Cloud Busting Day

There's nothing like a bit of Cloud Spotting on your birthday on the beautiful Swedish island of Gotland !



Visby arch

Colour Saturation

Colours have been my joy and I felt that they loved my hands

Emil Nolde

The Emil Nolde exhibition at Nordiska Akvarllmuseet was a feast for the eyes and surpassed all our expectations.

Oppet Hus

Loved seeing the sculpture on the west coast of Sweden this month.

Lots of summer exhibitions, now coming to a close. Favourites were the Villa Bro Skulpturpark, with monumental works by Viktor and Ann Korneev, paintings by IngerWihl and textiles and paintings by designer, Annika Wihl.





Bivaxoljekritor

Rosehips



Puer tea cup

Two days spent in a creative workshop on the west coast of Sweden, led by my friend, the artist Eta Hedman. Fantastic inspiration where we played with colour. So absorbed that we all lost track of the time.

We had the opportunity to use chunky handmade beeswax oil crayons, made by a local artist. Beautiful rich colours and thick textures that you can move around the page with a knife.

I splashed out and bought some to play with, back home.
This should see me through the grey London winter.

miniature landscapes



Shadow



Masterpiece

One and a half hours weren't enough to take it all in. But after a day at work, it's all you can do. This is the first time I've been to Masterpiece at Chelsea and I'll be back next year.

Loved getting a lift on the the buggy to save us a 15 minute walk. Once there, it was hard to know where to start with all the amazing antiques, art, craft and jewellery. Things that caught my attention were:

Gregg Baker's Asian Art where we were enchanted by the silver leaf screen with electric blue kingfishers, one darting and one seated 

Martyn Gregory's Far Eastern antique paintings of Shanghai and Hong Kong

Loved the jewellery of course - saw someone choosing a magnificent Theo Fennell ring. 'Jar Parfums' had a beautiful  display, the rare books were mesmerising, especially 'Les Enluminures'. Over one hundred shop fronts, dealing in antiques and exquisite art and craftsmanship. Masterpiece was, as it says,
'The best of the best from around the world'.
Sadly, we didn't even have time to stop for a leisurely drink at Harry's Bar, there was so much to see. 

Cockpit Arts 25th Birthday



Charlotte Sale Glass



What a treat to see the incredible talents of the artists of Deptford at Cockpit Arts. I went to the last day of the open Studios which was a couple of weeks ago now. Loved meeting and chatting to Naomi Ryder,  Charlotte Sale and many others.




Naomi Rider



I met a violin bow maker - first one I've ever met. His work is exquisite, using silversmith techniques, wood-carving, pearl-setting techniques- plus of course, horse hair setting.

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