective talisman, a cocoon I have made to be safe within it. It is also a reminder that no matter where you are, just like the little larvae you can make the most of whatever you have and sometimes it might be even better, possibly even exquisitely precious and more wonderful than what you had ever been expecting...

Advocating Craft for 2015

Building the market for collectors of contemporary craft in the North West

I was lucky enough to have attended this symposium organised by  the North West Craft Network that also coincided with the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair  in October. The symposium gathered together a group of selected curators, designers and major supporters of the creative world  to put our heads together and come up with ideas to strengthen the craft industry in the North West. The hope is to produce real results for those of us who are committed to making our living from our skills and passions. The results from the workshop have been published HERE.

Lively discussions and workshops with the curators, collectors and craft practitioners. The fantastic variety of guests at the symposium, "Building the Market for Contemporary Craft in the North West".

This was a welcome chance to meet and talk as a mixed group of professionals in the creative industry. We found we each had our own experiences, sharing what we have each found either as a designer or curator or from the experienced eye of a passionate collector.

Ever since this event, my mind has been buzzing with ideas, and has even helped me to make huge changes to my own creative career.  This gathering was a great starting point to now develop on helping us to focus on making 2015 a great year for craft. Not only working hard (as we all know the long hours and sacrifices from taking an unconventional path) but working smart, meaning that our precious time is spent in the most useful ways in order to help ourselves to thrive and build up the contemporary craft industry as a whole.

Here are four points that I felt were repeated again and again in our discussions in various ways. January is shiny, new and full of promise, the perfect time to begin trying to incorporate these a bit more into our work and daily lives.

1) Talk to people, tell them why you do what you do and how it makes you feel. This could be you interacting as a maker selling directly or it could be to visitors to the gallery where you work or an event you volunteer at or the tweets about the exhibitions you like. This also means LISTEN to them too. Listen to the lovely compliments on your work and your efforts. What do they like about it, what is unique? What don't they like so much? Maybe they are getting the wrong idea or something important is being missed. You will only know by communicating, and this will motivate you forward.

Here I am giving a presentation at Manchester Museum, sharing my inspiration and practices. It really made me think about why and how I make what I do and the unpredictable questions which helped me reflect and learn.

2) Treat your work how you want to be treated. You have dedicated your time and energy to your creative endeavour, show it's value. Whistler made his security guards wear yellow socks and created jewellery to be worn to his shows using his signature "butterfly sting". You may not need to go this far but what is important about your work? Do you need to invest in exquisite, protective packaging to demonstrate preciousness by treating each piece as if fragile and sacred. Or maybe is it the processes you need to show or the materials? Do you need to show the timeline of how you developed a idea to prove it is the best it can be or do you need to romance us with your artistic inspiration? Other people do not know how or why you do what you do, and sometimes your finished object alone won't allow them to appreciate and value your work over other all the things competing for their attention every day. These big brands rely on expensive marketing or "bargain" prices, however you have something they do not have. Prototypes, raw materials, sketches, videos, proof of production, the magic of it's inception. You. This is your value, show it.

Bernhard Schobinger's jewellery art work is highly valued.  He chooses to create an individual container to house each piece which can tell you the story behind it, decorated with it's details and his signature. They are all intended as one complete beautiful and considered object and Schobinger says "if you lose the box you know nothing of the piece".

3) Support yourself by supporting others. Mark Twain said (the) "Best way to cheer yourself up is to cheer someone else up." Do you have a favourite designer or maker? Tell them! Tell others about them and  share the love! We are making efforts to get the public to understand and appreciate contemporary craft but maybe we need to set a better example.  We all want people to appreciate and buy good things rather than overbuying, damaging the environment or creating sweatshop conditions.

Here's my chance to show work by my super creative and wonderful friend Natalie Laura Ellen. She puts so much of herself into her designs. I love the fact that she creates her own cosy world with her goodies, inspired by her passions like her vintage cameras, visits to horticultural shows  or the little details of her home city of Manchester where she works and produces all of her products. See her lovely shop here 

4) Let people help you. Even if you get up VERY early in the morning or go on a different course every month you may not be able to do everything you need to do by yourself. This can be hard to admit as you may have to relinquish a bit of control (if you are used to working independently) and it may mean everything is not 100% how you want it just yet. But it may free you up to get on with the most important parts that no-one else can do, or get over something that's been blocking your progress. It is usually easier to tweak what you have and build on resources than have nothing to show but grand words and ideas on how you want it to be.

This photograph was taken by my talented photographer friends Nikita A. Queeley Gill and Simon Shortt not long after I graduated. We worked together on this shoot giving me beautiful images like this one using techniques and equipment I wouldn't be able to do alone. This photo and the support of friends and family then led to me winning a fashion competition in Paris, where I saw my work on a catwalk for the first time. I don't know where I'd be without help from all of these wonderful people, so thank you all, always remembered and appreciated.

When I am feeling intimidated by a project or big workload I think of this quote used by Ben Barry, designer at Facebook "Done is better than perfect". There is more from this interview from 99% below;

"I have several friends that are incredibly talented. They will start on projects but rarely follow through. They get bored or distracted or discouraged that it's not "perfect" and give up. Following through and finishing things is one of the most important things you can learn.

One of my favourite quotes is "Done is better than perfect." That doesn't mean making crap – I believe you should always strive for the highest quality you can – but you have to finish. I think a lot of my friends in this situation don't realize how in-demand their skills are. I think if you follow through on projects and just put the tiniest little effort into promoting yourself and have the tiniest bit of self-confidence, you can get the job you want."

I think for Contemporary Craft to have a fantastic future we need to think of ourselves as a whole, banding together as the company of British Designers, each a representative of the national brand. When buying for pleasure it is easy to be swayed by the exotic, paying extra for imported rather than domestic which may mean our local artists are overlooked or undervalued. At the symposium, Professor Geoffrey Crossick, chair of the Crafts Council  brought up the point that "Craft" is fashionable, using the popularity of Craft beer as an example. Companies are utilising this self given label to great effect making a product appear wholesome, local, community based, somehow better for us. We need to think of all of these things when producing or buying our designs too; carefully crafted, artisan made, combining passion and skill and the best ingredients, a more informed, sophisticated choice.  We are lucky to have some of the most talented people right under our nose and we need to be proud of ourselves, contributing to our great industry as pioneers in art and design. The craft economy generates nearly £3.4bn for the UK economy. That's you and me, making it, promoting it and buying it. I think we deserve a bonus this year.

Giving Contemporary Crafters everywhere..."A BIG HAND".

Making It: Building Your Craft Future. A Day for Emerging Makers at the Whitworth Art Gallery

Thurs March 5th 2015

If you are an emerging maker, this event also organised by the North West Craft Network along with Manchester Craft and ADesign Centre and The Whitworth Art Gallery, will be a great chance to meet some great people and learn form their experience of creative careers of the North West via workshops in the spectacular atmosphere of newly re-imagined Whitworth.

There are also some great ideas in "The Done Manifesto" you can read here on

Thank you so much to the Symposium organisers, the incredibly hard working North West Craft Co-ordinator; Victoria Scholes and the superb Angela Mann and Anne-Marie Franey, organisers of The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. They are continuing to push contemporary craft by events like these as we strive to make it as great as it really can be. My thanks also to the speakers, Jo Bloxham, James Beighton, Louise Gardener and Geoffrey Crossick for sharing their viewpoints on the podium and also to the wonderful people I met here to share our passion and enthusiasm for Contemporary craft in the North West.

Top Drawer Zoo

Who wouldn't want to live in a miniature zoo full of tiny weird and wonderful animals? I visited Top Drawer in London's Olympia yesterday and was fascinated by these creations by Japanese needle felt artist Terumi Ohta aka "True Style Lab" as part of the brilliant new area for designer makers called CRAFT.

Smooth on the inside...crunchy on the outside

The patience and skill of hand needle felting is the perfect way to capture the colours and the textures of a spider's hairs giving this super little tarantula a lifelike appearance.

This little fellow looks preserved in a pre-historic environment as your own pet dinky dino in a bubble.

Hand made clay teeth are painstaking made and indiviually inserted for as their creator Terumi says, for her; "It's all in the details".

Here is my favourite of Terumi's art pieces, I really wish I could have taken this beautiful cub home with me but hopefully I can visit it if she will exhibit more of her menagerie soon!

Have a look at more of Terumi's work online at WWW.TRUESTYLELAB.COM who was exhibiting at  Top Drawer London as part of the new specialist makers area called CRAFT

The Big Bang 2015 by Maud Traon at Gill Wing Gallery

I have been enjoying a brilliant start to 2015 by helping to create this exhibition at Gill Wing Gallery in Islington, showcasing an installation of French jewellery artist Maud Traon's jewellery and objects.

Maud's objects create a post-apocalyptic landscape as a collection of glittering, futuristic cosmic debris. She describes her approcah as "Naive, playful & messy". I love the sense of intrigue they inspire, some are wearable, others are objects to enjoy and ponder. By creating a whole installation it has created a strong atmosphere of her work and by making it visible on a busy city street it makes this kind of exciting work visible  to the general public and their daily lives rather than in a closed gallery. 

Maud Traon ring from her collection, "Oh toi mon Petit Poney"

Here is some information on our  concept behind the exhibition, and reasons for holding it at Gill Wing jewellery gallery;

The Big Bang 2015 by Maud Traon 

"An explosion of colour and creativity in the jewellery universe. Maud takes us on a flight of fantasy in her use of unusual materials in eye catching colours and sparkling textures to create objects that fill us with wonder. Finest Swarovski and toy trinkets are engulfed in resin glitter, with gold and silver layers sealing their fate.

We chose to work with Maud for our first exhibition of 2015 to show an example of the creativity and individuality of the makers work we have in the gallery. We now house over 60 original jewellery artists, from the accomplished artisans, many of whom are now teaching the next generation and the up-and-coming, experimental makers. These designers push the boundaries of jewellery by utilising new technology, or demonstrating ancient jewellery techniques combined with fresh ideas. We hope that by continuing to showcase these talented individuals, exemplified by Maud Traon's extraordinary objects, we welcome in 2015 with the only limits to jewellery being those of our own imagination."

Maud Traon ring from her collection "The Constant Gardener"

Here it's as if they are in a  vivarium creating an atmosphere for these other worldly specimens to thrive in allowing viewers to see them in their weird and wonderful habitat.

Maud says she enjoys walking when coming up with a new piece, I agree that it is perfect way to allow yourself space and time to think and dream. Maud's foam rings here are encasing fairies, mermaids and princesses, we suspended them as if they were floating away, showing the lightness and delicate beauty, something for the daydreamers wishing to escape the mundane.

When we asked her what fragrance her pieces would have Maud answered (they would smell of) "spices and sweets". They certainly look tempting to passers by, catching the eye of even the busiest shoppers and commuters on Islington's busy Upper Street!

This installation is still on now, you can see it for yourself at Gill Wing Jewellery Gallery:

182 Upper St.
London
N1 1RQ

www.gillwingjewellery.co.uk

www.maudtraon.com

INTERWOVEN EDITORIAL for ELEMENT MAGAZINE

See the whole issue here

Interwoven

Fashion Director Karen Jones Russell
@ www.representedby.ME

Photographer Euan Danks
www.euandanks.com

Assistant Stylist Mariel Osborn
@ www.representedby.ME

Hair & Makeup Michael Richmond
@ www.representedby.ME

Models
Laura Catterall @ 12+ Models

Clothing Credits:
Annie Oakes
Helen O’Donovan
Jade Mellor

Makeup Credits:
Makeup Kevyn Aucoin
Nails Priti NYC
Hair Kerastase