Looking forward to my last big show of the season now, Made By Hand, next weekend in Newport. Been so busy over the past few weeks I've had no time to post here, however this is what I've been up to...

I've now got a collection on show in the Victoria Sewart Gallery in Plymouth, in her Christmas exhibition. Nice blog post here. Some great exhibitors that I'm proud to have my work alongside: I particularly love Nobuko Okumura's threads collection, shown in the image above.

My work's selling really well in the Barbican in London too: my new tanzanite sprig necklace (above) was snapped up almost within a week of first being shown, and my pebble crunch brooch (below) has sold too, plus some smaller pieces. Good to have big sales but also a tinge of sadness when a significant one-off pieces go to new homes!

I'm so pleased to have a collection back in Bovey Tracey, for the Devon Guild of Craftsmen's Christmas show, and made this doodle panel necklace with wooden beads especially to go there.

Yesterday I posted a top-up package off to the Waterperry Gallery near Oxford, which always does really well for me. I guess that'll be out on sale by next weekend.

I'm still completing my orders from the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair and Lustre: nice to keep Tom in the post office busy! This week I'll also be putting the finishing touches to some new pieces that'll have their debut in Newport next weekend: a very busy time!

The Roger Billcliffe Gallery in Glasgow is holding a 'black and gold' jewellery exhibition and invited me to participate, an offer which I've gladly accepted. The exhibition opens on 7th May and continues to 28th. 

I've just noticed that Craft Scotland have used an image of my oxidised silver and 18ct gold flock necklace to advertise the event, which is very nice!

Wish I could visit, as I particularly like the combination of oxidised silver and gold together in jewellery: it's what I usually choose to wear myself. I'd love to see what other jewellers have made. Although of course that might be just too tempting!

Tying in with the wooden bird brooch series I posted about last week, here's a sneak preview of some more new pieces.

Although I've made lots of brooches using walnut before, I've never yet carried that through into making necklaces and earrings with wood too. I've decided it's about time I did so, and these are some of the prototypes.

Sprig pendant in 18ct gold, sterling silver, and walnut.

Sprig pendant in sterling silver and walnut.

There's a simple pendant without the sprig too, and stud and dangly earrings to match. Other pendants, cufflinks, and more to follow.

I'll hoping to get some feedback at Desire, the Jewellery and Silversmithing Fair I'm exhibiting at from tomorrow. Please feel free to leave some here too!

Received a very nice surprise in the post the other day: a copy of Clare Stiles new book 'Anodized!'

As I hadn't ordered it I kept my fingers crossed and scanned the 'artist index': yes! Page 48 has an image of one of my aluminium necklaces!

Thanks Claire and Lark Books: the book looks lovely, and I can see work by a number of jewellers I know. Going to settle down for a good read now.

I had great feedback on prototypes for my new collection at Desire, and have already taken some orders! I'm now working on bringing the collection into production in time for Wisley Craft Fair.

The images above show a pair of oxidised silver dangly nest earrings with beautiful lemon quartz stones: I love the way they're cut on a twist. The close up is of a slightly domed sterling silver nest pendant on a tanzanite necklace. I don't usually use a lot of stones in my work, but I couldn't resist the gentle, delicate colour of these beads.

It's all go at the moment: I've just posted work off to the Galanthus Gallery, I'm getting ready for the Craft in Focus 'Desire' show which starts next week too, and I'm working hard on a new jewellery collection.

The image shows a stage in the development of the necklace that I've just been soldering: the elements are in the polisher now prior to assembly. Like the rest of my new collection it's based on the concept of the nest. Nests are the in-thing here at the moment. The sparrows that live outside the bedroom window are busy gathering small planty scraps, and the great tits are inspecting the bird boxes. The hens are into nest making too: they've both come back into lay after their moults, and are augmenting their eglu nest with bits of leaf.

My new collection will have some three dimensional nesty pieces in it as well as my usual two dimensional pieces: a development from the sparrow sound experiment I blogged about recently (that piece has now become a pendant!)

I'll be showcasing some of my prototypes at Desire Jewellery and Silversmithing show next week (as well as a full range of my jewellery) and would welcome your feedback! It's in Richmond from Friday 5th - Sunday 7th March.

The 'Animals and Birds' exhibition in the Galanthus gallery, in Wormbridge, Hereford, features art and craft, and runs from Thursday 4th March until 10th April.

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.

Thought I'd add a couple more images from my display at Origin.

The first is my chine colle bird etchings: two of my pet chickens, and the middle one of birds in London zoo.

The second is a new 'wattle' pendant that was much admired! I made it by using an adaptation of the technique of tatting, working silk thread on to a silver pendant. Tatting was never meant to look like this!

Oops - been a bit busy recently and haven't had time to blog! Week 2 of Goldsmiths' Fair starts on Tuesday, and set up is Monday, so it's pretty full on here.

I went to see the week 1 exhibitors earlier this week: helps to get in the mood! I'm on the stand that Vicki Ambery-Smith has had for 5 years now and she likes it, so that's good. I've lots of new work to show so it'll be good to get some feedback and hopefully some sales!

Goldsmiths' continues till Sunday 11th October, and then we set up for Origin on Monday 12th! No time to fill any gaps in my stock or revise the display, so I have to do all the preparation for both shows now.

I'll be showing more new work in Origin too, including silver pendants. One of pendants is shown above, along with some stud earrings. The image is my new postcard (yet to arrive!)

If you're able to please come and visit:

6th - 11th Oct: Stand 5, Goldsmiths' Fair, Goldsmiths' Hall, Foster Lane, London EC2V 6BN

13th - 18th Oct: Stand I1, Origin, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA

It'd be lovely to see you!

Well my new necklace is finished now, and I really like it! Quite a bit heavier than the gold necklaces I made for Goldsmiths' Fair last year. Looks good on too. Do wonder about putting a few tube set diamonds in it though.....

This week I've been working on test pieces for new necklaces I plan to make in gold for Goldsmiths' Fair.

My big catalogue piece for the Fair is called 'One Day I'll Waltz'. It was inspired by a Viennese evening some months back: the culmination of a series of dance lessons. On the night our community hall looked the part, bedecked with garlands, candles, and our very best cardboard and silver-paper 'mirrors'.

The orchestra was fantastic, the food amazing. But oh dear the dancing was hard! Whilst in my mind I whirled, spun and floated across the floor, in reality it was all toe crunching and knee bumping.

This neckpiece was created for the dance floor of my dreams, the vision rather than the reality.

The necklaces I'm working on now are more discrete, more 'meander' or 'hop, skip and jump' than waltz, but they're still about portraying a sense of movement and mood. Photos later!