New Gallery in London...

Heafford and Hall
www.thepaperedparlour.co.uk
www.heaffordandhall.co.uk

Heafford + Hall is an art and design studio with an exhibition space set up in 2008 to offer tailor-made contemporary art and design solutions to corporate and private clients.

Located off Clapham High Street, the studio is open by appointment 10am-6pm Monday to Friday.
Works represented through the gallery will be my 2D artworks. These include some ink sketches of trees and graphic images from my greeting cards. Visit my journal page to see those images.



Workshop in London
I will be conducting a 1 day workshop in May 2009 – ‘How to make a ring in a day’
To book, please contact Heafford and Hall.
Be quick, only 10 places available.

The Dazzlers of England.

2008/2009, I worked for just over 2 months for Dazzle- London. The hub of jewelley talent from the UK. Whilst working there, I had the pleasure of meeting some talented and beautiful jewellers.
They included Becky Crow, Clara Breen, Jenny LlewelLyn, Anna Wales, Beth Gilmour, Natalie Ryde and Annabet Wyndham.

The Art of Adventure Photography

The Art of Adventure Photography - Without sounding like a total gushing groupie, I have to spread the word of this outstandingly talented photographer I have recently come across through itunes (of all places!).

I have lost myself fumbling through Bruce Percy's Photography and watching his Podcasts.

This scottish photographer has taken me back on some of my adventures by looking at his work as has travelled to many of the places I have been and to exact locations i have stood. These included Patagonia, Norway, Morocco, Scotland, and New Zealand. Other destinations he has captured are places I have longed wished to visit - these include Iceland, Easter Island, Cambodia and Portugal.

I can say nothing else about his work other than - he just gets it!

I highly recommend downloading his podcasts and submerge into these destinations through his lens and his words.

The Real Price of Gold

Today I spent my afternoon clicking through the National Geographic Website and came across this article 'The Real Price of Gold' by Brook Larmer. We are entering this ethically aware trend to know how and where our everyday objects are made. Thus, we are given the opportunity to make that choice to purchase eco-friendly and ethically responisbly.

In my small bubble world of jewellery, I was made graphically aware with 'Blood Diamond' of how important it is to ethically purchase stones and beads. This article, i read today brings to light how gold is sourced.

In the past 8 years gold prices have soared 235%. (Makes me wish i had invested all my hard earned money in gold bars). Today, the big gold mines are reaching far ends of the earth in search of what is left in the earth to mine - including 3 miles above sea level to La Rinconada in Peru. These workers are not paid to risk their lives mining for gold. They have to battle with the high altitude of the andes and of course the terrible working conditions forced upon them. These workers are not even paid for the time they work. Instead, they are allocated 1 day to mine for as much as they can carry with the hope they find a little gold flicker in their sack.

I hear Scotland calling...

As I have been warned by many people who have visited Edinburgh - yes i LOVED it! and YES I WANT TO LIVE THERE! However before I get too ahead of myself with enthusiasm for the energetically arty town in Scotland, I am reminded of just how cold I was on my journey there. Squashed into a little red combie, called Nutmeg (with no heating in the front) and 4 Aussie girls - we headed as north as we could get in our little bus to explore Scotland for New Year 08/09.

We stayed a few nights in Edinburgh and 1 night in Aviemore and a few random nights along the way at service stops where I have NO idea where we were. Edinburgh was every bit the vibrant, energetic creative town an artist would enjoy living. However, the real highlight was the day we left to head north to Inverness. Unfortunately, our lack of heating in the van caused our windscreen to freeze and we were forced to pull over on the side of the road. As fate played it, we ended in the ski resort town of Aviemore. A Quaint, bustling little town where we managed to have a great night of laughs in a few pubs and met some colourful locals. The next morning, cold, tired and hungover - we all witnessed the beauty of the area we were in. It almost looked like someone had dusted icing sugar around us.

Now back in London, I am missing Nutmeg, Scotland and the open road. I am counting down the days till my next adventure...
Paris!!!

A bike ride around Stavanger...

My jewellery has made it to Norway!

I have sold a collection of works to a beautiful jewellery store in Stavanger, Norway. Works include the leaf ring and a range of melting point stud earrings that are quickly getting snapped up!

So if your first response is, where is Stavanger? Well, the little yellow dot on the map to the left should answer that question. It is situated at the South West of Norway.

So if you are in this side of the world or this side of Norway, please drop by and see Kirsti. Her english is far superior to any tourist norwegian you could throw at her.

Gullsmed Kluge
Søregata 11,4006 Stavanger
Storhaug (Sentrum Øst)
p: 51 89 00 82