All Things Nice…

….this Christmas

at the Victoria Sewart Contemporary Jewellery Gallery

Z S U Z S I M O R R I S O N

Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 1988, Zsuzsi Morrison has created individual and one off enamel pieces by hand. Her original desire to study fine art has greatly influenced her work. Her painting and want for colour in her jewellery led her to specialise in the field of enamelling. Using traditional enamelling techniques to express modern concepts, her work has a distinct avant-garde personal language. Zsuzsi’s jewellery is imbued with a joyful exuberance. The jewel-like intensity she achieves in her colour palette is re-invented through this ancient process in her hands. Zsuzsi’s exquisite detailing on even the reverse sides of her pieces is testimony to the meticulous care in the hand making and finishing of every piece that leaves her studio. This subtlety and attention to detail might be a tiny heart motif or kiss on the clasp of a chain, a bright gestural fleck of intense colour dancing across a surface, or an unrepeatable drawn line pressed into the surface of the gold and silver which acts as the canvas she paints on. Poised somewhere between jewellery, sculpture and paintings, Zsuzsi Morrison’s work could be described as modern day talismans or amulets, each piece an individual work of art. Her pieces are in many private collections and exhibited in galleries and design shops in London, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, the USA and UK. Outlets include CAA and Brook Gallery. She also makes work to commission.

C L A I R E M A C F A R L A N E

Having initially studied sculpture she is curious about materials and how they may be manipulated and constructed beyond traditional methods. She employs a spectrum of techniques from hand forging to computer design and reproduction to achieve unique results.

Her sculpture background gives a truly three-dimensional approach to each piece. Her work often features open structures borrowed from architecture or nature, which lend complexity and fragility to designs.

Working in gold and silver, precious and semi-precious stones Claire is best known for her rings to date. Her award-winning work has been recognised by The Goldsmiths’ Company and the British Jewellers’ Association.

M O N I Q U E J E F F R E Y – J O N E S

Monique makes jewellery that invites the viewer to look closer, there may be a small door to open, a lid to remove or a locket to spin. To her the interaction of jewellery is important; the revealing of something secret and hidden will always provoke curiosity and wonder.

Her current Moorland Collection explores the imbalance and incongruity of the large granite rocks found on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. Her intention was to address their shape and toppling formations that have been naturally sculpted over many thousands of years. She is drawn to irregular forms and asymmetrical compositions. The imposing boulders and fractures of rock found in Cornwall continue to be a prominent source of inspiration.

In this series of work, Monique applies vitreous enamel to obtain a drawn fractured quality, together with various forms of stone setting. Colour plays an important role through the use of semi-precious stones, gold and contrasting oxidised sterling silver with highly polished silver. Mechanisms also feature in her work with the tiny hinges she makes for her locket pieces and the handmade hidden spring mechanism concealed in the base of her pin brooches.

V A L M U D D Y M A N

This body of work pays homage to the marks that are laid down by the elements on man-made surfaces and structures, with particular reference to the coastal area of Tinside Lido, Plymouth. The mark-making processes are slow but relentless: the action of the waves, the height of the tides, the weather and the erceness of the storms that batter the coastline. Each action has a consequence. Some are only visible by comparison with similar areas but all are ongoing, perpetual, relentless…

These marks of time and tide can be viewed as damaging and destructive, however, this collection of contemporary jewellery aspires to challenge any negative connotations by allowing the beauty of the marks to become a celebrated feature. At times , the hand of the maker will be visible and at others, the wearer will continue the narrative by adding to the marks through movement and wear.

Val Muddyman works in mixed media including jesmonite, wood and sterling silver. Fibres, rust and steel recreate and celebrate the textures and marks found in the area.

L U C Y G I B S O N

Lucy has been working as a jewellery designer and maker for eighteen years. Her work is made from precious metals and vitreous enamel.

The art of enamelling is central to her work. Lucy feels this ancient technique offers huge potential to create layers of colour, depth and intrigue in her jewellery. She works with transparent, opalescent and opaque vitreous enamels and often places 24 carat gold foil between the layers of glass. She etches and then engraves the surface of the metal which shows through the layers of enamel and gives each piece greater depth. Each item requires multiple firings to build up the layers of enamel and consequently takes many hours to produce.

Lucy finds the process of enamelling always creates a unique result and as a maker the endless possibilities this process offers keeps her engaged and her work evolving.

Her designs are often process led but she has always been inspired by the skies and landscape of Cumbria where she grew up. She finds these remote, fragile and often stark landscapes beautiful and inspiring, particularly the way light affects it’s colours and mood. It is often a feeling evoked by a place she tries to recreate in the aesthetics of a piece of work. Since moving to Devon Lucy has found Dartmoor and it’s shifting landscape another source of inspiration.

C L A R E C O L L I N S O N

Clare design and makes jewellery in her tiny workshop in Colwinston, South Wales. She uses silver, printed papers and resin. Every piece of jewellery is individually hand crafted and therefore unique.

The Whimsy Fable range is inspired by fairytales and storytelling; As a little girl, Clare loved being read bedtime stories, her favourite books were those that had been passed down and read so many times the pages were tatty and worn.
Words are printed on recycled and textured paper, Clare carefully selects the paper, which has slight marks or mottling, of which gives each piece a slightly aged and vintage feel. The wearer can then create a story or fairytale of their own…

A N A N D A U N G P H A K O R N

With an industrial and Jewellery Design background, Ananda is strongly attracted to the aesthetic of industrial materials and raw finishing of metals. Her latest work consists in composing geometric and organic elements. The collections are inspired by shapes which are simplified and breaking the rigid lines through unfamiliar shapes of sketches. Jewellery will be more than wearable objects, it will exhibit on wearers and present personality of them.