15 October 2013

Festival of Crafts 2013

This weekend, I have been invited to exhibit at the Festival of Crafts, at the Farnham Maltings in Surrey. It is a great event, at a wonderful venue. There will be lots of beautiful high end crafts to see. A lovely day out.


14 October 2013

Christmas comes early.

A little while ago, you may remember that I posted about  having a visitor to the studio that warranted a Spring clean, and a bit of home baking. Well the reason for the visit, was that I had been contacted by a well known magazine (I don't want to give too much away) that wanted to write a column about the jewellery making that goes on in my little garden studio. 


Armed with a pot of fresh coffee, and some homemade shortbread, the mag's Deputy Editor and I, pootled down the garden for a very relaxed interview. It will be published in the December issue of the magazine, and I promise to let you know when it hits the news stands.



A few weeks after the words were done, the accompanying picture needed to be completed. 



As you can see, I had to dress the studio for Christmas. I even had a tree (thanks to my next door neighbour who has one in a pot that she takes indoors every year.) 


(Not sure what the chickens made of it!)

So, with all this decorating, you are probably assuming a photographer came visiting too? Well, you would be wrong. An illustrator came with a big sheet of water colour paper, pencils, ink, paints and brushes.


With an illustrators eye, a bit of furniture moving, and a tinsy bit of artistic licence,  Lucy put together a little scene that she thought would work well for the magazine. 

It was so exciting to see the picture take shape. (I have just hopped up from my chair to take a peek and take a picture.) It was a really nice way to spend a few hours, relaxed and chatting, with the doors wide as it was a beautiful sunny day.


 I hadn't thought too much about how Lucy would work, I think I assumed she would make sketches, and do the finished piece later, but she doesn't like to work that way. She likes to catch the moment and keep things spontaneous, by completing the work in situ. A wash of water colour later, and I have never seen my white space look so colourful!

I was going to give you a sneek peek of the finished picture, but I think I will show you after it's published. It certainly captures the essence of me, and it's amazing to notice all the little details in my studio that Lucy spotted. 

You can find Lucy's website by clicking on this link.