It's always good to see a new take on an old tradition, and that's exactly what Filipa Oliveira does. I first came across her work in the New Designers exhibition in London last summer, when she'd just been awarded with the Goldsmiths' Company's award for jewellery: quite an honour.

It was no wonder Filipa had such a crowd around her: this is unusual work, and a great updating of an age-old technique. During her studies Philipa explored the ancient technique of filigree, which is associated with different peoples and cultures at different times and in many countries. Having begun her career in her native Portugal, Filipa took her degree in Jewellery and Metal Design in Dundee.

Making repeated tiny forms and often incorporating gemstones, Philipa constructs beautifully intricate cell-like patterns: her jewellery almost seems to unfold.

You can see (and buy) more of Filipa's work at the Barbican, open again now until 6th January, or on her website or facebook page.

Today I received the loveliest package: some jewellery by Kathryn Hinton. Unfortunately it's not for me - I'm taking it in to the Barbican in London tomorrow, to supplement Kathryn's fast dwindling collection there.

This jewellery is amazing not just in the end result, but also in it's method of production. You can see Kathryn in the picture above, and what she's doing is using a digital hammer to form the shapes of her jewellery: you can see the piece she's working on on the screen in front of her. 

The result of this stage is a digital file, as you can see in the image of the ring above. I haven't discussed the next stages with Kathryn, but I'm imaging the digital file is printed out in wax, which is then cast in metal.

The end product is a silver version of the digital image, which Kathryn then finishes by hand. Pretty incredible really, and the end results are beautiful: facets which catch the light, glimmering gently. Subtle and understated, elegant and sophisticated. Deceptively simple: I love them!

See more of Kathryn's jewellery and silversmithing on her website or pop along to the DJG pop-up shop in the Barbican now until 6th January to buy some. 

Kathryn developed her work at the Royal College of Art, and currently also has a piece in the Crafts Council's Power of Making exhibition at the V&A.

No contemporary jewellery lover can have failed to see this striking image of Mariko wearing one of her brooches: it's been one of The images of the season. Born and educated in Japan, Mariko came to the UK in 2009 to study jewellery and silversmithing in Edinburgh. The photo was taken by Agnieszka Tarnowska, who also studied in Edinburgh, and is as stunning as Mariko's jewellery.

Anyone who has been to Japan will immediately recognise the source of Mariko's inspiration for this collection. It instantly transports me back to Kyoto, with it's bamboo, temples, and tiles. It's definitely worth checking out Mariko's website for some of her photos, sketches and collages - they're just so evocative. 

Mariko's palette includes bamboo, textiles, and metal which she often enamels or patinates, creating a 'wabi sabi' aesthetic which I love. This jewellery is adventurous in form: catwalk necklaces, asymetrical earrings, and big brooches. All one-off pieces make this very collectable jewellery, but also very wearable. This is real creativity, and I look forward to seeing how Mariko's work develops.

I took this image of Mariko and some of her jewellery at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair this autumn - beautifully displayed - this is the art of placement! Right now Mariko's work is available in the DJG pop-up shop in the Barbican, London. There's more information about her processes on her blog, and her news on her facebook page.

Unusually, I'd heard of and seen Ros Millar's jewellery before I saw it at New Designers last July. Exhibiting in the 'one year on' section, Ros has done such a brilliant job with getting her work out there that it's hard to believe she only graduated in 2009.  

Ros's trademark is stacks of organically inspired gold and oxidised silver rings, which she makes in her studio in London.

This jewellery has a very contemporary feel to it. A glimspe into Ros' sketch book shows a cluster of teeth cast in silver, giving a hint of the origins of this bold, assertive work. I'd love to see her graduation collection and see how her work has developed, because I hadn't spotted the toothy link in the jewellery I've seen. This work is already really mature and considered. 

It's interesting that Ros uses the process cuttlefish casting in her jewellery. This really ancient technique gives more than just texture to her jewellery: there's definitely a hint of the sea in there. The knobblyness suggests barnacles clinging to and growing out of the rings. And is it just me that sees a shoal of swimming creatures in the image above, and waving fronds of some sort of seaweed or some sea creature in the image below?

 

Work of this quality does no go unrecognised, and Ros already has a string of shows and awards under her belt. The image of her in her workshop above (by Nick Hand) was taken when she was a finalist for the Balvenie Young Master of Craft Awards, and her blog, facebook page, and website bristle with well deserved achievements.

 

I'm delighted that Ros is exhibiting with us in the DJG pop-up shop in the Barbican this winter. Open till 8pm every evening till 6th January (except 24th, 25th & 26th December), this is a great opportunity to see her work and stock up on those late Christmas presents! 

I first met Janice Zethraeus when she was in the first year of her degree in Jewellery and Silversmithing at the London Metropolitan University. I was an artist in residence there at the time, and Janice was one of those students who stood out: friendly, enthusiastic, and particularly eager to learn. Of course at that stage in a degree course it's all about experimentation, and so when I left at the end of the academic year I had no idea what work Janice would end up producing.

We met again at the New Designers show last summer, when I was part of the team selecting six of the best new jewellers to join the DJG in our winter show at the Barbican. The competition was tough as usual, but Janice's work stood out and she won a place: great news because I knew she'd also be a good person to work with.

I'm always interested in where makers get their inspiration from, and Janice was kind enough to share a glimpse inside her sketch book. Photos of cracked mud, imprints of fossils, leaf veins, and sand dunes set the tone. Janice has previously worked as an illustrator, it's no surprise to find ethereal drawings almost floating off the page. 

With these images in mind, it's easy to understand Janice's jewellery: it flows and sparkles. Sinuous and elegant silver and gold wires - often set with tiny diamonds - almost seem to dance. This is joyful work, and I'm sure would be a pleasure to wear.  

Having been selected as one of the Crafts Council's 'hothouse' makers for 2011, Janice is definitely one to watch. You can still see (and buy) her jewellery at the DJG show in the Barbican Centre, London, now until 6th January 2012.

 

Really looking forward to visiting New Designers 2011 this week. I had such a fantastic time there myself four years ago that I get a buzz just from the anticipation! 

This year I'll be visiting on behalf of the Designer Jewellers Group, as every year we select six of the best new jewellery designer makers to join us in our winter show at the Barbican, London. There'll be seven of us on the selection panel this time. We all separately select our favourites and then whittle down the choices: usually a very hard job!

Revisiting the chosen few afterwards to reveal our identities and make offers can be surprisingly emotional as we're all quite excited!

It'll be great to see three of our last year's group exhibiting again this year in the 'One Year On' section: Tom McDowell, Elizabeth Humble, and Nicola Mather.

Two bits of advice to people exhibiting for the first time: please keep a good stock of postcards to hand (we use them to vote for you), and also do use the experience to get used to talking to people about your work! I know it's hard, but be there, next to it, make eye contact, and smile! You really can't tell who's got a great offer up their sleeve, and competition is strong. If we haven't been able to talk to you it's much harder to make a good case for selecting you even if we love your work.

Good luck to everyone!

 

As the end of our DJG winter 2010 show approaches, it's time for me to feature Nicola Mather, the sixth new designer who exhibited with us at the Barbican this year.

Nicola makes beautiful and ethereal jewellery in stainless steel and silver.

Using mushrooms and seeds she collects as tools to make prints, Nicola develops unique and interesting patterns: these patterns inspire and inform her jewellery. 

You can see the wonderfully detailed textures in this poppy seed brooch created by etching.

Nicola's laser welded earrings have been a best seller in the show this year.

Delicately sculptural and with a dream-like quality, it's no wonder Nicola's already doing so well.

When the DJG selection team visits New Designers to choose our six new jewellers for the year it's a very democratic affair. Just like the buying public we all have our own personal preferences, which is great because then we end up with a more varied and interesting show. It does mean though that as much as I admire all our new makers, I wouldn't want to wear all their jewellery myself. I was however immediately drawn to Alice O'Neill's jewellery on a personal level, and would love to be able to wear it! 

Alice is inspired by 'functional paraphernalia' and particularly things that relate to clothes and their making. In practice this means that she constructs necklaces and cufflinks from washing symbols, bases hair pins on scissors, and creates rings that reference needles. 

One thing I really admire about Alice is the way she's prepared to push boundaries and be a bit more adventurous in her jewellery. This image shows one of her trademark 'button brooches'. These sleek silver brooches slide onto vintage buttons that the wearer sews onto their clothes... if you can bear to detach them from slither of beautiful antique fabric they're sold with, that is.

This adjustable 'hook and eye' necklace combines beautifully finished gold-plated silver with a 'chain' of lace: very on-trend with it's nod to burlesque.

Quirky, tactile, original, and contemporary: Alice's jewellery is simply gorgeous!

You can still see and buy Alice's lovely work at the DJG pop-up shop in the Barbican from 27th December - 5th January.

We actually spotted (and loved) Victoria Walker's work at New Designers 2009, and so we were delighted to find her again in the 'One Year On' section in this year's show. There was no doubt in our minds that she'd make a great exhibitor at the Barbican this year.

This photo of Victoria exhibiting at Hidden Art in Cornwall this summer show how exceptionally mature her work is for someone who graduated so recently: just like her fantastic stand, her work is amazing, with incredible attention to detail.

Fascinated by movement and natural forms, Victoria's jewellery often has moving parts, as you can see in this beautiful sterling silver and 18ct gold Daisy Locket.

This 'Fly Away' pendant illustrates her idea that 'sometimes the most beautiful or precious elements are hidden beneath the surface': a diamond is nestled between the wings.

Having already exhibited at the Contemporary Craft Fair at Bovey Tracey and won a bursary from The Goldsmiths' Company for her mechanical locket designs, Victoria is already clearly having great success in her career. But to really appreciate the quality of her work you do need to see it and handle it, which you can do now at the DJG pop-up shop Barbican, London every day until 23rd December, and then again from 27th December - 5th January.

Profiling another of the new designers we've selected to exhibit at the Designer Jewellers Group show at the Barbican this winter: Elizabeth Humble.

Elizabeth impressed me right away as I walked round at the New Designers show last July because she actually approached me and was immediately friendly and ready to talk about her work. That may not seem much, but when some graduates have to be hunted down and winkled out of their bored and self conscious clumps, Elizabeth's approach definitely stood out. 

On seeing her jewellery I wasn't surprised to hear that Elizabeth had won the prestigious Goldsmiths' Company Jewellery Award, and as a result would be designing an exclusive commercial collection for luxury jewellery brand Astley Clarke. 

Elizabeth's main source of inspiration is the rugged and beautiful landscape of the west coast of Scotland. She begins by drawing weather-beaten hillsides and areas of coastal erosion in her sketchbook on field trips. 

Back in the workshop she works on selecting details and structures from her drawings that she can translate into metal. Layering silver wires and using hand-forming techniques, Elizabeth has developed a collection that includes brooches, necklaces, earrings, and rings.

The work that Elizabeth has on display in the Barbican is stunning and unique. On display from 8am to 11pm but only on sale from 12 midday till 8pm, in the DJG pop-up shop by the Food Hall. Not to be missed!

Meeting Tom McDowell at New Designers last July was a hoot. His new jewellery collection - based on children's drawings - is so refreshingly different that we knew his colourful pieces would be a great addition to our exhibition at the Barbican this winter. 

Tom believes that the act of wearing jewellery is too often a formal activity, and that it's important for us to sometimes let go of the seriousness of being a grown-up. He works with children and through his jewellery seeks to share their fresh, fun outlook on life with adults. 

In his jewellery Tom uses anodised aluminium, silver, and a variety of other media. This knobbly kneed giraffe, for instance, has patches of flocking, making it very tactile. The birds often incorporate real feathers. Each piece conveys a real sense of personality, and I'm sure each will become particularly treasured once in the hands of the right owner. 

Beautifully designed and made, the silver rivets are often functional as well as decorative. Aluminium is an unforgiving material: not easy to work with, but Tom uses it in a way that maximises it's strengths: it's colourful, light in weight, and can be very graphic.This is jewellery that I think really will help to meet his aim of making the world a more smiley and enjoyable place. This little chicken brooch certainly works for me!

You can see and buy Tom's jewellery at the Designer Jewellers Group pop-up shop in the Barbican, London, from now until 23rd December 2010, and then again from 27th December - 5th January 2011.

 

I promised to write more about the six up-and-coming new designer makers we selected to join us in our Designer Jewellers Group Winter exhibition at the Barbican this year.

First up is Kayleigh Biggs.

Kayleigh says her jewellery is influenced by 'nostalgic narratives' and I can certainly read this in her gorgeous 'luxuriant necklace' (shown above). Referencing patterns past - which are of course very current - the pieces in this collection have a rich liveliness and flamboyance which is quite lavish.

In some of her pieces Kayleigh uses textiles alongside precious metals, and as well as traditional metalwork techniques she also uses the laser welder. The great thing about laser welding is that it allows you to use the high temperatures needed to weld precious metals together without burning more combustible materials because the intense beam is so very focused.

Kayleigh also gives her work a delicate gradated patina, 'antiquing' the surfaces in a particularly subtle way, and highlights the silver she uses with punctuation marks of gold.

 

 

Our winter show at the Barbican is now up and running! I love doing this show because one of the things that I really miss about my previous career is the team work: pulling together with a great group of people towards a shared goal is something I really enjoy. 

There are just over 30 of us in the Designer Jewellers Group and we work as a co-operative, each taking on different roles and tasks. Our aim is to make sure that we put on great shows and bring a variety of high quality designer jewellery to the buying public - and of course make some good sales!

 

 

One of the strengths of the group is its diversity. Different jewellers design, make and sell in so many different ways that there's always something to learn from each other. It also means that our show has a wide appeal: there's jewellery there for people with very different tastes and budgets. And as we're 'doing it for ourselves' the people on duty are always practicing jewellers who actually have work on display and know the other makers.

The other thing I really like is that my job with the group at the moment is co-ordinating the New Designers. Each year we select six of the best to join us in our winter show. We liaise and offer support to them over the summer and it's always a highlight of the exhibition to see the fantastic new work they bring. But that's a subject that deserves a post of it's own!

Do pop along to see the show: it's on every day from now until 5th January (except 24th, 25th, 26th December) from 12 midday till 8pm. On the ground floor of the Barbican Centre next to the new food hall (where you'll find great coffee, cakes and more!)

 

Been pretty busy recently. On Friday we visited New Designers to select 6 graduates for our Designer Jewellers Group Barbican winter exhibition, and today we closed down our DJG Barbican summer exhibition.

On the way home I popped back into New Designers but purely for pleasure this time! Only a quick visit to see the textiles, and it was great to spot the quirky, graphic work of textile and surface pattern designer Nicky Booth there.

Got London Jewellery week withdrawal symptoms? Need more jewellery (who doesn't)?! Well luckily twenty five members of the Designer Jewellers Group are currently exhibiting in the Barbican until 3rd July.

Open every day from 12 midday till 8pm, on the ground floor near the Waterside Cafe.

I was on duty yesterday and it was great fun, with live jazz in the evening.

We also have a whole double shelf full of cufflinks, in time for Father's Day on Sunday!

Three pieces of good news: firstly after 2 years as an associate member, I've now been elected as a full member of the Designer Jewellers Group. It's great because this gives me a continuing peer group to collaborate and network with, and also because the Barbican pop-up shops we run twice a year are one of my favourite outlets.

The second good thing is that I've been successful with my application to exhibit at the Wisley craft fair in April. The RHS gardens at Wisley are one of my favourites, especially the kitchen garden, where I took these photographs.

And the other good thing is that Lily's moult is over and she has started laying again. This means that the nest is now a rather busy spot, but more about that later!

I can really recommend a visit to see the Pied Piper at the Barbican. It was no surprise to me when Diversity won Britain's Got Talent earlier this year: their street dance was terrific - really innovative, creative, exciting.

So on our trip to the Barbican we had high expectations, but were well pleased with what we saw. The performance was more focused on violence than I expected, but the dancers were terrific and the music good too.

Well worth a visit.

With Richmond Craft Fair now over the pressure eases a little: I only have commissions, re-stocking galleries, and my turns on the rota in the Barbican left to do now before Christmas. Plus of course getting ready for Christmas itself, and the continual round of admin for next year's shows!

I'm sending my 'paper' ring collection to the Gallery at Waterperry Gardens, as well as sending them a top up of stock, and taking a collection of 18 carat gold pieces in to the Lesley Craze Gallery in Clerkenwell, including the necklace above.

I'm delighted to find that my new little rescue neckpiece is becoming a best seller, and I'm having to re-stock it on my shelf in the Barbican very regularly!

And I'm sending my first collection of work abroad, to Galerie Topkapi in Rennes, France, including some of the soldered and tatted wattle and comb pendants pictured above.

I've just set up my work in the Barbican centre in London as part of the Designer Jewellers Group pop-up shop. It's all looking good: the work of 30 experienced jewellers and also 6 of the best new UK graduates (the ones we selected at New Designers in July).There's a terrific variety of jewellery there - starting at an unbelievable £5!

I love exhibiting in the Barbican: its so nice to be able to display my work how I want it and then go in and add to or change the display over the weeks as pieces sell!

We all work together as a group of designer jewellers and take it in turns to staff the shop. It makes a refreshing change both to work in a team rather than alone, and also to sell other people's jewellery as well as my own. I find it fascinating to see what people buy and how they make their choices.