Summer Catch Up...

Before I begin the next stage in my making career in the next week or two, here is what I've been up to since completing my final Degree show project...

First I exhibited my final collection at De Montfort's Art & Design Show alongside many other talented Design Craft makers, all working in a variety of materials including glass, metal, textiles, paper & ceramics.

Here are some of us at the Private view, celebrating getting through all the stress & late nights of making!

For my set up I focused on using a science theme to present my work, incorporating test tubes, glass jars & even this dead mouse (below) we unearthed while moving plinths!  

Thank you to everyone who came & visited our show - If you didn't get a chance to take a look at my Facebook page for more photos or read the lovely Karina's review of the show here.

Next it was on to New Designers, a showcase of Design graduates from across the country at the Business Design Centre in Islington. It was a fantastic week for everyone, with lots of sales, opportunities and exhibiting offers!

It was also a brilliant place to look for inspiration - look out for a future blog post on my favourite new graduates I saw there.

Thank you also to Kate from Look Like Love for the lovely write up about my collection on her blog!

And last but not least in a busy few months was Graduation day!

Soon I will be starting back at University as one of five Design Crafts Artists in Residence, so look out for some new work coming up! 

Rusty Finds.

Since coming back to university in January I've been collecting rusty objects for my current project. In my last project I used an old burnt out barrel my Dad found at the bottom of the garden as my main material and this has sparked a bit of an obsession with everything rust, as you will see! 

My friend Amy's parents have just moved into a new house in the countryside and in the woods at the back there was massive haul of old, rusty objects which Amy kindly managed to stuff in her car & bring back to Leicester for me! If you are interested in contemporary jewellery take a look at Amy's lovely work here.

My absolute favourite piece from this collection is this beautiful, falling apart bike, which had been there for so long it even had a tree growing through it!

As if this wasn't enough rust to be getting on with, me and fellow Design Crafter Alice (www.instagram.com/alicevictoria_textiles) took a trip to visit 'Rusty Rick' a man we found on Ebay who had a very interesting selection of rust covered items! See below for the pieces I chose.

Vintage mole traps, horse bits & pitch fork.

& this is part of the amazing horse bridle (more on this later) with the leather strap and buckle still intact.

I'll be keeping you updated on how I transform these objects so keep a look out! 

Let me know what you think about the rust, do you think its beautiful & interesting or belongs in the bin? I'd love to hear your opinions!