I'm back from London!!!

Well, what a weekend I have just had & I think I'm still recovering!

On Friday 26th October I made my way down to London to attend the Islington Contemporary Art & Design Fair at the Candid Arts Trust. It came about after being invited to apply after I attended New Designers in June with my college. It took a little while after graduating to get back into making again, but this was the boost I needed to get back into the workshop.

 

I am very slowly getting my workshop up together (I will post some photos once I have organised everything & it looks mildly presentable), but I don't have the larger pieces of equipment just yet.



 

 So I am very lucky to have access to a shared workshop at the Courtyard in Hereford and this is because I am part of the Hereford Alloy Jewellers Group.

 

Alloy is a non-profit organisation which helps the promotion of jewellers and silversmiths at any stage of their careers.

 

Check out our facebook page or visit the website  to browse through the work of other members.

 

 My wire work in progress...

 

 

All cleaned up after being in the pickle!

All my new silver pieces and the stands near completion,

just need to do the final finish... 

 

Having access to the Hereford College of Arts workshop was a real help towards finishing my collection. As a recent graduate, I can use the workshop and the library, so I can feel like a student again! They have set up a Associate Membership Scheme which is open to anyone who has completed a fully accredited course at the college. A General Membership Scheme is available too for those just interested in the Arts! Email: shortcourses@hca.ac.uk for more info!

 

The best part about visiting the college is seeing the Tech Dem's again and friends still studying!

 

 

Back to the Fair...

 

I was a bag of nerves on the train, but once I arrived & I was taken to my stand I felt quite excited!

 

 

Carrying this cabinet on the underground was eventful....

But seeing it installed with my work displayed made it all worth while.

 



 

 

 

 

Final display with my Artist statement.

 

 

The whole weekend was quite tiring, but enjoyable! We were certainly well looked after, I don't think I have drank so much tea, coffee and cava in my life! I also had some lovely chats with other exhibitors during quiet periods. I also gained some invaluable advice from two lovely makers, both having only graduated last year. They work in ceramics and both had a wonderful collection and display.

 

Please have a look at their sites:

 

Aimee Fisher and Rebecca Fraser

 

 

One evening I found the Crafts Council building on my mission to find food!

 ...and found some incredible food at Jamie's Italian!

 

I tackled Jamie's Feast.... and conquered...just!

 

 

All in all a good experience for me which has helped to get my motivation back, as well as meeting some wonderful people!

 A special Thank-you to Kirsty for all her help on the underground!!!

 

 

 

'Room of Dreams' Exhibition in Ruthin...

Last week I ventured out into the big wide world and found myself on the train travelling to Wrexham in North Wales! (I wont lie, I was quite pleased to make it there without getting lost to be honest as I am not the best when it comes to public transport!)

 

I was visiting a friend from Uni I hadn't seen in a while & we had arranged to go & see Wendy Ramshaw's 'Room of Dreams'. I have been a huge fan of hers for a while, so jumped at the chance to see her work in the flesh!

 

& it didn't disappoint...It was fantastic!!! Unfortunately, I didn't take any of my own photos, but I did buy the book and read it all the way home the following morning!

 

 

 

Islington Contemporary Art & Design Fair...

 

It's fast approaching, feeling quite nervous but very excited to be taking part in this fair. I had the private view invites arrive the other day, which made it a little more real that I have agreed to do it!!

 

I have lots, so if anybody wants any I would be happy to send them?!  



 

It was also nice to see my work on the back of the invite!

 

Need to work on the look of my stand now, thinking cap needs to kick in soon!!! 

Upcoming Designers - Craft in the Bay

 

I will be exhibiting a small selection of my work in Craft in the Bay, Cardiff, at the beginning of September. I am pleased to say that it will include fellow graduates and previous graduates from Hereford College of Arts.

It is in combination with the St.Ives Potters exhibition & you can find me in the Oriel 2 space on the first floor. 

Having never sent off my work before, I think I have double checked possibly everything!!

 

 

The selection was quite hard as I am limited to how many pieces I can send. But after a little while, I finally made my choice. Finally deciding on sending mainly silver pieces with one copper, just for colouring more than anything.

Check out the web link by clicking on Upcoming Designers  

 

My selection :

 

 

 

The Exhibition will run from Saturday 8th September - Sunday 11th November 2012.

 

Summer Show Video

This is a short video of the Hereford College of Arts Summer show 2012. Showing work from my course BA (Hons) Contemporary Applied Arts.

 

 

Thank-you Mr Postman...

 

I'm slowly beginning to get my workshop up and running and yesterday lots of solder arrived for me (more than I expected)!!

 

 

 



Mini business cards....

A little selection of my business cards.



Society of Designer Craftsmen

During New Designers I had an interview with Anoush to become part of the Society of Designer Craftsmen. She was very lovely and enjoyed my work, which is always nice to hear!

A few days ago I recieved a letter in the post to say that I had been accepted

as a Licentiate Member!! 

Alongside this I have also been invited to exhibit at the Mall Galleries in London in January 2013.

I am very excited to be exhibiting with other members and to be part of SDC!!!  

Shortly I will be added to the List of Members on the website.

Islington Contemporary Art & Design Fair 2012

Very excited to go back to London at the end of October.

After receiving an invitation to apply, I was surprised to have my application approved!!

 It will be my first fair since graduating and I'm taking part in the forth week-

26th (preview evening) 27th-28th. Opening times:
Friday 6.30pm - 9pm (preview)
Saturday and Sunday 11am - 6pm

Please feel free to come and visit.

CreativeGAPS...

Not long after New Designers I was asked if I would like to have my work on the creativeGAPS website. It's a fantastic site full of talented makers and I am very pleased to be part of it.

 Currently my work can be seen on interiorsGAP and craftGAP.

Update...

Sorry it's been a little while since the last post, I've been a little busy, but have lots of things to share.

During the degree show back in June (feels like a while ago now), I was invited to exhibit with the Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen, which runs from the 4th- 28th August in Painswick. I went along to help set up and was given the task of painting....& had lots of it to do! I have to say it felt like I was back setting up the degree show and New Designers!

The Exhibition was held in an original Arts & Crafts building,

which was the perfect setting for the show. The Ceiling was the best feature!

It went from this above picture....

To this....

The Private View...

Couldn't believe how many people were there!

This was my first exhibition since graduating, so it was a little strange. But it was nice to exhibit alongside some established makers, some of which I have seen at other reputable shows.

While I was in Painswick, I explored the town, which was built in this fantastic stone.

 It was beautiful.

The walk through the church grounds was lovely too!

Degree Result!

All the hard work finally paid off...

I was a very happy lady!!!!

A night to explore....

A little trip to Liberties couldn't be missed while in London, I fell in love with this cabinet...perhaps for the workshop?! If I had a bit more money.

One evening we went to Harrods to eat cake...of course! But as art students we couldn't turn down the opportunity to visit the British Museum.

Some photos to help generate new ideas for future designs...perhaps!

New Designers and London living...

I have to be honest, I did pretend I lived in London while New Designers was on!! I loved it!

I shared an amazing apartment with four friends in High gate and cooking together all week saved a few pennies too! It was my first experience at New Designers and couldn't get over the scale of the place...or the heat for that matter! It was very warm all week! Not good when we had to carry all of our work and display units up a few flights of stairs...twice! 

New Designers on the day of arrival.

Day 2: Setting up our work.

We didn't have that much space to move...but we got there in the end.

Beautiful sunshine!

The finished article... minus the toolbox!

The tutors worked really hard to curate this space.

A job well done!

Degree show!

Well it's been a little while since I last updated my blog, so it's about time I did!! I have lots of lovely photos to upload, so I will say no more!

Our degree show at Hereford College of Arts.

Everyone worked so hard and we put together a fantastic show. The private view was a lot of fun and nice to see everyone all dressed up!



Done and done!!!

It's official.... my final university project is handed in and the degree show is up!!
And it's looking fantastic I must say!!

Here are some photos I took during the last few weeks of making...



Four silver pieces,

I love the finish and colours but I needed to clean them up really.

Experimenting with some portfolio ideas...

Using my metal plates to make some prints!

This was one of my sample pieces.

I haven't used this finish for my final piece, but I achieved it by trying to trap the oxides after annealing the metal. I covered it in melted beeswax, but may have accidently set fire to it and the pot of wax!! All good though, it turned out ok...in fact I did a pretty good job because it took quite abit of time to remove it all.

After I made all the wirework, I came up with some other pieces I wanted to make. Some really simple designs, but really cute! Will be visiting the workshop asap!

All my silver stands made!!! Love this photo, they look really effective all lined up.

Work in progress...testing out the stands, making sure each vessel fits. 

Our little party on the 'terrace' outside the workshop.

We all bought abit of food to celebrate our last week of making. I definitely ate too much!

Setting up my desk at H.E for the final time, ready for assessment.