Linda Connelly Enamels

Category: Brooches

Coral Reef Brooch/Pendant

Coral Reef brooch/pendant

I have recently finished another brooch/pendant in my new series of pieces designed to raise awareness of environmental issues. This depicts a coral reef in cloisonné enamel on basse-taille silver. The edges are grey and dark symbolising the damage they are suffering due to climate change and pollution. The centre is vibrant as a sign of hope and the whole piece is designed to raise awareness of the issue. The world needs to act now and I want this brooch to help spark conversations on the issue between the wearer and people around them.

The reverse of the brooch has been engraved and it has a double pin and a loop for a chain so it can be worn as a pendant. The brooch stands up so it can be displayed when it isn’t being worn.

I was inspired to make this as a follow up to the Seahorse in Kelp Forest pendant and brooch that featured in a previous post. I plan to make more in this series. The idea came to me following a trip to London Zoo with my son for our joint birthday. They have a super aquarium display that really captured my imagination. Later I visited the Seaworld centre in London to draw the coral in their display there. Maybe I will need to learn to dive one day so I can see habitats like this in the sea but in the meantime being able to see them in aquariums helps me to gain an understanding of how to depict them.

Here are a few images of the piece being made. The colours were developed over many firings before finally the piece was ground and polished to finish the enamel ready for me to construct the setting.

20/06/2024
Seahorse in Kelp Forest Pendant and Brooch

Seahorse in Kelp Forest Pendant and Brooch

I have long been interested in environmental issues and when I was tasked with making a piece for an exhibition entitled “Underwater Flora and Fauna”, I remembered hearing about Kelp Forests and I decided to investigate further.

I learned that these are found all over the world but I was particularly interested to discover that they exist off the Sussex coast which is near to where I live. Kelp forests provide a vital habitat for a host of sealife, from tiny worms to young fish and help protect coastal areas from storm surges. Threats to them include climate change, pollution and over fishing. David Attenborough made a film for BBC South called “Save Magical Kelp Forests”. There is a campaign by Sussex Wildlife Trust highlighting this issue and I wanted to help by raising awareness. Jewellery has been used throughout history to convey messages and this piece follows this tradition to help initiate conversations about the cause.

Sketch book designs for Kelp Forest jewellery

I began by making lots of drawings to decide the shape and the design. The first piece I made was a smaller pendant measuring 40mm x 26mm. This enabled me to try out the colours and the design before I committed to a larger piece of silver.

Small Seahorse in Kelp Forest pendant

I wanted to make the next piece able to be worn both as a brooch and a pendant. This makes it more versatile and adaptable, plus brooches/badges are particularly associated with messages and protest. It took a lot of planning to ensure the shape worked for both, as well as working to help create the illusion of depth to the sea. Here is the design I chose to make.

Seahorse in Kelp Forest Pendant/brooch

The enamel comprises fine gold and fine silver cloisonné on basse taille fine silver, set in a bezel with jelly fish on the back. There is a loop for a chain and a double pin brooch fastening. The pin fastening can be used as a stand to display the piece when it is not being worn. It measures 56mm x 28mm.

Seahorse in Kelp Forest Pendant

Reverse of Seahorse in Kelp ForestBrooch/pendant

Seahorse in Kelp Forest Pendant/brooch on display

I am planning for this to be part of a new series of pieces entitled “Let’s Talk”. There are too many instances of individuals, businesses and governments quietly getting on with polluting our planet in pursuit of profit, without a care for the consequences. “Let’s Talk” will be a range of pieces designed to promote conversation about environmental issues and to raise awareness. With knowledge and coming together there is a real hope that we can work together for the good of nature and to promote a better, healthier future for us, our children and for generations yet to come. Knowledge is power and we can use it to work together for a better future.

21/04/2024
New ‘Memories’ Silver and Enamel Jewellery

When I first heard the theme of ‘Maps’ for this year’s Guild of Enamellers’ conference, I wasn’t sure it was for me! Maps and I do not have a happy relationship. All this squiggly lines that jiggle when I am anxious or stressed! Default emotions for me when I come to use one it has to be said. How my husband and I have stayed together when driving anywhere is a total mystery. Actually it isn’t because I used to drive whilst he navigated. I have only let him drive us places since Sat Navs came into being! These ideas have evolved during many sleepless nighttime design sessions. My best ideas come at about 3am! My recent jewellery has increasingly come to contain memories and emotions; hopes and dreams. These new pieces have continued to develop this theme. Jewellery with meaning in celebration or remembrance, to inspire and define you.

Map of Memories Necklace – Brighton

Champleve enamel on sterling silver. Silver, Champleve enamel. SOJE 238,51,61,101,604,161B

Brighton is a very special place to my family and I. This Map of Memories necklace recalls many visits over the years, parking in Madeira Drive, walking along by the Wheel, up to the Brighton Pavilion in its green park, (one of my favourite places in the world,) and then back down to the sea to walk on the pier. I often seem to have been blessed with beautiful sunshine and a blue sky, even in winter so my Map of Memories Necklace symbolises the very best of days out in Brighton.

Map of Memories Necklace – London

Champleve enamel on silver. SOJE604,101,238 and BJG V23. All other colours are shaded with one over the other. The colours have been left pale to recall misty wintery days on the Thames.

This Map of Memories necklace holds memories of many visits to London and trips down the river. Here we have embarked at Embankment and we travel down the river past Big Ben, the London Eye, St Paul’s cathedral, Tower Bridge and then the Gherkin Building.

The edges of both these necklaces are irregular because memory is never perfect and the silver is shaped like pebbles to hold the fragments of special memories.

Precious Places Belfast Bracelet

I like the idea of a piece of jewellery holding memories of people and places. This is a map of the Northern Ireland coastline. A gold X marks where Belfast is. My son Kieran is at University here and I like to wear this bracelet and think of him.

Silver, 18ct gold, SOJE45, SOJE161B

Precious Places Sorrento Brooch

A map of the Italian coastline. A gold X marks Sorrento. This is a place which holds lots of happy memories for my family and I. The concave shape holds the memory as a secret, thus it appears decorative with only selected people understanding the meaning.

Silver, 18ct gold, SOJE45, SOJE161B

15/04/2017
Filling Holes in a Ready Made Copper Blank

Welcome to the latest in a series of articles to do with enamelling and making jewellery that I intend to publish. I hope you find them useful. Although I planned to write them weekly, unfortunately I missed a few last year due to sheer pressure of work. Many apologies and My New Year’s resolution is to do much better! I will be writing about issues and problems I have experienced (and hopefully overcome), and tips and shortcuts concerning enamelling and making jewellery that I have come across in the course of the past twenty years or so.

What to Do When Your Ready Made Copper Blank is Pierced and You Want to Make a Brooch

I came across this problem this Christmas when I decided to make a range of enamelled owl brooches. I wanted to make them as a stocking filler item and so needed to use a ready made shape. The only one I could find that was suitable came only as a pierced shape. I ordered them anyhow as I knew I could fill the hole with a wire rivet that wouldn’t show after enamelling.

Making the Rivet to Fill the Hole

I chose copper wire that was a tight fit in the hole. In this case I used 1.2 mm. I used a saw to cut a short piece approximately 2mm longer than the thickness of the blank. Use a saw instead of wire cutters to end up with a nice, flat cut that you need. Alternatively you could use wire cutters but then you would need to use a file.

Try your wire for fit, set your blank onto a steel block. Then I use a small, light hammer with a flat face. Tap gently on the wire to spread it a little, turn over and repeat on the other side. Work methodically and you should end up with a neat rivet that is almost invisible. Try not to put hammer marks in the blank itself, although a few light ones probably won’t show. You can continue with emery paper if you wish, although I didn’t find it necessary because I was making was using a riso screen over my surface that completely hid any evidence of the rivet. Have a go. It is useful to be able to do this if you need to. Tomorrow I will get back some of the owls I made and I will post a picture. Let me know how you get on.

03/01/2013
Guardian Angels On Folksy

I have just listed my Guardian Angel Brooches and Pendants in my Folksy Shop. The idea for this range came to me during a visit to one of my favourite cities, York. I was there with my husband whilst my young son was away on a school trip aboad. Wandering around the cathedral, I could see angels at every turn. At the time I was reading a book by Rachael Hore called ‘The Glass Painter’s Daughter’ and a central part of the story concerns the restoration of an angel stained glass window. As I walked around this beautiful city, the idea came to me of developing a range of jewellery that would embody the love and thoughts of the giver, even whilst the wearer was far away. Regrettably my son would never wear one, but I hope that other children, spouses and parents will love and appreciate the concept. I think they make a perfect gift for a loved one who is going away. They are enamel on silver with cloisonne and fine gold detail. They are 45 mm long and each one is hallmarked.

30/10/2012