A Special Commission

A few weeks ago, I took a few days away from NEOS to make a flying visit to London. This was to celebrate the occasion of a very good friend of mine 'Tying the Knot'! 

I was honoured to be asked by the bride to make the wedding rings. Here are a few shots of the finished jewellery. Plain wedding bands engraved with the date.

Congratulations to the Happy Couple!

Just a few days left to see my Exhibition!

Just a wee reminder that my Exhibition is still on at Lava Jewellery in Peterculter until Saturday.

NEOS ended on Sunday but there is still a chance to see my work on display until the 29th September. So if you didn't manage to come past over NEOS week, now is your chance!

It was great to meet some more new customers over the weekend and sorry to those I missed during the week. I hope we meet another time.

It was also great to see a few familiar faces on Saturday. Thank you for making the trip and it was lovely to catch up.

Great weekend at NEOS

Teardrop Dot Necklace (One of a Kind)

It has been a great first weekend for me at North East Open Studios and I have really enjoyed meeting lots of lovely NEOS visitors and showing my work for the first time. Thank you to all my new customers.  It has been fantastic to have such nice comments and feedback on my new collections.

The shop will be closed tomorrow but re-opens on Tuesday. Hope to meet some more of you this week.

NEOS starts Tomorrow! (and extended opening hrs)

I am just stopping by to remind everyone that North East Open Studios starts tomorrow. I hope you have all managed to get hold of a catalogue and have started planning your visits.

I wanted to let you know that our venue Lava Jewellery Design will have longer opening times this weekend as well as next weekend to accommodate NEOS visitors.

We will be open 10am - 5pm on Saturday and 12 - 5pm on Sunday (but still closed on Monday).

I just got my latest batch of jewellery back from being hallmarked this week, so I will be adding some new designs to the cabinets this weekend.

Hope to see some of you over the weekend :)

Launch Day at Lava Jewellery Design

After a few tense hours last Friday morning waiting for my jewellery to be delivered in the post from the Assay office (after being hallmarked), I spent the afternoon polishing! I hadn't planned on leaving things to the last minute but it is funny how it always seems to work out that way, doesn't it?

New Large Drop Dot Earrings

When all my work was sparkling and finished I raced over to Lava Jewellery Design to set up my display cases and lay out all my pieces ready for the launch on Saturday. 

New Dot Stud Earrings

I have included a few photos of some of the work currently on display to show you some of my new pieces.

New 'One of a Kind' Dot Pendant

Thank you to everyone who came along to the opening. It was great to see so many familiar faces and catch up with people as well as meeting some lovely new customers.

New Lace Stud Earrings

It was a very busy day that passed in a whirl. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and the refreshments. My cupcakes certainly seemed popular as there weren't many left at the end of the afternoon! Although I did have some to take home, much to the delight of my family.

The exhibition continues until the 29th September so there is still time to pop along if you didn't manage to come last Saturday. 

Keep an eye out for the NEOS catalogue

Here is the NEOS catalogue. The year round directory of artists, makers and galleries in the North East of Scotland.

NEOS Catalogue with my image featured on the front page.

Keep you eye out for them in and around Aberdeen, so you can pick up your own copy and start planning you route round NEOS.

My entry in the catalogue on page 37.

We have copies at Lava Jewellery Design in Peterculter. Please come and see us at venue 72 and 132.

The handy fold out map to help find venues.

On my bench today ...

Something blue! Today I have been working on setting some lovely blue topaz stones into some new cuttlefish pieces.

Just trying out blogging from my phone in an attempt to keep the blog more up to date and letting you see what I am currently working on in my workshop.

New Collections

I have now updated my collection pages (^along the top of the blog^) with a few images of pieces from my new collections. More images will be added in due course but for now this will give you an idea of how my work has developed. I have three new collections, one based on dots found in nature, one using the texture of the cuttlefish bone and one inspired by lace.

Dotty about Dots

All my new work is very textural. Probably influenced from my background in textiles - I studied Textiles and Surface Design at University and worked as a knitted textile designer for a number of years.

Crazy about Cuttlefish

I am really interested in capturing patterned surfaces into my silver pieces and have been enjoying learning more about stone setting and introducing faceted stones into my work. I am still very influenced by natural form, in particular sea life but have also developed an interest in the intricate structure of Lace.

Loopy about Lace

Most of my work is now produced using the lost wax casting technique which allows me to make pieced in wax before casting them in silver. The amount of detail that can be achieved has enabled me to explore the textural element in my work which is now one of it's characteristics.

P.S. I have added a NEOS button to my side bar. You can click on it and it links to the North East Open Studios website if you are looking for more information.

Showcase Exhibition and North East Open Studios

September is going to be a busy month for me! I am very pleased to have been given the opportunity of showing my new jewellery pieces as the featured designer in Lava Jewellery Design's Autumn Exhibition. My work will be on display from 1st - 29th September. 

Here is the postcard for the event with a wee sneak-peek of a few of the pieces I will be showing. My work is the top 5 images. The bottom three pictures are Duncan and Jacqui's jewellery representing some of the pieces you can find made at Lava Jewellery Design's Studio.

We are going to hold an Opening for the Exhibition on Saturday the 1st of September from 11.30am to 3.30pm. Please feel free to pop along for a celebratory drink and view my new collections.

If you can't manage the Saturday, my work will be on display for the whole of September.  I will be around working in the studio regularly during this time, so if you want to chat about my work or discuss a commission then please drop by. If you are making a special journey then you are best to call the shop on 01224 735000, just to make sure I will be there.

September 15th-23rd is also when North East Open Studios or NEOS is on and I am so pleased to be taking part for the first time this year.

(NEOS) is Scotland’s Largest Open Studios event. An award winning, not for profit collective of artists, makers and galleries in the North East of Scotland who open their doors to the public yearly. It is a fantastic opportunity to visit designers and artists in their own environments and see some of the great work being produced in the North East.

As part of the event a directory of all the participants is made every year and serves as a year round catalogue of North East artists and designers. Keep a look out to get a hold of your own copy!

If you can't wait, NEOS have a brilliant search section on their website where you can look up participants by name or discipline. There is also a map that you can download to help plan your route and visits. 

Why not stop past Lava Jewellery Designs on you way to Royal Deeside or Aberdeen and take a look at my new collections as well as Duncan and Jacqui's latest work. You can also see us working in the workshop, so if you have ever wanted to see jewellers at work, here is the perfect opportunity!

Here is my catalogue entry for the event.

So another long absence...but plenty in the works!

It would seem that all my promises of being better at posting to this blog and keeping things updated did not go to plan. Sorry about that.

I have been working on some new collections that are about to launch. I will be adding more information to the blog in the next few days but in the meantime, have a look at my 'Exhibitions' section for my new exhibition that is coming up.

I have also added some more pictures to my 'Previous Collections' page to show some past collections before I reveal my new work!