• General

    Would You Like….

    / 19, April, 2012

    to win one of my pendants?

    Last week was the annual “Flame Off” exhibition at Towcester, organised by Tuffnells Glass.  Each year the team at Tuffnells, as well as organising a superb show, also raise money for Air Ambulance – I’d offered one of my pendants up for auction/raffle, but due to circumstances, didn’t make it to the show so it was overlooked.
    So I have decided to still put the pendant up for raffle – you can join in by clicking here: Just Giving Page – each donation of £1 will give you one entry into the prize draw.  It will close on 28th April, and will be drawn on Sunday 29th April.  Here is what you could win:
    The pendant is made from jade green and iridised glass, is about 1cm x 6cm and on a sterling silver bail, threaded on to a hand-dyed silk ribbon and has a handmade lampwork bead as a slide adjuster – good luck!
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  • General

    New Design – hump-backed bowls?

    / 10, April, 2012
    Hmm – tried another mosaic dish recently, but things didn’t quite go according to plan…that said, I rather like the result.  Just not sure what to do with it.  Bumpy Bowl? Turn it over and it is a dish, or a round candle holder?  Hang it from the ceilin and make a lampshade?  What would you do with it?

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  • General

    Olympic Legacy Wall

    / 19, March, 2012
    Okay, okay, I’ve been wanting to tell you about a forthcoming project for so long now, but I’ve been holding it in….
    Over the coming weeks, I will be working with KHCTSC (Kirk Hallam Community Technology & Sports College) to produce an Legacy Wall for their new sports building that opened last year.  KHCTSC were one of 42 schools selected for a pilot scheme to engage with the London 2012 Olypmics – promoting the values,  linking communities and so much more – see here for some information
    Today I met with some of the Ambassadors – students from Y10 that have been working hard on these projects, to select some images that will form part of the final design.  Earlier this year, the college ran a challenge both at ‘home’ and with primary school pupils in the area, to design silhouettes based on the theme of what the Olympics and/or its values, means to them. 
    This week I will be working with art students to take these images and make moulds, or ‘stamps’, that will be used to create texture on a large sculptural ceramic wall piece.  The overall design is still to be finalised, but I was thrilled when the young ambassadors like two of my suggested ideas.
    My challenge will be, not only to help the students create the sections of this overall finished piece, but overseeing the whole project, from technical design aspects, to frame work, to installation – wish me luck!
    No images of this one to show you yet, but for those of you thinking you might have heard me mention the school before, well, yes I have.  It was their sixth form building, the Lakeside hall, that I designed my degree show piece for, which I am proud to say hangs in the prominent stairway – and I get to see it quite often.
    I am thrilled to be working with the school again – if you know me personally, you will know I am quite loyal and proud of my local community and the school holds a place in my heart as I went there (a few years ago) – I am one of those who can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed my school years.
    It’s quite a turnaround really – as a student, I was part of the “Mural Squad” – we ended up doing several large scale painted pieces, some of which graced the school corridors, but some went further affield – we did a piece on the “Three Kings” for Derby Cathedral, and a maze wall mural for a Derby hospital waiting room amongst others – and now I am back there again, a little older and wiser, but still creating large wall art!
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