The Heat Is On at Whitby

If you are in the Whitby area between 6th July and 12th August you simply must go and see what promises to be a super exhibition at Pannet Art Gallery by selected members of the Guild of Enamellers. Yours truly has work exhibited there as well as some simply wonderful work by my fellow members and friends. Let me know if you manage to go as I would love to hear what you think.

Spooky Musical Boxes?

Husband woke me up in the night claiming to have heard a musical box. 'You've got musical box movements haven't you.' he accused me. 'What was it playing?' I asked him. 'Was it Happy Birthday or the theme from Paganini? They are the only two I have and they don't start up spontaneously.' I declined to discuss the physics involved at 3.30am! He didn't know so as all was quiet we went back to sleep, although I was left with the lingering thought of a spirit making it's presence felt by winding up my musical boxes. Would make quite a good scene in a horror movie don't you think? Any how, I thought I would share with you the Happy Birthday musical box I made. It has a silver candle holder and charm and the lid comes off to reveal a space just the right size for one of my favourite sweeties. Oh, by the way, I think somewhat boringly I might have solved the mystery. My phone had run out of battery in the night and I think it might sound a distress call just before it dies! Don't tell the husband. He doesn't read my blog and doesn't do Facebook
so he need never know.

Contemporary Craft Gallery

I am really excited because I was invited to sell my work with www.contemporarycraftgallery.com and I have just set up my shop there. Here are some of the things I have put in. Keep an eye out because I will be adding more pieces soon.

Silver Palaces earrings and Pendants

I first made these a few years ago and have decided to revive the range as I liked them so much. They arose from my love of Moorish Architecture and from my travels in India.

Making my Fossil Panels

I thought some of you may be interested in how these are made. I have long been fascinated by fossils
and have been collecting them for many years, some myself and others I have purchased. I love the subtle patterns that have been imprinted on pebbles and rocks over millennia. I spend hours clambering over rocks on beaches around our coastline. These panels evolved from my Rock of Ages panels and incorporate fossils that I own and that I have studied and gazed at in museums.
I began by making a life size cartoon of my planned design. 

Then I pierced out the sheet of copper using my large Knew saw. 

Next I apply the liquid enamel using brushes and sponges. 

When each piece is dry, I scratch through to reveal the bare copper beneath. They are then fired. 

The next step is to add sifted jewellery enamels which are then fired. I finish by adding fused glass beads and gold detail. Next comes the serious business of selecting the pebbles, shells and slate that will complement each piece. This can take a while to get the look I require. 

All the pieces are then payed out onto MDF and cemented in place. 

Finally, I plaster around the stones of each piece. This is probably my least favourite job - messy and very time consuming to get right. Thank goodness I don't have to plaster walls for a living! Finally, a frame, a clean-up and it is finished. I have been making them in pairs, to give customers more options. However, because of the nature of enamelling, inevitably each piece is unique. The colour combinations are all subtly different and by high-firing some and using lower temperatures for others, I vary the opacity of the white undercoat. For me, this is part of the joy of this style of enamelling. I hope you like the finished pieces.

Wrapping Stones with Wire

On Wednesday I had a great day teaching at my local needle work shop in Hamsey Green. Www.thread-bear.co.uk. They were all beginners and I think they all did really well. Looking forward to doing another class there next term.

Herman aka Houdini Tortoise does it again

He's gone again! Slipped his tracker off and done a runner! The git. The last time he slipped his tracker off he had escaped and he's done it again. I now suspect he does it on purpose and this is not coincidence. Hopefully the sun
Will come out and then we'll find him sunbathing. I now suspect him of being more clever and calculating than I had thought. Last thing I need- an intelligent pet. At least the rabbit stays where he should. He shows no tendency to want to stray from the living room rug.

New Angels

I have been working on a new Angel Brooch design. These are sgraffito on copper with sifted enamels and carefree lustre gold and silver details. I have used the silver thinly to give a pearlescent wash over the wings. The top one was done with Thomson liquid flux and this has tended to burn out a little. The bottom one is done with Balls liquid white used very thinly. This was the most successful. I made copper brooch findings and soldered these on before I started enamelling. I used 1.2 mm copper so I didn't need to counter enamel.

Elephants and Pavilions

Just finished a batch of Elephant brooches and little Brighton Pavilions that will be cufflinks. The gold detail is really tricky to do as the firing is very sensitive. I'm doing 1 minute in a little gas kiln which seems to be working well. Nightmare to paint the detail on the cufflinks too as very fine. Getting better with practice and some have been re- fired several times! Off to galleries they go this week.

Linda Connelly Enamel Artist and Jeweller: Flying Angels

Linda Connelly Enamel Artist and Jeweller: Flying Angels: I said goodbye to two of my Guardian Angels today as they flew off to a new home in Austria. Sad to see them go but very happy they are goin...

Flying Angels

I said goodbye to two of my Guardian Angels today as they flew off to a new home in Austria. Sad to see them go but very happy they are going to a new home.