Last night I attended the annual Goldsmiths’ Craftsmanship and Design Council Awards in London. I was absolutely amazed and delighted when both the pieces I entered won silver awards in the Enamel and Enamel Painters category.
To be very honest I always feel it is a huge achievement personally to just get one piece let alone two finished to sufficiently high standard to even enter on time. Winning is absolute the icing on the cake!
This is the drawing that inspired the necklace. It appeared in my sketch book after a leisurely Sunday afternoon spent drawing some of the ideas in my head. Looking back a few weeks later I knew this was one I needed to try and capture in enamel.
Like all of my pieces there is a story behind it. Last summer we went away for a few days to Rye in East Sussex, UK. I was feeling pretty exhausted. As is often the case, it can be challenging keeping up with deadlines, teaching commitments, and just juggling multiple roles. We parked the car up during our stay and walked every where. We walked for miles and miles along footpaths, across marshes, through the nature reserve and by the sea. It is so beautiful and peaceful there. The idea for this piece came on our first morning. We were walking over the marshes and it was really misty with the sun just breaking through. The gentle rustle of the reeds and otherwise silence apart from the birds was balm to my soul. This piece was born there.
I decided to enamel over an hand-engraved background rather than introducing any hard lines with cloisonné wires.
After the engraving was finished, then came the enamelling. I did lots of colour tests and made notes to help me decide on the colour combinations that would work.
The enamelling took many, many hours. There were multiple fine layers of enamel, all fired for one or two minutes in my kiln. After the enamelling was complete, comes the finishing process where I use diamond grits and polish to finely polish the surface of the enamel.
When the enamelling was complete, I made silver settings for each of the elements. I decided to string it with fresh water pearls to compliment the colours. To begin with I was only going to make a central piece. However, I decided the extra enamelled side piece and clasp would more fully capture the feeling I wanted which was to envelop the wearer in a green haze of peace and tranquility.
I made a short video of the central section. Here is a link. https://youtu.be/KlnFX5MboRM?si=Ka1ZINDxYokqqFLP
The necklace will be included in an exhibition of winners work at Birmingham Assay Office 23-27 March 2026. The address is Birmingham Assay Office, Icknield Street, Birmingham B18 6RZ. I hope you can go as it will be an amazing show. It is also likely to be included in a summer exhibition at Goldsmiths’ Centre in London later this year. Let me know if you would like more details when they are available.
Beautiful as always Linda.
I’d love to hear about a London show.