Bowls

I'm a little behind in my making at the moment as I had a few issues when raising the silver, I have only ever made one tiny silver bowl so I'm learning how far I can push the silver when raising. So a few holes and splits and a little frustration later I have 2 almost finished bowls. 

Quick trip to London!

I caught the night train up to London last night so I could visit the Festival of Silver exhibition at the Goldsmiths' Centre. There are some amazing silversmiths' work being exhibited. It's good to see the work up close instead of images on the internet. I know I have a long way to go before I'm as good as these guys!  

Here's some of the work of Rebecca Joselyn. She is interest in unwanted throwaway packaging and its negative impact on our environment and has developed a range of tableware for the home. 

I love her little spoons, they are so perfectly made. 

progress

So I've been working hard to get all my work done. We have deadlines every 3 weeks where we need to have between 3 and 10 pieces made. for the last deadline I had a 4 pieces made that have been inspired by something I found in Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park.
Here it is....

A lot of my pieces have been inspired by this find, it was the only one in the whole of the grove that I could find. By using fold forming and doming I have created my first range of jewellery pieces.

                          

Silver bullion grant

A couple of weeks ago I submitted some designs to my tutors and was chosen by them and the Goldsmiths' Company to be given the Goldsmiths' student silver bullion grant. This means they give me £400 to buy silver and pay for hall marking to make my designs. This is very exciting, my work will be on display at New Designers in London with a special sign to say that I received the silver bullion grant and a representative from the Goldsmith' Company will come to see me on the evening of the private view to talk about my work. 

So this week my first order if silver arrived :-)

So nice to be able to make so much in silver at one time. I would never have been able to buy all this without the grant. Now I had better get making!

Getting in the swing

So having set this up so long ago I have finally decided to start blogging! Thought it would be a good idea as I am in my final year at uni. With only 4 months to go the pressure is on. Dissertation has been handed in so the next 3 months will be solid making which makes me very happy :-) 

Here's a couple of things I've made so far this year.......

I fell in love with raising, which is when you start with a flat sheet of metal and using a raising stake, hammer around in circles to shape the metal into vessel. It's incredibly satisfying to see what you can make from a single flat sheet. These 2 bowl are tiny, as you can see, they fit in a bit of a conker shell. I am in the process of developing them in silver and they will be used to hold herbs, spices and other condiments. 

This necklace has also been made by raising, I am developing a range of jewellery as well as my silverware that will be made with a combination of raising and fold forming techniques.

So watch this space!