The autumn craft fair season is well and truly under way and here is a list of my upcoming shows and exhibitions, where you are able to see and try on my pieces.

I will be there in person at the new Acquire Fair in Harrogate and at MADE London.

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Acquire:

This is a brand new jewellery and silversmithing fair in Harrogate, Yorkshire and I am delighted to have been selected to partake. I will be there in person and look forward to meeting new customers and to showing and explaining my work.

Dates: 13-15th October 2023

Location: the Crown Hotel, Harrogate, Yorkshire, HG1 2RZ, UK

Website: www.acquire.uk.com

There will be a Private View on the evening of Thursday, 12th October from 6-8pm. If you would like to attend the private view, please let me know. I have a few tickets available.

If you would like to receive a complimentary ticket to the show, please email the organiser: joanne.acquire@gmail.com

I will be showing recent pieces as well as some brand new work.

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Yorkshire Sculpture Park:

I will show a selection of my work at the MADE showcase at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park – this is the YSP Shop's changing programme of contemporary craft and jewellery.

Dates: 16th October 2023 – 6th April 2024

Location: Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, Wakefield WF4 4LG, UK

Website: www.ysp.org.uk

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MADE London

One of my favourite shows is finally back! Early bird tickets at £10 are now available – until 9th October. At the door tickets will be £15. Please see the link below.

I will be there in person, showing recent as well as brand new work and I look forward to meeting old and new customers.

Dates: 3rd – 5th November 2023

Location: THE BLOCK, White Lion Street, Islington, N1 9PD

Website: www.madelondon-angel.co.uk

Buy Tickets: www.madelondon-angel.co.uk/buy-tickets/

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New Brewery Arts

A selection of my pieces will be shown at New Brewery Arts for their Christmas exhibtion.

Dates: 28th October 2023 until early January 2024.

Location: New Brewery Arts, Brewery Court, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 1JH

Website: www.newbreweryarts.org.uk

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In the spring of 2018 I taught my first lesson as a jewellery tutor. After conquering my nervousness over the next few weeks, I found myself actually really enjoying it. I have been teaching since then in different settings, including setting up and conducting over 50 craft workshops to refugees, vulnerable adults and children. These workshops were carried out as part of my work for the charity The Breslaff Centre, for whom I worked for over twenty years in different capacities.

In these workshops, we did fabric printing, sewing, paper crafts, embroidery, crochet, jewellery making and weaving, amongst many other activities. I loved seeing women come and sit together, chatting whilst engaging in craft activities and seeing them relax and forget their worries for a while. It was wonderful to see their confidence grow and their pride in the pieces they accomplished.

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Jewellery Tutor at Rachel Jeffrey

I started teaching jewellery making at Rachel Jeffrey in 2020 and have since been teaching there regular Monday and Tuesday morning sessions, one-day taster courses as well as some selected Master Classes, which are taught over a whole weekend.

I love teaching and wanted to use the July Blog to talk about this aspect of my work in more detail.

The students who come to us have different motivations and reasons for doing so: some were given a gift voucher for a taster class; others want to learn a new skill, whilst others again want to fulfil a long-cherished dream about making jewellery. A number of the students that come to our regular weekly classes had indeed first done a one-day taster class and wanted to continue from there.

Each class has students with different levels of knowledge – from beginner to students who have done it for many years. There is usually a lovely and friendly atmosphere between the students and they cherish the time to work on their individual projects as much as being able to learn from each other.

At the beginning of each class there is a circa 10 minute technical demonstration by the tutor. Each of us five tutors has their own expertise and style of teaching. I have found it useful to group my demonstrations into themes that run over each 10-week course. Some of the topics we have covered recently were, for example, toolmaking, chains, rings, cold connections and found objects.

My personal ambition when it comes to teaching is being able to reduce the fear about making (or using certain tools or processes) and about being creative. I am so happy when I am able to instil a sense of excitement about the making process and about learning.

I am passionate about learning and want to pass on a curiosity about how to make and that there is often more than one ‘right’ way of doing this. I want to encourage my students to keep trying, even in the face of mistakes or initial failures. I also want them to be kind to themselves during this learning process: I want them to allow mistakes, to learn from them, even be surprised by them and to be excited by what these mistakes can sometimes offer.

Below are some images of the teaching workshop (click to enlarge):

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Rachel Jeffrey’s shop and teaching workshop are located in the beautiful village of Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire, not far from St Albans. In this brief video, I chat to her about how she started her shop and workshop and all the classes she offers.

Rachel has great facilities in her workshop, which is located in the very old building of a former watermill. Below I took a brief video of the workshop. The background noise you can hear is that of the River Lea rushing through the building underneath.

Finally, here is a selection of the kind words some of our students have left:

“I started five years ago. As a hobby or interest as I have always wanted to make jewellery for myself, my own designs. I now sell a few pieces here and there! I have learnt so much and our teacher Hendrike is patient, kind and makes sure we understand every detail. I love coming here every week.” TK

“I started nine months ago at Rachel Jeffrey. It’s been a skill that I have always wanted to learn and I haven’t looked back. Our tutor Hendrike is lovely and very thorough. The workshop is a delight and I look forward to the class every week.” NB

“I started lessons in 2019 with my daughter who was keen to learn and soon became very keen myself. The workshop is set in the basement area of an old mill, with the sound of the River Lea rushing past. Our tutor Hendrike is excellent, always ready to answer questions and every week there’s a demo showing examples of various skills needed to produce a whole range of jewellery. We have attended several weekend workshops with various tutors which have been very informative.” JS

“Hendrike is just the kind of teacher you want – patient, encouraging and positive. Her knowledge and incredible skill are an inspiration to someone who is new to jewellery making and her detailed handouts make everything really clear. I have loved the opportunity to develop my creative ideas and practical skills under her thoughtful and kind tutelage.” KH

If you would like to find out more about the classes that Rachel offers or, indeed, sign up to any of our term time courses starting in September or the taster classes, please click the link below.

Time has passed quickly and we are already in June today! Preparations are running high for my next event: the wonderful Craft Festival at Bovey Tracey in Devon.

If you would like to come here is some key information for you:

When and Where:

9-11 June 2023 at Bovey Tracey, Devon, Sat Nav Coordinates: TQ13 9AL. For more information on how to get there, click here.

I will be at Stand No: C36

Opening times:

Friday - Sunday 10am - 5pm.

Tickets:

Please click here to buy your tickets in advance.

Workshops and activities:

As always, there will be plenty to do and see: hands-on craft workshops, craft demos, events for families, live music and amazing food – not to mention all the many fantastic makers who will be exhibiting at the Craft Festival! Please click below to:

• If you would like to book a workshop, please click here.

• If you would like to see a list of exhibitors, please click here.

I will be at stand C 36 (Marquee C). Do come and say hello, if you are visiting.

Here are some of the pieces I will bring along with me:

For some of my new necklaces various chain lengths are available as each woman has a unique physique and her own preferences. In this short Blog post I will explain and show how each length differs so that you are able to make the right choice.

For all other one-off or limited edition necklaces, please see the individual item page which usually includes a model photograph to illustrate the length.

Available Chain lengths:

The photograph below shows the following available lengths (which include the clasp):

• 16’’ (40 cm) – this is a short necklace for slender necks, which sits just above the collarbone

• 18’’ (45 cm) – this necklace sits a little lower, just dangling over the neckline of a normal T-shirt

• 20’’ (50 cm) – this length comfortably dangles over a T-shirt.

I think many people agree that the end of the year is always a time to reflect on the past months and to make plans for the coming year. As a mother, teacher and independent business life is always busy, it never stops and it is easy to forget or only focus on the things that were difficult or didn’t go to plan.

So, as part of this review I wanted to use this last Blog of the year to go over the things that I am particularly proud of having achieved this year!

And of course, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your support this year - for reading my blogs, liking my posts and for purchasing my pieces! I wish you all well for the coming year: happiness, health and peace!

Blog

My monthly Blog was one of my biggest projects this year and one I am immensely proud of – proud because I actually did them! It wasn’t always easy to stick to my deadlines but I really enjoyed the research, writing and the opportunity to learn.

I wrote on a variety of subjects: some blogs were connected to my collection (e.g. Blogs 2 & 6), whilst others were more technical (e.g. Blogs 7-11). The technical blogs were definitely the more challenging and were written so as to expand my own knowledge on these subjects and of course to deepen my understanding on the environmental aspects. This often involved a sharp learning curve (thank you internet!), especially on anything related to chemistry – definitely not one of my favourite subjects at school.

I like to continue the blogs and look forward to seeing how they will evolve.

ACJ Meanings and Messages

The Association for Contemporary Jewellery (ACJ) celebrated its 25th anniversary this year and as part of these celebrations it had planned a touring exhibition with the title Meanings and Messages. The Association invited members to submit entries – brooches – with this title in mind. I was very fortunate that my entry, Elpis Brooch, was one those selected. When visiting the private view at its first venue I was overwhelmed by the imagination and breadth of interpretation of all the entries. I wrote a separate Blog about this exhibition which you can read here.

This show is still ongoing and will travel next to the Goldsmiths’ Centre in London where it will be shown from 9th January – 24th February 2023. The last venue will be at New Brewery Arts – 4 April – 18 June 2023.

Current Collection Interrupted Patterns

The above brooch was the starting point for my current collection, Interrupted Patterns, which I launched at the Craft Festival at Bovey Tracey in June, where it was very well received. The collection had started with reading Greek mythology, a visit to the ancient Greek collection at the British Museum and focussing on the use of patterns on these artefacts. Writing about it in my Blogs helped immensely to focus my thinking and I loved being able to share the background and design process of these pieces.

Craft Festival Bovey Tracey

The Craft Festival at Bovey Tracey is a well-established craft fair and it was my first time exhibiting my work there in June this year. Following the pandemic, it was also my first in-person show again and it was wonderful being able to re-connect directly with customers and fellow makers. I was really impressed with the organisation and quality of the show and look forward to being there again next year!

Teaching

During 2022 I have continued to teach a variety of classes at the jewellery school of Rachel Jeffrey in Wheathampstead. In my regular day-time classes I ran a term-long project on Found Materials and Cold Connections. This was a wonderful opportunity for my students (new and more experienced ones) to look at their various old - and often broken - pieces of jewellery and to re-design them or re-use some of their elements. In doing so, we looked at the many ways different materials can be joined without using heat.

In another term we focussed on learning various techniques of making chain – again, a very interesting course and very much enriched by the input of all the students. I also taught a number of one-day taster courses, as well as some weekend-long intensive courses, such as my Keum-Boo course.

Being a teacher challenges my conceptions of what I know and my aim is always to make students feel comfortable and enable them to further their knowledge. If you would like to take part in any of my classes, please get in touch with myself or with Rachel Jeffrey.

Commissions

During the latter part of the year it was lovely to receive a number of interesting commissions and it was wonderful being able to closely involve the clients in the design process.

If you would like to commission a piece, please do get in touch. I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas and how we could explore them further together.

ACJ magazine Findings

In early December I was happily surprised to receive my copy of the ACJ magazine Findings and to find that some of my Kumihimo work was featured there. Kumihimo is an ancient Japanese silk braiding technique, originally used to make traditional Obi (belts) for Japanese kimono. I used this technique to create patterned silk braids and used them in various necklaces and brooches. Click here to find out more about this technique.

The focus of the Findings magazine was on textile techniques used by a variety of jewellery makers in their work. Thank you ACJ for including me!

Find a Maker and Made by Hand Online

Earlier in the year I applied to be included in these two online craft platforms and was very pleased to have been accepted. Both platforms represent and further the interests of selected makers. You can click to see me pages by clicking these links: Find a Maker and MadeByHandOnline

Next Year: 2023

Plans for next year are already well underway and I have accepted show offers on three exhibitions. The first two will be the Craft Festival at Cheltenham Town Hall from 10-12 March 2023 and the Craft Festival at Bovey Tracey, Devon from 9-11 June 2023. The Craft Festival in Cheltenham will be a new fair for me and I am looking forward to meeting new clients there.  As mentioned above, I greatly enjoyed the Craft Festival at Bovey Tracey earlier in the year and look forward to being there again next year.

As I have not done any fairs in London since March 2019, I am also extremely excited to be taking part again in a Central London Fair in November next year. I can’t share any details just yet, but they will follow in due course!