Spring Studio Sale 2019 with Special Guests

I am delighted to be holding a Spring Studio Sale this month - for 2 days only - featuring 3 guest artists.

Venue: The Coach House, Argyll House, Bath Street, Frome, Somerset BA11 1DW

Dates and times: Friday 22nd March 10:00 - 20:00 and Saturday 23rd March 10:00 - 15:00

I will be selling some pieces at incredibly reasonable sale prices and will also be displaying new work. You will have the chance to view and handle jewellery that you’ve had your eye on and place orders to have them made in your size. Or you can just come along for a chat, a cuppa, and a browse!

I am thrilled to be sharing the space with 3 wonderful artisans - firstly Hirsch & Kirsch. Christina will be here with her stunning leather accessories and lifestyle products.

Hirsch & Kirsch Terazzo bag

Hirsch & Kirsch Stripe accessories

The fabulous Tin City:

Mission: to take the recycled, unloved & broken and give them new life! 
Tin altars & diorama, recycled jewellery, & much more

Tin City altar

Tin City accessory

And the gorgeous Nicky Knowles will be adorning the walls with her insect illustrations as we properly enter Spring.

Nicky Knowles

Nicky Knowles

Please come along to see us - we would love to chat about our work. We are open until 8 on Friday evening so that you can come after work and enjoy a glass of wine. Bring friends!

Do get in touch with me if you have any queries.

Impromptu shoot with Amber

Recently photographer Simon Richardson asked me if he could use my home for a lingerie shoot with stunning model Amber Farndon.  Thought it was a good opportunity to get some photos with my jewellery - unfortunately not much stock to hand - but we will be planning a full shoot in the near future.

Amber wears a Sunstone Venus Ring, Ruby Juno Ring, Hermes Wings Necklace, and Teardrop Labradorite Ring.

Photographs by Simon Richardson (Instagram: sketch_foto) - model is Amber Farndon (Instagram: amberfarndon)

Spring Studio Sale 2017

I will be holding an intimate studio sale at my premises in Frome, Somerset on Friday 17th and Saturday 18th March 2017.  This is a great chance to come and chat to me, try everything on, and hopefully get yourself some unique jewellery at an amazing price.

Opening hours:

Friday 17th March 10am - 7pm

Saturday 18th March 10am - 2pm

Please contact me for further information including location address.

Inspiration

I am constantly inspired by all sorts of things around me.  And the problem is that sometimes I have to switch off the ideas part of my brain in order to get on with the job in hand.  I find myself jumping up from my seat throughout the day to further research an idea or delve through my drawers of stones and metal – before I know it, I’ve used up another hour of my “making” day trying to work out another new idea.

Eleanor Christine Jewellery

When I started making jewellery I actively sought out inspiration and I probably looked in the more obvious places – I marvelled at the work of other jewellers and invested in book after book of exquisite and inspiring jewellery.  It wasn’t that I had the skill or experience to try to recreate that work, but I would be inspired by small details that would lead me into a style of my own.  For example, the textures created on metal, or the simple beauty of a hand-made clasp, or the mixing of metals to create contrasting colour.

One of the first places that I visited was the jewellery collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum – I was mesmerised by the techniques that goldsmiths have used for hundreds of years – the days when making jewellery required many years of apprenticeship and a maker would hone one particular skill until it was perfect – engraving, enamelling, filigree.  But I was mainly drawn to tribal and primitive jewellery – in fact I always have been.  It is the materials that speak to me most – I love the malleability of metal, the way it can be shaped in ways you would not have believed possible.  I still have my sketchbook from my first visit to the V&A (you can’t take photos) – I was drawn to pattern and sculptural shape.

My biggest inspiration is Alexander Calder – he had a modernist take on tribal ornament.  All his life he carried pliers and bits of wire in his pockets.  As he once put it “I think best in wire”.  Calder is now best known for his sculpture and his huge scale mobiles, but he was working out his ideas in jewellery.  The first time he exhibited his jewellery in 1929, it was right beside his sculpture and his paintings.  I love the beaten metal (he doesn’t polish out the marks), and I love the repeated swirls of the almost liquid metal.  I find his work hugely sexy and edgy.

Alexander Calder Jewellery pieces

As well as Calder, there is Henry Moore and Picasso – again, that primitive yet modern approach.  The shapes, weight, and pattern that they create with simple lines utterly inspires me.  The hollow spaces are just as crafted as the solid material.

Colour and texture have developed as a major component of my work – I think that the inspiration for this comes mainly from my love of gems.  The stones that I find drive me to design around them – what will set them off well?  How can I make the most of that shape and colour?  However, I spend a long time studying colour too.  I like unusual colour combinations and the best place to see this is in nature.  My Pinterest board is full of butterflies and beetles, toadstools and flowers – they aren’t afraid of colours “clashing”, they like it dramatic – nature does it very well!   I stumbled across an exhibition of photographs by Jo Whaley – her book is called “The Theatre of Insects”.  Wow, it was just incredible – I simply had to buy the book.  The insects themselves, of course, are spectacular, but she would juxtapose them against certain backgrounds– for example a heavily rusted piece of metal, a peeling painted door, or a black and white score of music.  The backgrounds made the insects look even more jewel-like, detailed, and ornamental.

Architecture and interior decoration can even inspire me – I like the ruggedness of a skyline and just look at Charles Rennie Macintosh.  I still intend to make some jewellery based on his roses.

Charles Rennie Macintosh

My most recent inspiration has come from animals - tigers and leopards.  Could there be more striking patterns than their coats?  It isn’t only the pattern but the texture of fur that interests me.  I have designed some pieces for men based on tiger print, and some statement women’s pieces with “leopard print”.  The metal is brushed like fur, and layered, pierced, and oxidised to give the appearance of different tones of colour.

Leopard Print Cuff - Eleanor Christine Jewellery

I think that it’s fair to say that I’m rather a sponge – soaking up that inspiration from all around me.

I find myself part of a Study on Craft

A couple of weeks ago I had a professor from Cardiff University come to spend some hours with me in the studio. He wanted to do one of my workshops and also spend some time chatting and watching me work to understand the process as part of a general study on artisans and crafts workers. He has written a beautiful piece about the process of making his own silver ring.

He sent me some pictures and here is a little snippet of his words:

"Like many makers I have met, Ellie conveys a great sense of calm, not least because she has the confidence in the things where I lack confidence. The actions that for me are clumsy are assured and habituated for her. But of course, unlike my trying to learn from a book or instruction manual, say, she can see what is “enough” and guide me appropriately – as well as offering general encouragement and advice. My silver ring is definitely another trophy... The measure of success lies in the work and knowledge that went into making it rather than the object itself. I am none the less gratified that the ring is as it was intended: round, shiny, the right size. Just as in other studios, there is a gratifying sense of entering a domain of long tradition."  (Professor Paul Atkinson)

At the bench - teaching the Professor

Soldering a stone bezel to the ring shank

The Ultimate Classic Beauty

I knew that I was going to be featured in Tatler's Sleigh Bells Bling, but I did not know that the cover was to be graced by Grace.  I've always admired the beauty of Grace Kelly - cool, classy and timeless.  The article in Tatler hints that her marriage to Prince Rainier may not have been all it was cracked up to be, and that it became more like imprisonment once she could no longer accept acting work.  Well, I shall certainly be taking a trip to the flicks to watch the new film about Princess Grace, starring Nicole Kidman. 

Tatler Cover - December 2013

Tatler Sleigh Bells Bling - Eleanor Christine Jewellery