CAA Gallery is celebrating 75 years of championing the very best in British craft with a series of exhibitions that showcase the wealth of creativity across their 8 craft disciplines.
The ‘Wood, Metal, and Paper’ exhibition will be taking place from 12 September to 7 October, and I am very pleased to be taking part. Moving into a larger scale, I will be showing a series of new pieces which connect material to landscape.
More information to come - see a peek at what I’ve been working on below.
Elements Festival 2023
Fri, Oct 27, 202311:00 AM Sun, Oct 29, 20234:00 PM
I’m thrilled to be exhibiting again this year at Elements: Festival of Jewellery, Silver, & Gold.
The last time I exhibited with Elements in 2021, the fair was run online with select in-person pop-up events. I had a fabulous time participating in the Mall Gallery pop-up in London, but this year the fair is taking place at its traditional home, at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh. I’m very much looking forward to the fair, and am making some special one-of-a-kind pieces particularly for it!
Elements Festival of Jewellery, Silver and Gold 2023 is open to the public:
Friday 27 October, 11am-5pm
Saturday 28 October, 11am-5pm
Sunday 29 October, 11am-4pm
Tickets for Elements are available both online in advance and at the door the weekend of Elements in October. Tickets can be booked online here
‘Elements returns to Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh for its ninth year in 2023, bringing together the UK's finest Jewellers and Silversmiths. From functional and sculptural silver to colourful, one-of-a-kind jewellery, Elements celebrates the vast range of expert craftsmanship and innovative design of makers from across the UK.
Elements is a partnership project between Lyon & Turnbull Auctioneers and The Scottish Goldsmiths Trust’
Visit the Elements website for more information and to browse this years exhibitors here: https://elementsfestival.co.uk
The ‘Nebula Cloud’ necklace will soon be heading to Northern Ireland for the ACJ exhibition, ‘Awe & Alchemy’.
The exhibition is taking place at The Market Place Theatre Gallery in Armagh, from September 15th to November 4th 2023.
‘ACJSNI the Northern Ireland regional group of ACJ, are launching ‘Awe & Alchemy’, a members exhibition of new works, to take place in The Market Place Theatre Gallery, Armagh. As the oldest city in Ireland, Armagh grew from an important archaeological hill fort site ‘Ard Macha’, dating from 95BC. Since then, myth and reality have continued to inform the rich character of the city. With two cathedrals, an observatory and planetarium, Armagh is recognised as a place of learning where culture, the arts and sciences continually merge; a place where awe and alchemy co-exist.’
More information can be found via https://visitarmagh.com/awe-alchemy/
After travelling various venues across the UK over the past year, the ACJ touring exhibition ‘Meanings and Messages’ has reached the sixth and last venue of the tour, at New Brewery Arts in Cirencester. The exhibition will be open to the general public from the 15th April – 18th June.
The private view will be held on the 14th April 6-8pm. Please RSVP to Cheri Crump if you are planning on attending the PV, at enquiries@acj.org.uk
Terry Hunt, the ACJ chair, will be opening the exhibition with an informal walk and talk. This promises to be a wonderful stage of the exhibition and one not to miss!
More details can be found via ACJ and New Brewery Arts
Above image from the Goldsmiths’ Centre Private View evening of ‘Meanings and Messages’.
Image credit: © The Goldsmiths’ Centre, Photographer: Julia Skupny
I am thrilled to be exhibiting at Goldsmiths North this summer, at the beautiful Cutlers’ Hall in Sheffield. Details are as follows and more information can be found on the Goldsmiths North website.
Goldsmiths North is a summer selling fair bringing the finest contemporary Silverware & Jewellery to the North of England, hosted in the magnificent Cutlers’ Hall in the heart of Sheffield. Visitors to the Fair will have the opportunity to meet and buy from over 70 independent makers from all over the UK & Europe.
Sheffield has a worldwide reputation for fine metalwork. The presence of one of the four Assay Offices in the UK makes it a major stakeholder in today’s precious metals industries. It is no surprise, therefore, that the most skilful and imaginative silversmiths and jewellers of today have chosen Sheffield to host this new premier contemporary silverware & jewellery selling fair.
The Cutlers’ Hall is without question a magnificent venue steeped in history and grandeur and is regarded as the finest livery hall in the north of England. It is located in the City Centre with easy access from the central train station and city tram systems.
‘Meanings and Messages’ is an exhibition touring the UK through 2022-2023. The exhibition celebrates ACJ’s 25 year anniversary, and features brooches by 60 different jewellers in a wide variety of mediums and concepts. It is curated into six distinct themes; sparking dialogues between the brooches and encouraging conversations and reflections from viewers.
I’m so pleased to have my ‘Vortex’ pin as part of such a wonderful and thought-provoking exhibition. The ‘Vortex’ pin, in its coiled form, conveys a message of cycles, movement, energy, and rhythm. The way the silver wire both radiates out and draws in along the length of the pin reflects the swirling water of a whirlpool, and speaks of change within cycles.
Image - Simon B Armitt 2022, @simonbarmitt
To celebrate our 25th anniversary this year, the ACJ is organising a major show of excellence, touring several venues throughout the UK in 2022. The exhibition is titled Meanings & Messages.
The exhibition will showcase an exciting and varied collection of 60 unique brooches portraying a range of meanings and messages.
We have chosen to focus on brooches for this exhibition, as they form the ideal jewellery archetype for conveying meanings and messages. Brooches can be subversive and are often used by people in the public eye, by political figures or sovereignty to convey important messages. These messages may be hidden, subtle or occasionally more of an overt protest!
The exhibition will tour to the following 6 venues and partnerships.
St Georges Arts Centre - Gravesham Borough Council - in partnership with LV21 – 30 April – 29 May 2022
Exeter University – Conference Pop Up exhibition - 1 - 3 July 2022
Vittoria Street Gallery – Birmingham School of Jewellery – 19 September – 28 October 2022
Mission Gallery in partnership with Swansea College of Art UWTSD – 19 November – 21 December 2022
The Goldsmiths' Centre - 9 January – 24 February 2023
New Brewery Arts – 14 April – 18 June 2023
Our selection panel, who chose the work this year were -
Melanie Eddy – Designer, Educator and ACJ Director
Dairu Han - BA student at Birmingham School of Jewellery
John Moore – Artist
Debika Ray – Contributing editor to Crafts magazine
Rebecca Van Rooijen – Co-Founder and Editor at Benchpeg Ltd
Congratulations to all our members who were selected, the show would not be the success it is without your beautiful and thought-provoking artworks.
Allison Macleod / Anna Borcsok / Anne Earls Boylan / Anne Morgan / Anne Walker / Anthony Wong / Asimi - Anna Butcher / Caiyang Yin / Caroline Finlay / Catherine Hartley / Catherine Marche / Chien Yu Liu / Christine Johnson / Claire Finlay / Claire Underwood / Dauvit Alexander / Deborah Beck / Drew Markou / Elird / Elizabeth Shaw / Emily Kidson / Emma McGilchrist / Hendrike Barz-Meltzer / Islay Spalding / Jane Moore / Jane Sedgwick / Janine Partington / Jessica Briggs / Jo McAllister / Joanne Haywood / Joel Matthew Smyth / Kate Bajic / Kim Nogueira / Kristy Lewis / Liana Pattihis / Linda Connelly / Lorraine Hitt - Elsiem Jewellery / Lynne Speake / Mandy Nash / Mark Mcleish / Michelle Fernandez / Nina Mannerkoski / Paul Wells / Penelope Burnett / Rachael Colley / Rachel Hearne / Rebecca Ilett / Rebecca Wilson / Sarah Jane Wilmott / Sishi Wang / Sophie Lowe / Sophie Martin-Glinel / Stephanie Johnson / Terry Hunt / Tina MacLeod / Tina Sanderson / Toby Cotterill / Vanessa Sharp / Viktoria Münzker / Yuka Jourdain
We are also delighted to have The Crafts Council as our education sponsor for this exhibition, joining us for our season of participatory events in our 25th anniversary year! Their support will enable us to offer an enriched education offer, sharing a digital toolkit of craft resources with our partnering venues across the UK.
I’m very pleased to begin this online journal where you can find updates on exhibitions, recent work, collaborations, and other bits of news.
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Photo by Sophie Davidson