Linda Connelly Enamels

Tag: cloisonne

  • “For the Love of an Elephant“ new cloisonné enamel necklace

    “For the Love of an Elephant“ new cloisonné enamel necklace

    For the Love of an Elephant cloisonné enamel necklace

    I made this necklace for the Cookson Gold February Design of the Month competition. The theme was Love and I immediately thought of this title and wanted to make a piece for it.

    The piece is cloisonné enamel on a hand engraved silver base in a silver setting. He is joyful and colourful and I wanted to make something uplifting for these challenging times. He is all dressed up for a festival or a party. He carries a heart in his upturned trunk. In the Hindu tradition an upward pointed trunk dispenses energy, luck and kindness. Elephants do this to greet friends and to express happiness. I hope he will bring happiness to the wearer and spread joy wherever he ends up!

    I was very excited when I heard he was the winning piece. They said ‘The judges chose this piece because they felt the piece was beautifully done and finished to perfection. They also liked the way the theme of love was shown in an non conventional way’. I won £100 to spend which should be quite easy  He has just gone to be hallmarked and then he will be available to purchase. He will cost £230 plus postage. Let me know if you want to reserve him to bring some happiness and joy to your life.

    Update. Buy him here in my Shop!

  • Botanical Gardens – The Latest News

    Botanical Gardens – The Latest News

    I am really excited to announce that my Botanical Gardens – Wisley Necklace has been chosen to be included in the new Association of Contemporary Jewellers (ACJ), exhibition Glasshouses.

    Botanical Gardens – Wisley Necklace

    Botanical Gardens play a vital role in helping to protect the bio-diversity of our planet and helping to support conservation of habitats around the world. The Glasshouses of Kew and Wisley RHS contain plants from around the world so they can be studied and protected.

    This necklace, inspired by Wisley as it lit up for the Festival Of Light, uses cloisonné enamel on a hand-engraved silver base, bezel set. The chain is made from Ecosilver and recalls the large, airy cathedral-like structure of the glasshouses. It can be removed and worn separately.

    Update: Buy here in my shop.

    Watch Linda’s video

    The exhibition brief prompted a whole new range of work and a new direction for me. I am so excited to be included. you can read here more about how it was made and don’t forget my new Video Stories page where I talk about this necklace. This necklace is available for sale through the Sussex Guild Online Shop along with some more of my work and lots from my friends and colleagues.

    New Botanical Gardens Pendants and Earrings

    Here are some new pieces that are available to purchase from my new Online Shop. There are some other pieces there to and I am adding new work on a regular basis. It just takes a long time taking the photos! You can save 10% on your first purchase and get free UK postage by signing up to my new Inside my Studio newsletter. This will give you access to all the latest news as well as special offers and discounts together with all the latest news about Jyppy my studio assistance dog.

    Hope you will join me in this new venture. I am currently trying to write my first one so I would welcome all the support I can get. I think more cake may be required!

    Jyppy, Studio assistant and Head of Dispatch Department

    Jyppy is currently working in the Dispatch Department and here you can see him with the latest order using my Newsletter discount. I am including free environmentally friendly gift wrapping and a complimentary silver cloth with all orders whilst stocks last. He needs to get a move on to catch the lunchtime post!

  • Wisley Botanical Gardens Enamel

    Wisley Botanical Gardens Enamel

    I have been thinking a lot recently about visits to Botanical Gardens and the wonderful collections of plants that they house. I have many happy memories of visiting Kew Gardens as a young child with my grandparents when you got in for 1 old penny in the turnstile. Years later I remember getting locked in when I went there for a picnic to celebrate a friends birthday after work. Champagne and strawberries in the rhododendron dell and we didn’t hear the little bell they used to ring. We had to walk around the perimeter until we found a cottage where someone was living. It was well before mobile phones. As a family we enjoy days out to gardens of all types and often visit Wisley RHS and Kew. I am always drawn to the cathedral like structures of the glasshouses whether they are the a Victorian structures at Kew or the much more modern one at Wisley with its state of the art computer controlled light, heat and ventilation. Entering the Glasshouse at Wisley is like walking into a jungle with tree ferns, tall palms, lush-leaved creepers and dazzling flower displays giving a feeling of lushness and drama. Sometimes it is home to thousands of butterflies which adds another dimension to the display. During the winter they have a Festival of Lights where plants on the glasshouse are lit by coloured lights from beneath giving extra colour and drama.

    I spent a long time looking at the many hundreds of photos I have taken over the years. Due to the lockdown I wasn’t actually able to visit any of these places again but the photos really helped. I spent a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon on the patio drawing ideas.

    I decided to work on silver and to engrave the piece before forming the wires for a cloisonné design. I made a film about part of this process that you can see on my Tutorials page. Here are some pictures of the piece in progress.

    The silver has been cut, formed and engraved. First I add a layer of transparent enamel and fire in the kiln before I start to add the wires that I have shaped using the design I have drawn. It’s a long process.
    The enamel is laid in thin layers and each layer is fired in the kiln for around two minutes.
    More layers have been added and fired to build up the depth of colour and shading.
    Even more layers.
    When the cells are nearly full I grind the whole piece. I am aiming to have the whole piece level without any areas which are lower than the rest. This is done in stages. More can be seen in the films on my Tutorials page.
    This is the final firing when only a few cells need a little more enamel to fill them
    The final piece. It has been fired and ground down and then polished by hand to make it shiny again. It feels silky to the touch. It is now ready for a setting to be made.

    Check out my Video Stories to learn more about this necklace and to see more videos of my work.

  • ‘In Amongst the Bluebells’ Cloisonné Enamel Necklace

    ‘In Amongst the Bluebells’ Cloisonné Enamel Necklace

    This time last year I was exhibiting my new necklace ‘In amongst the Bluebells’ at the Guild of Enamellers Annual conference where I was privileged to win the Peter Woolfe Cloisonné cup. It was a lovely moment. I am reminded of this at this time of year when the bluebells are again appearing in the woods a few minutes from my home. I walk there every day with my dog Jyppy and it is always a joy to be there and always different. This time of year for me is always inextricably linked with my mother as her birthday and very often Mother’s Day occur this month whilst the blue bells are out. Sadly she passed away unexpectedly earlier this week, just a week after her 84th birthday. I have been taking some time to rest and reflect, although also of course I can’t resist a new project too! More soon. Meanwhile I thought some may like to know more about the process and the making of this necklace.

    ‘In Amongst the Bluebells’ cloisonné enamel on silver necklace

    It began with an idea and an image in my mind of what I wanted to achieve. This is usually what happens to me although the image is fuzzy and very unclear. This piece was quite different to work I had done previously and I remember was a real challenge to find how to make it work. I was at the time taking an Engraving and Advanced Enamelling class at Goldsmiths’ Centre with the renowned Joan MacKarell. I had done some engraving previously in short workshops with the wonderful Phil Barnes, but this was more intense and gave me the opportunity to really develop my skills.

    I wanted to recreate the way that the colours of the blue bells change in intensity as they get further away. I decided to contrast this with the silver birch trees that spring up wherever there is a gap in the canopy. I love the texture and colours of the bark of these graceful trees.

    The planning took a long time but finally I was able to see clearly what I wanted to do. Next to make it in enamel. At this time as well as the engraving I was experimenting with some new Enamels that I had purchased as a sample set from Milton Bridge some years earlier. The colours I had chosen were perfect for this project. Maybe that is where the idea stemmed from. It is hard to know. As you can most of the image is shown by engraving on the silver with only some details in cloisonné. The trees had the addition of underglaze paining to show the texture. As always the Enamelling is undertaken with very many thin layers, blending the colours as I go. Finally the Enamelling of the piece was completed ready for the finishing with the help of my beloved JoolTool, Emery sticks and then finally diamond paste. The finished piece was bezel set and I decided to make a pierced silver bail with engraved details showing bluebells. The reverse of the silver bezel also had a pierced bluebell to augment it and add interest. Sadly I didn’t photo this. This piece encapsulates Spring, Easter and this time of year for me. I may make another one as this one found a new home last year.

  • Spring Hare Cloisonné Enamel

    Spring Hare Cloisonné Enamel

    I had a commission to make a Spring Hare necklace, similar to one I have made before. Here are some pictures showing the process I went through to make it. Please feel free to message me if you have any questions.

    The wires are in position and ready to be fired on top of a layer of flux over the engraved silver disc.
    Colours have been ground with pestle and mortar and placed in little pots ready to apply. Notes in my sketch book and photos show me the colours I used before and the effect I am looking for. The wires are not identical and the colour placement certainly won’t be which means the piece will be finished piece will be unique in its own way.
    First full layer out of the kiln. You can see it is very under fired.
    Wet layer enamel showing some of the blending. Ready to fire.
    The piece is ready for its first grinding. You can either use diagrit or I like to use my JoolTool
    The piece has been partly ground down. You can see the shiny areas which will probably need more enamel. I will do a little more grinding, taking extreme care not to go too far so I make any of the enamel thin and pale in colour. Then I will glass brush it under running water before refilling the shallow depressions with more enamel.

    I have just made my first video and uploaded it to You Tube where I talk about the finishing of this piece in more depth. Check it out and let me know what you think. –Https://youtu.be/7zUpowcjm-Q

    Spring Hare Necklace.
    Cloisonné enamel on silver in a silver bezel setting.

  • New Cloisonné Enamel Necklaces

    I finished these two cloisonné necklaces this afternoon. They are all on silver in silver settings. The Enamels for the two Magic Carpet necklaces measure 30mm. These are inspired by Magic Carpets, infused with memories and dreams of places visited and people known, in the past and in the future. I hope their new owners fill them with their own Magical Memories and Dreams. The other is part of my Mystical Domes series and is around 35mm in diameter. These are inspired by my fascination with domes, my love of the Brighton Pavilion, St Paul’s cathedral and the Mughal architecture I saw in Rajasthan, combined with stories of the mythical lands of Arabian Nights. One of the Magic Carpets is sold and the other will be coming with me to Farnham Festival of Crafts at the weekend. Unless anyone wants to buy it before it gets there of course!

    Magic Carpet Cloisonné Enamel necklaces
    Magic Carpet Cloisonné Enamel necklaces

    Mystical Domes Cloisonné Enamel necklace
    Mystical Domes Cloisonné Enamel necklace

  • Jyp’s Jewels – Ladybird Magic Carpet Pendant

    Jyp’s Jewels – Ladybird Magic Carpet Pendant

    Jyp DogIntroducing Jyp the dog, my faithful Workshop Apprentice and Chief Watch Dog. This year, following on from my occasional Blog Post series, ‘Jyp’s Jewels’ I have decided to make him a monthly feature. Every month, Jyp will present to you his favourite piece. I have insisted that he only chooses jewellery and not bones or balls!

    Ladybird Magic Carpet Pendant

    The first piece for 2016, is a custom ‘Magic Carpet’ pendant in one of my hand made silver moon settings. This was commission for a client who was giving it as a special birthday gift to a lady who loved Ladybirds.

    magic carpet pendant ladybird

    I had lots of fun designing it and you can see I have included flowers and leaves too. The piece is cloisonne enamel on fine silver, in a sterling silver silver moon setting. We decided to do just one colour and let the silver wire delineate the design, making it a more sophisticated piece than having it bright colours. The design has been highlighted with flecks of pure gold before rubbing down and finely polishing.

  • Pets on Jewellery

    Pets on Jewellery

    I have been working on a new idea. Cufflinks for my husband with our dog Jyp on. They are cloisonne enamel on fine silver, set in hallmarked sterling silver cufflinks and they measure 14 mm in diameter. The idea would also work well as earrings or as a pendant too. Each side could have a different pet on or as here, a motif with the pet’s name. I plan to offer them as a commission piece.

    Jyp-Cufflinks

    Jyp-cufflinks-box

    Jyp-dog

  • April ‘Critter of the Month’ 2015

    April ‘Critter of the Month’ 2015

    Two new Dragonfly pendants for this month. They are both enamel on silver and hang on a leather thong. One is cloisonné enamel and the other has painted under-glaze details. Hope you like them.

    Dragonfly-Pendant-cloisonne Dragonfly-Pendant-Silver

  • Cloisonné Enamel – The Making of my New Magic Carpet Pendant

    Cloisonné Enamel – The Making of my New Magic Carpet Pendant

    Cloisonné Enamel – The Making of my New Magic Carpet Pendant

    Cloisonné enamel is where fine wires are embedded in the enamel to create the design. There are a lot of different stages involved in making a piece using this technique and I decided to use my new Nimbus Cloud Dome to take pictures of the making of my new ‘Magic Carpet’ inspired Cloisonné enamel piece.

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    This shows the wires laid onto the base. In this case I am using fine silver foil on a copper base. I have used Soyer Silver flux over the foil and fired that before starting to add the wires. I have used fine silver and fine gold wires. They were fired into place in two separate firings as the design was too complicated to do all in one. I use Kyre-fire to hold the wires in place to go into the kiln.

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    This shows the first layer of colour fired into place. I have used a light blue under where the pink will go. I find that this helps the pink to fire a better colour.

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    This shows the second layer of colour that has been wet laid into the cells before it is fired. It is quite tricky where the design is complex to keep the colours separate. A good light and  the right glasses are essential!

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    Here the second layer has been fired. I am really pleased with the pink particularly.

    20140207-170348.jpg
    Here I have added fine gold foils and painted oxides to the design. After firing I will then complete the enamelling with two layers of Blythes Medium flux. The two layers will be fired separately. If you apply it too thick it tends to go cloudy and obscure the colours. After the last firing I use a fine diagrit to rub all over the enamel to remove any excess. The aim is to achieve a level surface with no high spots or depressions. The latter show up as a shiny patch amid an otherwise matte surface. If necessary, I add more medium flux and refine and then repeat this stage. When all is flat and perfect I use a succession of wet and dry paper with lots of water to achieve a soft eggshell finish. I use Renaissance Wax to seal the surface and to protect it.

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    This is the finished piece before setting. There are hours of work involved to get to this stage.

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    The completed Cloisonné Enamel ‘Magic Carpet’ inspired enamel set in a sterling silver surround.