Linda Connelly Enamels

Tag: Design Process

  • Moments of Time and Place

    Moments of Time and Place

    New work evolved and inspired by landscapes

    At the beginning of the year I embarked on a journey spending time developing some of the ideas I had for enamels whilst walking and enjoying the landscape around me. I always take lots of photos and in recent years I have been capturing some of my ideas in a small sketch book that I carry with me. I started painting exploring the colours and discovered these gorgeous tiny pieces of Khadi paper that are perfect for a jeweller like myself.

    Tiny paintings of landscape and skies

    The bottom right one is from Bardolino, Lake Garda which I visited last year. Below is a photo I took at the time.

    Bardolino, Lake Garda

    I couldn’t immediately see how to translate my ideas into jewellery other than by complicated cloisonné wires which wouldn’t achieve the look I was seeking. The breakthrough came when I began using my engraving skills to carve depth into the silver surface. This technique is called basse-taille. Now I could use transparent jewellery enamels to paint and portray tiny images to be worn as earrings and pendants.

    Here is the first piece I made in this series. The mountains and rocks are all carved into the silver surface, under the enamel. Each piece has probably seven or eight layers which are all fired separately before I use diamond grits and polish to finish the surface.

    Bardolino pendant

    Some of the first pieces I made together with the tiny painting that inspired them.

    Moments of Time and Place tiny pendants and paintings

    There are earrings too.

    Time and Place enamel earrings

    I have made more pieces inspired by specific places including Rye, Brighton and Eastbourne in East Sussex. These are all places I know well and visit frequently. Spending time in them is balm to my soul and I hope that wearing one of these helps the wearer connect with the peace they may similarly feel whilst there.

    Eastbourne beach, East Sussex – Pendant and tiny painting

    I have continued to develop the idea behind these pieces and here are the very latest pieces in this series.

    Black headed gull flying over the dunes
    Morning mist over the marshes
    Marsh Dawn
    Coming Home

    The four large pendants above and a selection of the smaller pendant and earrings will be on show at Oxmarket Contemporary in Chichester 11-23 November 2025 as part of ‘Tales in the Making’ an exhibition with the Society of Designer Makers. Full details of opening times on my website.

    Display at Oxmarket Contemporary Tales in the Making with Society of Designer Makers

    I would love to know what you think of this new work. It has been an exciting, inspiring and at times deeply frustrating journey to get here. I’m not finished yet and I feel there is lots more to come in this series. There are pieces in my sketchbook waiting to be born resulting from a recent holiday in Dubrovnik as well as an Autumn walk in my local woods. So much inspiration everywhere! Where would you like to see a piece from? I would love to know and perhaps I could work with you to make a piece inspired by your special place.

  • Silver Award at 2023 Goldsmiths’ Craftsmanship & Design Awards

    Silver Award at 2023 Goldsmiths’ Craftsmanship & Design Awards

    I am really excited to announce that I won a silver award at this year’s Goldsmiths’ Craftsmanship & Design Awards for my necklace, “All I want is to be beside the sea”.

    “All I want is to be beside the sea” – silver and gold cloisonné necklace with freshwater pearls and double sided enamel beads

    The necklace features a central drop which is fine silver and gold cloisonne on engraved silver in a silver setting. The side beads are double sided with different designs on each side, interspersed with fresh water pearls.

    Close up of “All I want is to be beside the sea” necklace and showing the reverse side of the double sided enamel beads.

    The reverse of the necklace has a embossed wave design and will also carry the hallmark of the London Assay Office together with the special mark for the Coronation of King Charles.

    Reverse of “All I want is to be beside the sea” necklace
    Work in progress pictures showing some of the stages.
    Presentation of my certificate at the Awards ceremony at Goldsmiths’ Hall

    As part of the process of developing the design I made a number of smaller pieces which are now earrings and pendants. These will go into my online shop and will be available at Shows this year.

    I also made another version of the large necklace but this time with a custom silver fish link chain. It is similar in design to the winning necklace but has some subtle differences. With pieces like these I always aim to make everyone of them unique.

    All I want is to be beside the sea necklace with custom silver fishy links chain.

    I made a short film showing this in detail. here is the link.

  • Getting Started and the Design Process

    Getting Started and the Design Process

    This morning’s blog post by Grace Marshall http://grace-marshall.com/starting-badly/ really resonated with me and I have to share it because it is a problem familiar to most artists and designers. I had a design to do for a client that was a little out of my comfort zone. I did some preparatory sketches some time ago and it has been sitting waiting for me to get back to it. A few weeks ago I spent some time on Pinterest making a board to help whilst I was sitting watching telly one evening. I was ready to start but whenever I have some time, somehow I always found something else to do, like actually making something in my studio. Mother’s Day afternoon was a perfect opportunity. It was wet and dismal so husband and I divided the dining room table in half. He did what he wanted to do on one half, and I set myself up with pens, pencils and the chocolates my son had bought me. As I always tell my students, starting is the hardest thing. It is so true. I had been putting it off until I could see the finished design in my mind but it wasn’t happening. I needed to actually work through things with paper and pens to get to where I wanted to be.

    To start with, I sketched elements that were troubling me from the inspiration board on Pinterest that I had made. I did this from my iPad. Then I incorporated elements into drawings I had already made. When I work on designs I repeatedly trace them, incorporating changes each time. This time I used the scanner on my printer which saved a lot of time as I just needed to draw on top of the last print and then trace that and repeat the process. Over the course of the afternoon the design evolved into something I am really pleased with. I also used the scanner on my printer to change the size. Eventually I was pleased with my design and I could add colour. I feel such a sense of achievement! I can’t wait to show my client. Hope she likes it. Let me know how you get over the problem when you are stuck. I would love to know and perhaps we can learn from each other.