Hello World!

Well hello there! To say it has been a long time is outrageous! A lot has happened since my last post but i will keep it brief! Basically the MFA has taken over my life and is set to do so until August! I am currently in dissertation hell hence the reason this needs to be brief! Great course, great experience but intense!

I have however manged to get some jewellery made and this is by far my favorite work, its online with Vanilla Ink and i'm thrilled to have it there! The 'Epiphany Bloom' will continue to grow through the creation of one off pieces at the moment so keep your eyes peeled!

Enjoy the pictures and if you see anything you fancy pop over to the Vanilla Ink online shop! Loads of great work over there to drool over! :)

Well I must dash, lots to do!


Photography by Ian Martin Photography

Epiphany Bloom Spun Hoops

Epiphany Bloom Droplet Hoops

Epiphany Bloom Petal necklace

Epiphany Bloom Canopy ring - Featured in Vogue UK

Epiphany Bloom Blossom ring

Epiphany Bloom Droplet hoops

Epiphany Bloom Orchard ring 

Epiphany Bloom Dew hoops

Epiphany Bloom Spun hoops (Detail)

Epiphany Bloom Sapling pendant

Epiphany Bloom Droplet hoops (Detail)

Long overdue update!

Hi! I have let the blogging slip again, but for valid reasons this time! I have been really busy over the past few months working on my next steps, and, as scary as it is saying it out loud(well typing it!) thinking seriously and planning my future! I have decided to apply to go back to university to study the masters of fine art at Dundee. I am still waiting to hear if i have got a place but hopefully i will know soon. I have also been busy putting funding proposals together for it, because as much as i want to do it, masters don't come cheap. I feel i have given myself my best shot of getting some help, i now just need to hope its all going to be enough and something will come through for me. I am a great believer in fate though and if i am meant to do it, it will all work out. So fingers crossed! 

The other proposal i was working on earlier this year was relating to teaching night classes at Dundee uni. I found out a while ago that my proposal was successful and i will be running a class teaching jewellery making with Precious Metal Clay in October. Now i just have to hope that people want to do it! I'm really looking forward to this, i love being around people and the chance to help them develop new skills and make beautiful things will be such a treat! Teaching is something i would like to continue to do throughout my career and this is a great first place to get some experience. I know how important it is to have a good teacher, especially as a creative person, it can be scary and good support and guidance from a tutor can mean a huge amount, so hopefully one day i can offer that sort of support to my students.

I hadn't really managed to focus on much more than getting the all this applying done though! Now that its pretty much all done I'm back to making, which is nice, i had really started to miss it! I am working on a collection for The Black Box Boutique in Edinburgh. Opening in July and owned by the extremely talented Hannah Livingston its a real pleasure to be stocking with them. Make sure you have a look next time you are in Edinburgh, it going to be a gem of a shop! 

The other project i have on the go at the moment is a website. I am currently trying to get that built, its a bit of a long process. I am certainly being a little over meticulous about it,but i think its better to try and get it as close to right the first time! I will be giving my blog a little overhaul too just before the site launches to help tie it all in. I am actually really enjoying doing it, feels very satisfying doing it myself. I am keen to get my online presence more established this year, through the website and possibly Etsy or Big Cartel.

The key thing to me is to keep developing my work, as I'm using precious metal clay mainly, i am still learning and getting better with it all the time, and as a result my ideas are always evolving. Its a great product and it has really allowed me to create my own personal style which i love! There are a few other moves i want to make but i am going to move when I'm ready, and feel my work is ready. Again, i think that if its supposed to be it will, and when i feel i am ready and my work is ready its the right time to do it. I am in no rush though, and i don't mean that in a way to sound like i don't care or i am not motivated. I love what i do, and i am passionate about building a business with it, but i think you need to allow things to grow organically and flourish that way, i think if you push something, before its ready that's the biggest mistake you make, life isn't all about profit! Its about the journey, sustaining your art and being happy.

I guess a year since finishing uni is a good time to reflect, i am happy with the way things have gone, I've built up a base of stockists and continue to do so, and by taking it slowly i have allowed myself space to develop as a creative, and i think my work has benefited from that. Going into the MFA will allow me to develop further and i am really looking forward to pushing myself( If i get in!!) It feels like the right next step for me, i have a lot of creative ideas and also a lot of areas i want to look into further in an academic setting, much coming from my final year dissertation. Have a read on here and tell me your thoughts!

Well enough for now, back to the website building. I have some nice pictures to post soon of some sunny evenings :) nothing insightful about them, just pretty :)

Take care and ill be back soon xxx

My last Amsterdam post........ I promise!

So I have done a fair bit of gushing about my little holiday last weekend, so this, i promise, is the last one! I wanted to just post some pictures of where we stayed, not your bog standard room photos though, although the room was beautiful!

We stayed at the stunning 5 star Sofitel Legend Amsterdam, The Grand. I wont go into the vast history of the building but lets just say it is steeped in history. Needless to say the whole place was beautiful, but it was more than just well presented decor. The Grand boasts some truly stunning artwork and this is what i want to concentrate on. 

Firstly i was awe struck by the huge panels of stained glass in the main stairwell, everyday as was beautifully sunny and they just looked amazing, i vowed, no matter how nuts it may have looked, that i was going to get some pictures of them before i left. So follow are some of them, many are close ups of detail i liked but you can still get a sense of how lovely they are.

These stained glass windows are the work of R. N. Roland Holst (1868-1938). I was not aware of his work previous to seeing these but i am now on a mission to find out more about him, in brief, he was a visual artist, creating stained glass, paintings, writing amongst other things and heavily influenced by William Morris.

The next part of The Grand I want to talk about is the marriage chamber, stunning is not the word! I asked to see it to take some pictures and was taken along to see it, its simply breathtaking! The marriage chamber was created by Chris Lebeau(1878 - 1945) who was a prominent Dutch artisan. I have only just started to read about him but from what i have read he had a wealth of practical skills from being a graphic designer to designing ceramics, stained glass, wallpaper and nearly everything else in between. He was also a vocal socialist and sadly was arrested during the 2nd world war and later died in the Dachau concentration camp. 

Some of these images are my own and some from other sources as mine are mainly close ups and i thought it would be a shame not to let you see the full room.

The Girl holds a Lilly to depict her purity. The image portrays the girl uninterested in the trappings of vanity and luxuries such as jewels or money

The Boy holds an Owl to represent is wisdom

The marriage ceremony

The art work in the marriage chamber tells the story of love. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, get married and have children. It also depicts the 12 signs of the zodiac on the ceiling. It is beautifully portrayed and would be a truly magical place to be married in..........I know where i want to get married anyway, now i just need to be asked! I am so happy i asked to see it and so pleased we picked The Grand to stay in. If we hadn't i would never have know the marriage chamber existed, and i wouldn't now have two new artist to be inspired by.

If you would like to read more about The Grand and its history go here

If you ever go to Amsterdam the The Grand is a must see, if for just seeing the beautiful work by these two artist.

I had a wonderful weekend and have come back refreshed and inspired if not pining a little for my holiday! Hopefully one of many to come though! :)

That's all for now but lots more to come soon :)

xxxx

A stroll through Amsterdam

This is a little selection of pictures taken while I was in Amsterdam last weekend........ The weather was beautiful, the company was exceptional and the beautiful sights, were never ending. I had a really wonderful time, i have been to Amsterdam once before, about 6 or 7 years ago, but it was with college, so we ended up doing the more touristy things and i didn't really get to see the real Amsterdam. 

This time was different, and well i guess i am different too. I wasn't really interested in staying on the beaten track with the tourists, i was there this time to try a soak up some of Amsterdam's culture and charm. Amsterdam is a really beautiful place and when you get away from all the madness of the tourists its idyllic. I wandered about taking pictures and dreaming of living on a house boat..........one day maybe!

I did do some of the touristy things, like go on a canal cruise and wander around the red light district......I've seen it before, and it didn't bother me then......this time it did, its just bizarre to be honest and i really felt for the girls............men have a lot to answer for........but that's a whole other blog post!!! 

So this time last week i was heading back to Amsterdam from the antiques fair in Utrect.....i will be posting some pictures of the goodies i picked up there in the next couple of days. I wish i was still there.............I miss the hotel the most i think, a whole blog dedicated to that next! I just had such a lovely time, partly because Amsterdam is so nice and the hotel was amazing, but also because i was there with my boyfriend Barry. We are always both so busy so it was really nice to be able to spend some time together relaxing with someone else doing the housework!

 

Next blog about the Sofitel Legend Amsterdam The Grand coming soon!

Bye for now xxxx

Sukha Amsterdam

Ceramics By Jeanine Eek Keizer

I stumbled upon Sukha while in Amsterdam last weekend and was captivated the moment I walked in. It is a simply beautiful place, not only is everything in the shop stunning, the shop itself is lovely too and has a great feel about it. Sukha is owned by Irene Mertens who makes much of what is in the shop, but also stocks work by other makers including the jeweller Eva Schreuder and ceramicist Jeanine Eek Keizer.

The shop has only been open for about 7 weeks, but Irene told me that its been doing well. To be honest I'm not surprised at this, its light and airy atmosphere coupled with the plethora of beautiful handmade things makes it an awe inspiring place. If it hadn't been doing well, then the there is something seriously wrong with the world! The emphasis is on all things handmade, which as an artisan myself I believe in with all my heart and you can tell just by talking to Irene that she does too.

The other striking thing about this wonderful little find, is in the name..... I forgot to ask Irene what it meant, so i looked it up and the minute i did, i had a flash of memory. Sukha means happiness in Sanskrit, not just a happiness from outside factors, or the fleeting kind, but one that is from the inside, a fulfilling, pure and enlightened kind of happiness. Why is this so striking to me, and why did i have a flash of memory when i found the meaning........ My honors year paper was all about happiness, our quest for it and its different manifestations. This in itself is a little bit of an interesting coincidence, but not only is the shops name the type of happiness i was trying to advocate in my paper, I actually wrote about Sukkha(same word different spelling) and the importance of that kind of happiness over one fuelled by a materialistic desire. 

 The moral of this story........... Firstly, if you are ever in Amsterdam, get away from the madness of the Damrack and red light district, take a walk down Harrlemmerstraat and stop at number 110 and take a big deep breath and relax in the beauty that is Sukha. 

But don't just revel in the nice new things you have bought, think..........What is happiness, will that top/phone/necklace make you truly happy? There is more to it than that...... If your lucky enough to be like Irene Mertens, making beautiful handmade things, working hard in your stunning shop and sharing your creativity with others, that's the sort of happiness you want....one that you create and sustain, not one that you need someone or something else to fuel it.

Id like to thank Irene for letting me take the images of her shop and for giving me her time, and for reminding whats important in life!

All that insight....and a beautiful tea cup and saucer by Jeanine Eek Keizer, not bad for a little wander!

Joanne xx

Behind the scenes

Some new work...........

 

This is a selection of the work i have made so far this year. Its a bit of a mix between work i have created for YSP in Wakefield and for The Tayberry Gallery in Perth.