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! 

Gray Magazine

Really excited to be featured in the latest issue of Gray Magazine! 

 "A reflection of the Pacific Northwest's vibrant design + architecture scene. GRAY is a print and digital magazine filled with resources, engaging features, and interviews covering architecture, landscape, interior design, industrial design, décor and fashion—all things that are imagined, made or available in the Pacific Northwest."

This issue is inspired by contrasts and duality, with the content literally halved into two sections so that in the middle you flip the mag round to read the rest!

I've always been into turning convention on it's head, and two of my Hewn rings feature in this middle two page spread where it flips! Check it out below, a black and a white Hewn ring available at Craft & Culture or directly from me made in your size. Just email me for details on how to have your bespoke ring made to your preference! 

Here's the online version for you to read for yourself! This issue has some interesting write ups on designers with split careers, which is becoming even more common as people take a sudden change in their path or bring polar opposites together so that they feed the different needs in their life. Check out the gorgeous cutting edge objects to window shop for some inspiration!

Sweet Ombre

Getting out of the workshop and discovering the majority of my clothing is covered in splashes and smudges of pigment (not in a good way) I have I have made a couple of purchases recently to freshen up my existing wardrobe which currently spill out of vintage suitcases in my "cosy" apartment. The questions I have had to ask when considering a new item have been: "How can I make this work for the crazy/unpredictable weather we continue to have??!" The answer seems to be simple pieces in light fabrics cool enough for coping with the city's public transport in hot spells, but with the prospect of adding interesting tights, knitted  layers of cardigans and scarves and my favourite high 70s leather boots as the leaves change colour...

Cue Craft & Culture to create an amazing new lookbook, shot by  the talented Fiona Pepe which along with a selection of my handmade jewellery also feature;

interesting knits, tactile leather and THE most amazing ombre tights!!!

Ombre tights by BZR,

Hewn Bangles and ring, Jade Mellor

 The colours add autumnal interest with their faded tones and are made even more wearable by the fact the opaque colour is darker and heavier at the top (thank you!) which flatters even non-model legs drawing attention to the narrowest part of the ankles!

These graded colours and wonderful textures are just what we need for the transition from Summer to Autumn.  Here's a look, but check out the whole feature and new items joining the Craft & Culture site here.

Delicious colours...crème brûlée!!!                                                                                                          Black bangles and Hewn ring

One of my white and metallic Hewn rings ,Leather wallets by Anoukis, metal bracelets by Rah&Rah and Jesse Harris.

My Hewn RIngs in marbled grey, and black & pyrite

Hendrick Lou knits, Annoukis bag, Rah&Rah bracelets and my white Hewn ring (just seen)

                                 The beautiful Neko

Rad Gals

Craft & Culture have just published a new piece on Theresa Crim, local curator and champion of the creative scene in Seattle. This is the first of a series called "Rad Gals" which will interview creative women and who have styled themselves by selecting from the designer pieces curated on the site. Theresa has been involved in so many creative endeavors, from magazines to events and the article illustrates her passion for her talented friends and how she has started up projects and platforms to encourage and share art. I'm really thrilled that she chose many of my hand made pieces for her photoshoot! You can see the full editorial here at Craft & Culture.

These gorgeous images of Theresa are by Elizabeth Rudge, makeup by Katja Mistrel and article written by Hana Ryan. My jewellery and the other pieces she wears in the shoot are all available at Craft & Culture here. 

Jefforgina Editorial - Twill Magazine

Here's an exotic shoot featuring my Hewn Collection shot by the talented duo behind Jefforgina!

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‘TWILL’s beauty aspires to cross many bound­aries. The utopian goal is that of giv­ing plea­sure to areas of the reader’s brain that are stim­u­lated by the beauty of seri­ous orig­i­nal points of view in fields as diverse as pol­i­tics, econ­omy, sci­ence, lit­er­a­ture, sex, pho­tog­ra­phy and art, some­times tak­ing shape as fash­ion. 

"We, at ‘Twill, have thus decided to reverse the golden rule of pub­lish­ing; instead of iden­ti­fy­ing a class of poten­tial cus­tomers on whom to foist a mag­a­zine, we have cre­ated a pub­li­ca­tion that defines ourselves."

The mag­a­zine is loosely divided into three sec­tions: seri­ous sub­jects, visual arts and our unique fotoro­manzi, an extrav­a­gantly lus­cious lit­er­ary retake on a clas­sic genre of Italian-French kitsch.

Based in Paris, ‘Twill is pub­lished by TWS Press France. But it is mis­lead­ing to place it in a spe­cific coun­try; ‘Twill is the result of a dis­trib­uted effort com­ing from Italy, Eng­land, France and the Amer­i­cas. A vir­tual edi­to­r­ial office, in essence, but this is what makes such new genre of mag­a­zine an inter­est­ing and dar­ing challenge.

Goldsmith's Rocks Exhibition

​I am so happy to be exhibiting at this fantastic geological jewellery event which starts tomorrow at the Goldsmith's Centre in Clerkenwell, London.

​This gorgeous necklace on the poster is by one of my fave jewellers, Imogen Belfield! My own jewellery box has one of her little golden nuggety rings in it.

​Rocks, minerals, meteorites, they are all a big inspiration for me as well as the geological processes that create the world around us on a big and small scale. The piece I chose to show at the exhibition is my Malachite Green Hewn Ring.

It combines some of the techniques I have developed in resin to evoke the naturally occurring patterns of mineral formations, as well as featuring inclusions of golden pyrite nuggets.

Here's some more on the exciting events that the Goldsmith's Centre will be running:

"From 21 May we're taking part in Chelsea Fringe - a festival celebrating and encouraging us all to engage with our landscape, gardening and the natural world. As part of the Fringe we are creating our own rock garden (sponsored by Indoor Garden Design) in the atrium, surrounded by work from jewellers and goldsmiths' whose inspiration comes from geological formations.

We don't stop there, come and enjoy some of the events that we have alongside the exhibition…

LIFE DRAWING WITH LONDON DRAWING

Tuesday 21 May: 6.30 - 8.30pm
£10 in advance or £12 on the door. Supplies are available to buy at the class.

This is the first of our monthly life drawing classes to be held in our Exhibition Room and will have a special Rock theme! Book through London Drawing's Website.

BLING PONG

Thursday 23 May: 11am - 9pm
Donations Welcome

Show us your sporting prowess and indulge in your artistic side with the most
creative table tennis you'll ever play. Beat your colleagues and friends at our
table tennis table and use the ping pong balls to create your own piece of
contemporary jewellery. Our experts will be on hand to make sure you have this
season's must-have bling to wear!  Send pictures of your creations to us on Twitter and you'll be in with a chance to win lunch in our Café.

When you've exhausted your talents, recoup with lunch or after work drinks in
our café.

NEWTON'S APPLE - POP UP PLAY ON THE CAFÉ TERRACE

Thursday 23 May: 12:30pm and 1.15pm
Free

Have you ever fallen in love in a tree? Liminal Space's five minute play is
about two people who do, and then come back down to earth. Grab some lunch, sit back and enjoy.

FAMILY FUN DAYS

Friday 31 May 12pm - 5pm &
Saturday 1 June 10am- 4pm

Scratch Patch will range from £2 - £5

Other activities - Donations Welcome

Climb into our Scratch Patch - a sandpit filled with gemstones and learn about the different types of rocks used in jewellery. Pick your favourite, see them being polished by our very own Lapidary, Steve Stavrou and create your own gem stone jewellery to take away."

Walk the Line: Printing and Fashion

​Last Week's Thursday Late at Manchester Art Gallery allowed us to take a closer look at a particular item in the collection. The extensive costume collection from Platt Hall has started to venture out of the wardrobe and into the art Gallery on Mosley street. Displayed with a selection of Pre- Raphaelite paintings, the flowing fabric draping over the heavenly bodies of the women is seen in real life in the gown by Mariano Fortuny.

​I've always loved this painting by Charles-August Mengin. It depicts the greek poet Sappho who lived around 600BC, from the story that she threw herself into the sea for an unrequited love. Apparently it appealed to the Parisian men attending the salon exhibition at the time, but I think the expression in her face is what makes it. SImilar to nudity in fashion photography today like a Dazed & Confused shoot of Kate Moss with her top off.

​Delphos Dress 1908 - 1912 

​Mariano Fortuny

​Self portrait by Fortuny

Described as a Renaissence man, Fortuny was the son of accomplished painters and repertoir included architecture, interiors & stage design, fashion, painting, ​photography, lighting and textiles design. The Delphos dress we discussd in the gallery late was inspired by ancient Greek art and his method of the beautiful intricate pleating was his own secret. Art nouveau beading would trim the dress, for decoration and also to weight the fabric. The construction is what makes this dress so timeless, with detail such as a laced sleeve making it make contemporary so that his designs are still worn on the red carpet today. It really is worth investigating more of his work, the more I find out the more amazing it is and not just from a fashion/design history perspective - it is all still very desirable. Sighhhhhh

​Dress details

​Fortuny label

​The group discussion was organised by Connie Witham. Hopefully there will be some more fashion related chats like this as there are plenty of amazing garments in Platt Hall in Rusholme that are worth appreciating in depth with details that are easy to miss on a quick look round.

​Careful-it's sharp! Removing the shiny surface to get through to the fuzzy papery layer meant that the ink would stick here and transfer onto the paper.

​After discussing the dress (and quite a few other things) with the group we headed to another part of the gallery where artist Adam Quinn was holding a printing workshop. I didn't think I would have time to make one as I was heading to meet friends but I'm a big fan of printing and hadn't used this technique before so I made a quick drawing in the foil card using an H.B pencil, scalpel and an unknown attachment on my Swiss Army knife. The theme was portraits so I used an image of one of my pyrite Hewn rings.

thick squidgy ink-similar consistency to nutella! (erm n.b do not put on toast bleauch!)​

​Inked up 

It was very satisfying working the gooey black ink into the lines in the drawing. The rest was wiped off the shiny metallic areas so that the pressure of the rollers would force it out of the lines and onto the dampened paper.​

​Removing the excess ink-messy business

the resulting print!​

​My finished "self portrait"

up on the new studio inspirationy wall of things and stuff along with a collar from the V&A and my fave fashion week outfit by Simone Rocha

Somerset House Showcase

This little collection of images show some of the pieces that will be at Somerset House in London next weekend. The event is the School For Creative Startups Showcase where my work will be available through Shoreditch Muse. "The Startup Showcase is a two-day creative festival celebrating the best and brightest of London’s new creative startup scene. The event features a truly unique pop-up marketplace with over 100 creative businesses showcasing the hottest new products and services of 2013."

As well as showcasing exciting designs also available to purchase there's a packed schedule of fantastic talks and workshops with advice and skills for young entrepreneurs and new creative businesses.​ So whether you are a design magpie, involved in a creative company or a maker yourself, hope to see you there!

You can find the schedule and information on their site here

Somerset House

Embankment Galleries
Victoria Embankment
London
WC2R 1LA

Saturday 23 March: 10 – 6pm
Sunday 24 March: 11 – 5pm