Inspiration

A recent trip to Cornwall has my sketchbooks bursting with inspirational shapes, patterns, textures and colours. The cliffs and rock pools at Perranporth are covered in barnacles and mussels; always one of my favourite sources of inspiration for drawing and making.

These gorgeous rock pools can be found towards the left of the main beach access, reached by climbing down steep steps cut into the cliff face that surfers use to get to the waves.

 
The further you climb down, you will see barnacles and mussels growing on almost every available surface, creating a blanket of lumpy clusters as they all squeeze together. The striped banding on their shells forms rows of arched pattern, I can visualise them made from domed copper shapes, hammered and joined into links in a mussel-shell bracelet or neckpiece. I love the symmetry of their pod form, and would like to add to my 'Moss Pod' jewellery range with some new lockets inspired by mussel shells.

 There's something about the way that barnacles and mussels grow in clumps that I always come back to when I am generating ideas for my jewellery. They often appear in my mixed media and textiles pieces as very small crochet shapes or stuffed muslin balls.

I made these small textiles samples in response to the textures I saw on my travels in Cornwall. All the fabrics and threads are hand-dyed, using traditional fabric dyes as well as rust dying, where found metal objects are laid onto the fabric in shallow trays, and concentrated salt water poured over to speed up the rusting process. As rust forms it seeps onto the fabric leaving permanent marks. I like the authenticity of the colouration and the element of chance that comes from leaving the mark-making to chance. I often bury my work to enable it to become more earth-stained and distressed, nothing makes my work look more weather worn than the weather and there is something very exciting about digging it up again to see what effects have been created.

Moss pods

I have been thinking about making these for such a long time, I love the idea of creating hollow forms, with spaces inside to contain things. Hidden things, secret things, precious things. I love lockets, but find traditional designs really limited and predictable, so I decided to make my own variation.

 

These pod forms contain very small crochet and felt elements, which are based on moss, funghi and lichen growth. I like the way lichen grows in cracks and crevices, it asserts itself and thrives in the smallest spaces. It has resilience and vigour whilst being delicate and beautiful. Rich in colour, pattern and texture, I am always drawn to it. 

I have been exploring ways to recreate it with knit, crochet, felt and hand stitch for a long time, gradually reducing the thickness of the threads and the scale of my work, until I have arrived at these very teeny pieces. 

The contrast in texture between the metal and threads appeals to me, and the making techniques make me happy. The process of quietly constructing crochet forms is gentle, calming, soft and intuitive. It is in stark contrast to working in metal. Sitting at my workbench sawing, filing, hammering and soldering is labour intensive and methodical; planning the step by step stages of construction to factor in melting temperatures, and the need to constantly clean, sand and refine. There is a discipline to it, and working on such a small scale means every detail counts. As whole pieces, making and combining the very different elements satisfies my love of these different ways of working. I make because I enjoy making. 

This new work will be launched at The British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate this weekend. I am curious to see what people think of it.