Saturday 15 December 2012

Pendant Commission

Handmade resin stone mounted in silver and 9ct gold (6cm x 3.5cm), silver chain (90cm) with 9ct gold handmade findings.

I've been working on a pendant commission from a lovely gentleman for his sister's birthday.

We went through my collection of work and the customer picked out elements he liked from several pieces - designs, colours, styles and detailing.  The recipients height, skin and hair colour were discussed and we also had a look through Facebook albums at photographs.  The customer particularly liked my latest collection of work which is inspired by Victorian ironwork from the now demolished Smithfield's Market - (for the blog post on the inspiration behind this body of work, please see the Collecting History tagged posts here).  A pendant and chain was decided on and a stone selected from a range of rough sanded fishing net stones.  Below is a series of images which show the piece being made.


Assorted handmade resin stones - fishing net design
Stone selected - bottom left hand corner

Stone polished up - on top of the image which inspired the colours and opacity

Ironwork - Smithfields Victorian Market building - NW Film Archive footage

Stone overlayed a drawing of the ironwork roof within Smithfields Market building

The customer selected an area within the drawings I had done of the ironwork

Silver pendant mount and tracing of ironwork design

Piercing out the design out of the back of the silver mount

Finished silver mount with 9ct gold bayonet and platinol applied inside

Jane Dzisiewski
Handmade resin stone mounted in silver and 9ct gold

Handmade 9ct gold finding

Jane Dzisiewski
Finished piece lit from behind to showing the opacity of the stone


This piece is now parceled up and on its way to the recipient although I won't be able to relax until I know she has received it and most important of all, likes it!  Digits crossed.

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Stockport Designer Craft Show 2012






The Designer Craft Show takes place every winter at Stockport Art Gallery and brings together the work of designer makers from across the UK.  This year Jo Lavelle is curating the jewellery section of the show (where I am exhibiting) and for which there is a blog.


Full list of 2012 Designer Makers:
Aiden Spencer - Alena Asenbryl - Beth Legg - Bronwen Tyler Jones - Bubble & Tweet - Caroline Cowan - Catherine Woodall - Claire Lowe - Corinne Lapierre - Craig Fellows - Deryn Relph - Dot Sim - Goldfinch Jewellery - Grace & Favour - Graceink - Helen Russell - Jane Dzisiewski - Janie Withers - Jo Lavelle - Kate Bajic  - Lee Page Hanson - Made by Simone - McDonough and Davies – Meeni - Michele Pouncey - Michelle Freemantle - Miranda Sharpe - Once Upon a Time in the North - Sadie Blythin - Sam Robinson - Sarah Packington - Seed - Stabo - Tamara Gomez - Tangent Textiles - Touchy Feely Textiles - Tracey Birchwood - Tree Fall Design


Location:
Stockport Art Gallery
Wellington Road South, 
Stockport, 
SK3 8AB, 
0161 474 4453

Google Maps

Friday 7 December 2012

Little Northern Christmas Fair 2012




Altrincham Grammar School for Boys
Saturday 8th December
10am - 5pm
£2 entry

I will be exhibiting a selection of work at the Little Northern Christmas Fair.  This event has been organised by the team behind the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair (GNCCF), Ann-Marie Franey and Angela Mann from Great Northern Events.

40 selected designer makers and artists will be selling a range of work from jewellery, textiles and fashion accessories to beautiful things for the home.  See the full list of selected exhibitors here.

For further info and a downloadable leaflet, please see here.

On Facebook GNCCF: Facebook event here.  Facebook album here.




Monday 26 November 2012

Made By Hand at Tredegar House, South Wales








30th November - 2nd December 2012, Tredegar House, Newport, South Wales

Friday 30th Nov: 11am-5pm
Saturday 1st Dec: 10am-5pm
Sunday 2nd Dec: 10am-5pm


I will be exhibiting at Made By Hand Wales later this week. 140 of the UKs finest designer makers have been selected.  For the full list of exhibitors, please see here.

The fair takes place at the fabulous National Trust property Tredegar House.  For visitor information please see here.  There will also be a range of workshops and talks - full itinerary here.

It is worth noting that the food available is gorgeous - as is the mulled wine.  So if you know me, (or just want to curry favour), please make sure you come to Stand 61 via the refreshment area.



Tredegar House





Tuesday 30 October 2012

30th Anniversary Charity Auction and Cocktail Evening at Manchester Craft & Design Centre.



The auction takes place at Manchester Craft & Design Centre, Thursday 8th November  6—8 pm.  Tickets are FREE but please register here.

"This unique event provides the chance to bid for one-off artworks produced in response to the history of Manchester Craft & Design Centre.  An online bidding site has been set up here.  The online bids close at 10pm, 7th November.  If the online bid remains the highest bid after the auction on the 8th November the bidder will be informed by email on Friday 9th November." (MCDC website info)

The piece I made is LOT 15 about which I have written a post previously here.  There are 30 Lots in total and below are a few examples of some of the other work included in the Auction:-



Crafty Hulk

Tom Norwood - Wall of Art
Reserve Price: £65.00


Measuring Tape

Lily Greenwood
Reserve Price: £50.00


Evolving

Sue Devine - Devine Designs
Reserve Price: £50.00


Memory Box

Jo Lavelle
Reserve Price: £100.00


Uneven Ground

Linzi Ramsden - seed
Reserve Price: £50.00


The Bees Knees

Rochelle Dodson
Reserve Price: £40.00


Ring Sculpture

Eve Redmond
Reserve Price: £100.00


Space Invader Patchwork Pillow

Andrea Lord - &made
Reserve Price: £25.00


History In The Making

Alena Asenbryl
Reserve Price: £50.00


"Auction reserve prices start at just £15.  50% of monies raised from bids will go to The Forever Manchester Charity.  The remaining monies will help to develop a new welcome area at Manchester Craft & Design Centre." (MCDC website info)








Monday 29 October 2012

News Update: Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, National Glass Centre.

The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair is over for another year.  I was exhibiting on the Crafts Council UK Hothouse Alumni stand within the pavillion and had a fabulous time surrounded by talented makers and friends from both Hothouse 1 and Hothouse 2.

Thank you to everyone who showed an interest in my work.  I was delighted to receive two awards. Firstly the Best New Maker Award (sponsored by Godfrey Holland Accountants). This was my 3rd time at the GNCCF (and my last as a 'new' maker).  I was told that I had won this because of my continuing research and development with resin and for initiating new ideas and designs year on year.  As a maker you are shut away for weeks on end and think that nobody notices the developments you are making, so I am thrilled to bits about this.


Best New Maker Award GNCCF 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski


Secondly was an Exhibitor Award selected by the National Glass Centre, the prize being an exhibition at the NGC in 2013.  As approaching the NGC was on my list I am very pleased and thankful for this opportunity - particularly because the more I learn about glass making, the more I see parallels between this and my resin process.  


National Glass Centre Exhibitor Award GNCCF 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski


The weeks during the run up to the GNCCF were a bit full on.  However I managed to start a GNCCF 2012 Facebook album here but below are a few work in progress images for the Facebook disinclined... 


Work in progress 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski


Work in progress 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski


Work in progress 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski


Work in progress 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski


Work in progress 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski


Work in progress 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski


Work in progress 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski


Work in progress 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski


Work in progress 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski


Work in progress 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski


'Study For The Portrait Of Bonnard' by Édouard Vuillard - colour inspiration


Work in progress 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski


Work in progress 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski


Work in progress 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski


Work in progress 2012 - Jane Dzisiewski

Assorted handmade resin stones



The next show to prepare for is the Designer Craft Show 2012 at Stockport Art Gallery curated by Jo Lavelle. Please see the DCS blog here for information on the show, a full list of exhibitors, artist's statements and images. The show opens 24th November (preview tickets here) and runs until 27th January 2013.

I will also be exhibiting at Made By Hand 2012, Nov 30th - Dec 2nd.  This is a fantastic event held at the beautiful Tredegar House, South Wales and is a selected exhibition of 140 professional, contemporary fine crafts makers.  All details on the MBH website here.






Monday 6 August 2012

Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair 2012, Manchester.


Next up for me is to prepare for the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair 2012, Spinningfields, Manchester.  I like to torment myself with a regular countdown and my latest reckoning puts this at 8 weeks and 2 days until setup begins.

The GNCCF leaflets have gone to print and I was mighty pleased to discover that an image of my work made the kaleidoscope of craft this year (the bangles on the outer circle).

The timetable is up on the wall and the work schedule in place.  This will no doubt have gone completely to pot by the end of August when I will then revert to applying large amounts of tippex moving the goal posts.  Usually by the time a fair comes around the once flat surface of my to-do list resembles the crater of the moon where I have been removing the evidence with white liquid.  At this juncture though, the good intentions are there and the sanding regalia is already set up at 9.30am ready for me to start.  The finger has been pulled out.

For all information on the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair please see their website here.  All the other 2012 exhibitors are up on there too to whet the appetite.








Saturday 21 July 2012

Manchester Craft & Design Centre - Crafting History



CRAFTING HISTORY
Manchester Craft & Design Centre
 Jane Dzisiewski - Brooch - handmade resin stone mounted in silver


Crafting History is an exhibition of work created in response to the history of Manchester Craft & Design Centre (MCDC).  Within the brief, the participating artists were given the option to use their personal memories of MCDC as a starting point, or to draw inspiration from the recent Collecting History exhibition (which ran from 28 April – 30 June 2012) with an accompanying blog which recorded the project and is described below:-


Manchester Craft & Design Centre used to be the fish and poultry market and the building as it stands today is actually only part of what was the original structure.

Below are a few pictures from the Collecting History blog which illustrate this (more can be viewed here)..


The fish and poultry market as it once looked - much longer than MCDC is now.
 Creator Kay, W, Date 1966

Start of retail fish market from Oak Street, Creator Kay, W, Date 1966.

The facade on Oak Street as it once looked.

The facade on Oak Street viewed here adjacent to Copperas Street.  That lady is sat
where the noticeboards are today outside Manchester Craft & Design Centre.


Further images and maps of Smithfield Market can be seen on the Manchester History website here.  There are also some photographs of the time "In-between" here - showing the redevelopment of the building which became Manchester Craft & Design Centre.

The information collected throughout the Collecting History project varied from personal anecdotes recounting various incidents from the past to more recent history, through to archive images and films of Smithfields as a working market.  I focused on the North West film archive footage for inspiration, which can be viewed here.  This clip is a compilation of three films of all the Smithfield markets (fruit, vegetable, poultry and fish) from the early 1900s and the 1970s.  It shows the area as a bustling and vibrant place up until 1973 when the majority of the market buildings were demolished.  

Below I have screencapped parts of the film.  At 9:35 the camera pans slowly out showing the ironwork and distinctive frontage which echoes that of Manchester Craft & Design Centre today..


9:35 mins

10:05 mins

..and what initially looks like glitches in the film at 10:05 are revealed at 10:25 to be falling glass coming from the roof above.  In the image below, a figure wielding a large stick can be seen smashing the glass..


10:25 mins

The image above was cropped further and then a drawing made of this - eventually used to form the decorative detail of the brooch back..






A fractured fishing net design was embedded in the handmade resin stone and cut to scale of the floor plan of Manchester Craft & Design Centre, then squared off..

Manchester Craft & Design Centre - floor plan


Handmade resin stone - cut to scale of MCDC (and then squared off).


Clear resin was used to give the stone the quality of glass through which the decorative brooch back can be seen in the finished piece..




The drawing of the roof was fixed to the back of the silver brooch mount made to fit the resin stone and the negative space pierced out of the metal..









CRAFTING HISTORY
Manchester Craft & Design Centre
 Jane Dzisiewski - Brooch - handmade resin stone mounted in silver





The food wholesalers are gone but the area now known as the Northern Quarter is still occupied by independent business people, just as it was in its former incarnation as Europe's largest market of its kind.

Crafting History runs until 10th November 2012 concluding with an auction at MCDC of all the work made, with proceeds going to charity.

For further information, free ticket registration for the auction event on November 8th / 6 — 8 pm and online bidding please see HERE.