Saturday 3 January 2015

History-inspired jewellery

It's been a while, but in my last post I described how House Histories have inspired some creative projects as well as academic ones. Months later, I'm finally able to reveal the results.

I took two courses in 2014 at City College, Brighton: Jewellery Making in Metal for Beginners, followed by the Advanced class. Both were taught by local jewellery designer and maker Jo McDonald. Jo taught me how to set round and oval cabochons into silver by making bezels. I really enjoyed using saws, hammers, files and FIRE to bring my designs to life.

I made some pretty basic items for myself first, to practice the techniques, and then began designing a pendant around one of those little broken pieces of porcelain I found in the ruins of Peewit (see my last blog post). A fragment of painted saucer or plate that my ancestors owned and used in the past, set in silver, would make a lovely Christmas gift for my Mum, I decided.

It was a complete surprise for her when she came to visit me in Brighton over the holidays, and she was really pleased with it. I'm so glad.