Westminster Hog Roast

A fun relaxed evening spent in one of the gardens in the grounds of Westminster Abbey for a bbq with people from the Home Office, Foreign Office and friends. One friend was visiting from Hong Kong (who I stayed with when I was stranded due to the volcanic ash last year) and a doctor from Shanghai. Of course I had to try out a little sentence in mandarin. I was kind of understood - but at least I tried.... Finding the word order difficult to get right. We talked about China (in English) and I heard about the biggest bridge in the world - near Shanghai of course, where else? It is 26 miles across.  Can that be true? Apparently it has a hotel in the middle so you have the sensation of being in the middle of the sea.

Sometimes I get vertigo just hearing these things about China.

To reach the hog roast, we walked through the cloisters, past private gardens and off the usual tourist track to arrive in this secluded part of the Abbey, so it felt really special.





We had umbrellas up occasionally. Great British BBQ weather: but the fine mizzle, which is all it really was, didn't dampen the mood. In the twilight with Parliament towering behind us, the Abbey on the other side and live music, including plenty of Irish and Scottish ballads, it was atmospheric.

Waterfront@Belfast

I'm back in London from a busy weekend at the Waterfront in Belfast - at the conference Focusfest. Great to meet so many friendly people on home territory - customers and fellow stallholders!

                                                                               

Looking forward to returning to Northern Ireland soon.



Eden Jewellery

 




Spoon collections



Floating

 I like the way objects are suspended on walls and in glass at the V&A, from small coins to entire house fronts.





C17th house front





'Floating' building reflection





C16th carved stairwell

Mindful of Silver

I love living in London, especially on a day like yesterday.


Goldsmith's front door



After meeting friends for lunch at sunny Southbank, I walked over to Holborn to the Assay Office at Hatton Gardens to have some Hallmarking done: then I headed to the Assay Office at Goldsmith's, Foster Lane, to speed up the hallmarking process so my work is ready - for next week's show in the Waterfront in Belfast.



So of course I had to go back for a second visit to the 'Mindful of Silver' exhibition and spend more time looking at Theresa Nguyen's ethereal silver sculptures. It is fascinating to see the drawings and models, getting an insight into the thinking behind the finished piece. I'd like to see that more often in shows.

Theresa Ngyuen

 I stopped by the Goldsmith collection, recognising more of Suzuki's Aqua Poesy vases, having sketched one at the Ulster Museum in December.



My Suzuki sketch with some Irish pots!

 

It was wonderful to see, for the first time, the work of  Adi Toch. Her sublime spherical containers seem to float on the glass surface. They are incredibly tactile and the titles such as Red Sand and Oil Drizzler evoke associations with desert travellers in the Middle East. Beautiful. 

As I headed for Baker Street to meet a friend, I just had to (!) stop in at Selfridges to check their wonderful array of contemporary jewellery. I spent quite some time at Shaun Leane's display, trying on gorgeous pearl rings and chatting to the very helpful assistant. His jewellery is as smooth as silk next to the skin -  refined, poetic sculptures. I can see how he is an award winning designer. Wonderful to at last try on his jewellery after reading about him in association with Alexander McQueen and seeing his work from pictures.

I met my friend at 'Croque Monsieur' on Baker Street and we headed to the grand Daiwa Foundation next to Regent's Park to hear a talk on Sino-Japanese relations (my friend is a fluent Japanese speaker and so he hears about these things.....!).  The speaker, Dr Yoichi Funabashi, is a well known and respected Japanese journalist, author and academic who has also lived for many years in China. The talk was informative and gave a balanced overview: it makes me want to find out more about how countries are getting along in the Far East in the light of China's 'Peaceful Development Strategy', especially as China is becoming so economically powerful. How might it change in the future?

I enjoyed hearing stories such as this little snapshot of the history of relations between Japan and China. In the early 7th Century, in connection with the tobacco trade with China, the Japanese Emperor addressed the Chinese Emperor using these words:

'The Emperor of the Land where the Sun rises sends greetings to 

the Emperor of the Land where the Sun sets'.

Needless to say, this greeting was not at all well received in China - and so the struggle over protocol and status continued on for centuries.

So, after yesterday's action-packed day, I can truly say I now have more than enough to reflect on as I head back to my studio in Camberwell this morning..........

Have one's cake and......



.......ok, we didn't eat it, but here it is - a slice of cake from The Wedding.



cute tin

Owned by a friend's flatmate who works for Prince Charles.
Wondering just how long will this piece will last........





Wings and Tails

I have had molds made of my new butterfly links, inspired by Chinese interpretations of the Swallowtail Butterfly: from the Forbidden City collection, from gifts I bought from my China trip, and of course, the famous  Butterfly Lovers' Opera.

These will be part of my new collection, newly arrived from China, to be seen first at the Fair at Mount Stewart, Northern Ireland, on May 21st. I'm really looking forward to exhibiting in one of my favourite places back home!

Chinese shoes for newborn with
hand stitched butterfly motifs



Swallowtail: purse and my silver butterflies



Some 'wings and tails' from the V&A exhibition from the Forbidden City at the start of 2011

Cranes and Clouds on the
Emperor's clothes




Sketch from V&A



My photos and sketches

Dali Roofs

Dali is in a beautiful setting - hills on one side, Er Hai Lake on the other. Here are some photos of the view towards the hills, with some rooftops thrown in too!

Looking out from my room to the hills



Blue, black and white patterns under many of the roofs



Dali Silversmiths

I travelled to Old Town Dali for a few days - 4 hours' bus ride from Kunming. I have seen lots of silversmiths working at the front of their shops. They have a small dish with coals and they hammer on bars set on tree trunks. They make delicately patterned spoons, bowls, jewellery and tea sets.

Silversmithing at the shop front, on alow stool, producing exquisite hand crafted objects

 I spoke to this silversmith's wife - in a mixture of English and Mandarin (was told my mandarin is quite good - hehe...!) and discovered that her father is also a silversmith. He made the ornate teapot and cups photographed below.  I bought a few large pieces of coral here and enjoyed talking about silversmithing.

Showing me a sword and highly ornate scabbard

Teaset made by expert silversmith





Another silversmith working at his shop front in Dali



Jade and Pearl Market

I had a lovely time at the market today with a friend, choosing the jade pieces for my new collection. We spent a long time selecting what I need and bought quite a few rock crystals too. 

Tiny jade beads go into the counting trays, making life easier!

entrance to the Jade and Pearl Market

Kunming at night on Renmin Xi Lu

Chinese Tea Party

Tea Set with Coral Roses





My first purchase in Kunming was this tea set, bought in the Tea Market today. There were dozens and dozens of different cups to choose from but I settled for the calm green and earth colours rather than the patterned ones. The tea is poured liberally across all the cups and the water drains through the carved lettering and patterns to a tray beneath. Yunnan is famous for its Puer tea - a rich smoky flavour - and there are Puer Tea Rooms around the city. Puer Tea is strong and perfect for a caffeine boost, as I once discovered when I had insomnia one night after spending a couple of hours (in the early afternoon) drinking Puer.

This tea set will be accompanying my jewellery to shows in Northern Ireland this spring: I'm most likely to be serving refreshing Jasmine and of course Oolong Tea - my two favourites.



Entrance to the Tea Market



China Feast



Where to start?

 My first meal in China this year - for 12, in case you're wondering - was, as you can see, totally amazing. The standard set is now extremely high. The restaurant, Dubai City, is huge and heavily decorated - it even has toilet cubicles in the shape of red barrels. We were impressed by the training for car attendants to direct traffic in the parking area (at least that's what we think they are doing)



Trainees giving full attention

 This is the flattest duck I've ever been served. I'm afraid the presentation did put me off and I ate from all the dishes, bar this one.....

A day in The Forge

I spent a fantastic day in Howard and Steve's studio yesterday making three new spoons. My favourites are these two - the Baby Rose Hips. Just waiting for the next stage of filing and polishing 

They're related to my original Rose Hip Spoon, which is the first of my favourite spoon collection, launched earlier ths year.