Seeing Double

Happy New Year! Happy New Earrings!

These are limited editions I have created using real cut gemstones and minerals with sterling silver details. Once they're gone they're gone!

Inspired by my studies into Neolithic culture at Manchester Museum these real red jasper earrings mimic the shape of an ancient arrowhead as an accessory for the elegant modern huntress. Suspended from sterling silver earring wires and chains in an oxidised finish. More details here.

This is a shorter version using beautiful marbled brown jasper, I love that the natural colours of the stone have given a unique red tipped point! Deadly!

Details on these one off pieces can be found HERE.

Simply Spoons

Uri Geller and me, messing up your cutlery drawer.

Spoons are very important in my work. Such a simple implement is the perfect tool to mix my pigments, powders and potions. The resulting caked on mess is a record of all the colours and textures I'm working with and I use the residue to match shades as samples of batches and weird objects in their own right. Then when I need a clean one I can smash off the hardened pigments revealing the shiny(ish) metal spoon underneath. I get a lot of use out of my spoons...

Spoon in the spotlight

Flint: Hewn Through Nature at Manchester Museum

Collection Bites are a series of short talks put on at Manchester Museum once a month. Featuring a range of experts from different areas of the museum they share their knowledge over a lunch time slot to a small group. The talk usually features some objects from the collection, giving the public a chance to get up close and even handle some of these precious artifacts allowing a bit more in depth focusing on one or two things in particular. Today's objects were stone age tools presented by Museum director Nick Merriman.

Gripping the ancient axe it was amazing to fit my finger tips into the purposely made grooves, and I happened to be wearing a pair of my "Hewn Rings" which were originally inspired by the contrast of worked surfaces with rugged edges found in objects like these.

Pieces of the flint were carefully chipped off by hand to create sharp edges

Victorian enthusiasts collected whole flint rocks believed to be the predecessors of the hand sculpted tools. The lack of evidence for them means they are now just kept as curios.

More info on the next Collection Bites can be found  here.

The "bulb of percussion" shows a piece of flint was worked rather than weathered.

blades were carefully made for hand held scrapers and implements to be hafted onto wooden shafts