Last night I was absolutely delighted and so excited to receive a Silver Award in the Enamel and Enamel Painters 3-D craft category of this year’s awards. It was a huge honour to have my achievement recognised amongst such illustrious company and very special to be able to attend the ceremony at Goldsmiths’ Hall after last years online event.
The piece that I entered was called the Merking’s Palace Garden. Here it is.
The piece is cloisonné enamel on silver with fine silver and fine gold wires. It is set in a silver mount with an Aussie Sapphire set in 18ct gold. The central piece can be detached from the two side panels and fresh water pearls in order to wear on a chain. I like the idea of making jewellery versatile in order to increase its sustainability.
I was all the more delighted because I had to work so very hard to finish it in time and to the level that I wanted. A number of attempts finished in failure when the piece went wrong or didn’t have the flawless finish that I wanted. To enter one has to make a piece that you feel is better than any you have made before and inevitably this often results in failure and frustration. I actually completed it at 7pm the evening before the final deadline and with enamels a piece can always fail right up until it is actually finished! I owe my poor long suffering husband a huge thank you for all his patience and encouragement. He pointed out that if didn’t matter whether I actually submitted a piece because the act of trying had already resulted in improvements to the quality of my work. This observation really helped me.
This piece and all the other winning entries are on show at Goldsmiths’ Hall, Foster Lane, London until 4 March. Here are the details of opening times. https://www.craftanddesigncouncil.org.uk
My necklace will also be included with a selection of the winning pieces in an exhibition at Birmingham Assay Office which is on show 21-30 March 2022.
Here are some pictures taken during the making. Many hours of sweat and tears but thankfully not too much blood!
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