Perfectly Imperfect - using stones in jewellery making

I’ve been making a lots of Mother and Child rings lately. Each one is a handcrafted little piece of Art. The back features a pattern or portrait - mainly Frida Kahlo as I have etchings left over from my cuff project. The Bands are hammered to give an organic feel to compliment the stones. The band is sparkly, a bit retro Fifties in vibe.

But the real star of the show is the gemstone. They are set in a plain silver bezel which highlights the complex patterns within the stone. Each one is completely unique using gems sourced from round the world.

Some stones have naturally occurring inclusions or faults. An inclusion is any material that is trapped inside of another mineral while it forms. These materials include Crystals, liquids and gasses and in the case of Amber, once-living creatures!

Some people think this makes them less perfect but I love them. They tell a story. The patterns to a trained eye, show you where it’s from, which minerals are involved in the makeup. The bright shades of blue and green in Crysocolla are caused by its copper content. The gold flecks found in the dark blue Lapis Lazuli are traces of Pyrite or ‘Fools Gold’. I could go on all day…..

I’d rather have a stone with perceived faults than a perfect mass produced Cubic Zirconia. A bit like people…I prefer the quirky ones. The ones that make you smile.

Summer Workshops-Beginners Silver Ring making classes coming in June 2021

A shot in the Arm

I was sitting down to write to HMRC to say my little business was closing down.

Covid has impacted on lots of small businesses. Who wants to buy jewellery during a global pandemic when people are suffering in so many ways? I’d lost my mojo. I was considering my options career wise when out of the blue I got a call from a friend asking if I would make her a Promise ring.

I was really touched to be asked but felt it was too tricky. She sent some pictures of rings that she liked….lots of PMC involved and I don’t have a kiln. I thought long and hard about this. It’s a big responsibility making a forever ring. Could I justify buying a kiln for my birthday? Could I do another course in PMC?

In the end I was really honest and said no, I cant do that but I can do this….the finished ring came from my soul. She wanted it to be organic, quirky, natural, and a little bit wonky….a dream of an ask really! It’s been an absolute privilege to make this for Abbie and Dan.

Not only are they beginning their new journey together but they have given me the inspiration and kick in the pants I needed. I’ve forced myself out of my comfort zone and its been the best thing that could have happened.

Now I’m busy creating ‘Abbie’ rings with all sorts of stones and started using recycled gold in some pieces. I’ve fallen back in love with silversmithing. People are buying and loving my work. I am thankful and grateful for all my customers who continue to support me every day.

I look forward to coming out of all this darkness and actually seeing and talking to people face to face. Not to mention the hugs! Stay safe you lovely people.

Wild Swimming and Silversmithing

Ok, its time to confess….as well as being in love with Silversmithing….I’m addicted to Wild swimming. I grew up by the Sea and every holiday I have ever had since, has revolved around places to Wild Swim. Applecross- Scotland check; Lake Como-Italy check; Martinique -The Antilles check. You get my drift. I was born in Jamaica and one of the earliest pictures of me is bobbing about in the waves aged 10 months having been chucked in by my parents to teach me how to swim! I don’t know whether it was that or being an Aquarius that is to blame. But water is in my blood. It feeds my soul. It’s my happy place.

Now, I’ve lived in Hertford for 22 years. Long years during which I confess sometimes I felt landlocked. I yearned for the Sea. I always intended to move to Devon, Cornwall or Applecross. Then along came Covid and an amazing person. I saw her swimming in the River one day….I had no idea you could swim in the River. I had no idea there was anywhere in Hertford to Wild swim. I started going with my daughter . We fell into a routine-an every-day swim.

I have fallen in love. I have fallen completely in love with Hertford. The beauty I see in and on the River every day is magical. I have watched baby Coots (crazy looking-google them) grow into adults. I’ve watched swans raise their families and boot them unceremoniously out of the nest. We have seen Cormorants, Kingfishers and Herons. I’ve swum alongside a water vole (endangered-who knew) and encountered all sorts of fish. I now swim with two amazing friends. We swim, we laugh, we put the world to rights. There’s a lot of love and support that goes on in the wild swimming community.

It’s as if my brain has been reset. I know so many truly lovely Hertford People. It’s the people who really make a place and I’m really blessed to have some amazing ones in my life. The lovely Courtyard Arts, the gorgeous Secret Garden Cafe, the beautiful Frankie and Olive, the incredible Mudlarks. I thank these people from the bottom of my heart for supporting me and promoting me, a fledgling business. Someone who doesn’t have much self confidence (it’s growing with every swim and solder!) Covid has done terrible things but it’s also brought out the very best in people. Is it the Dunkirk spirit? Who knows, but I’m proud to be a small part of it all.

I swim in the sunshine, in the rain….and today my coldest swim to date- 9 degrees. If I don’t swim I feel out of sorts. I spring out of bed at 7 every morning….I cannot wait to get in the water. The colder it gets the more exhilarating the rush. We swim in skins rather than wetsuits….all the better to feel the burn! But perhaps we’ll go down the wetsuit route when there’s snow on the ground?!

I can’t begin to explain the love affair that has overwhelmed me. its a compulsion, an addiction…. a must do-every day. Wild swimming is good for the soul.

Since the lockdown and the closure of the Hampstead ponds we have had hundreds of Kenwood Ladies Pond members come to swim in our beautiful river. The community is growing. The sense of Sisterhood is growing. I bloody love it.

Reusing, Recycling, Re-purposing

Reusing, recycling repurposing

One reason I fell in love with Silversmithing is that I no longer fret over lost earrings….I can take the remaining single earring and either make a matching one or turn it into a necklace or a ring. Nothing is ever wasted. Nothing languishes in drawers. I love it when a customer asks me if I can turn something old into something new. It’s a challenge and a real joy to repurpose something and breathe new life into a piece. Here are two examples of broken rings that have been given a new lease of life.

The first one was much loved but missing a pebble. We discussed the options-putting a replacement pebble back on the ring or doing something completely different. By melting down the silver, cleaning it up and making a mould for a wax carved ring, the silver was reborn as a lovely chunky modern ring.

In the second example a ring with huge emotional attachment had a broken stone. We decided to melt the setting down and create a new setting incorporating a new Moonstone but keeping the original ring shank. There was enough Silver left over to make some earrings for my client’s daughters.

Making Snowball Earrings

I thought it might be fun to share a process with you. Here I am making Snowball earrings. The photos show the process from texturing the silver in my rolling mill using sandpaper, to cutting out the circles, drilling and assembling. The next Blog post will involve fire!

Secret Space Keepsake necklace

When my mum died I was bereft and left with her ashes. Losing your mum feels as though your roots have been cut. I miss her every single day. I wore her jumper for a long time just to breathe in her smell. I thought about making some kind of keepsake so that I could have a little bit of her with me always. Keepsake jewellery tends to be a bit mawkish and over embellished with angels, roses and quotes. Not for me. I decided to design something really simple. Something beautiful. This is a piece I want to wear every day.

I’m privileged to have been asked to make one for the lovely Abbie Ordway-Dunham. I felt a huge responsibility to Abbie and to her much loved dad. The pictures below show the process from beginning to end and it was a very moving experience. There were tears and there was laughter as is so often the way in losing a loved one. Abbie loves it and wears it every day. That’s as good as it gets for a jeweller. Making people happy makes me happy.

The Goddess within...

Jewellery is very often the last justifiable purchase on a girl's very busy list of things to buy. We balk at spending money on something frivolous and lovely when we have food, clothes, mortgage and endless bills to pay for. But I would argue that nothing beats the purchase and wearing of a piece of individual jewellery which will live on long after your Agnes B cashmere cardi has given up the ghost. 

Since the dawn of time women have used body adornment as a reflection of the inner self.  Worn to show status, rank, culture, political or religious afflilations, jewellery can be an artistic display but also a talisman, giving protection to the wearer. This may sound superstitious, but we all have that favourite piece of jewellery that we miss when removed and couldn't bear to live without. 

Many of my pieces are named after Goddesses of the sea. I have a passion for myths & legends, inspired by my teacher of Classics at Plockton High school; a formidable and take-no-prisoners Mrs Murchison.  A piece of jewellery can truly make you feel like a Goddess. Whether you are overwhelmed with deadlines, frazzled with toddlers or teenagers , caring for elderly parents , going through a relationship breakdown, feeling fat and dreading summer ...take some time to choose a piece of silver that  will make you feel better, stronger, beautiful. Because jewellery looks good on all shapes and sizes. On all ages. On any skin. 

Aphrodite Necklace

The good, the bad and the ugly...

This week began with a sublime day of silversmithing outdoors in the shade of a scorching sun, to a day of talking business with my bank manager whilst the rain poured down outside. Its never dull in the world of silver jewellery design,  as it's as unpredictable as the Great British Summertime.

One of the many things I love about Silversmithing is that no mistake is a true mistake. Nothing can be a complete disaster though it may well feel so at the time.

But a melting of a bezel or a warping of silver sheet can often lead to designs that may never have entered your head. 

A while ago I was hammering a bangle ....a design I've done so many times ...when I realised it was twisting and no amount of annealing, quenching or manipulation was going to pull it back from the brink. It was a disaster. It was ugly. It was a waste of silver wire. 

It was an interesting curved shape though and I put it in my toolbox to ponder....(I have a lot of these 'works in progress'!)

A week later out it came. After soldering two jump rings at either end and then attaching some diamond cut belcher chain....Voila! My bestselling 'River' necklace . 

River Necklace

Beginnings.....

After two years of  jewellery parties, selling to friends/colleagues and endless craft fairs and school fetes,  I've finally taken the plunge and opened my website!!

So exciting and terrifying all at the same time. 

I'm sure there will be hurdles along the way but of one thing I am absolutely certain....I was meant to Silversmith and I am brimming with ideas for jewellery so watch this space.

In my shop you will find some of my more popular pieces and I have a new range awaiting photography that I will be adding very soon. 

I'm not a big company...I make silver jewellery on my own...and the idea of being online is challenging. I veer from "What if no-one looks at my site?" to " What if I'm swamped with orders I cannot possibly fulfil immediately?"

As a wise friend said to me 'Tai....that's a good worry to have!! Just do it'.

And so here I am... just doing it.