Artist Statement
After a lifetime working at the bench, participating in important exhibitions worldwide, selling to discerning galleries and the most upmarket retailers, as well as undertaking a few interesting commissions, I can look back and recall my experiences as a tutor as amongst the most exciting times in a very happy career. I took enormous pleasure in seeing the work of others develop and reach out to inspire interest and enthusiasm in the public. I firmly believe that jewellery is a very valid art form and whilst enormous progress has been made in recent years, with wonderful creative work appearing from many quarters, I am convinced that more can be done to connect the maker and the wearer and my experience has suggested quite a few new ways of going about this.
I instigated and co-organize the Aura exhibition in East Yorkshire which has now run successfully for three years and introduced new talent to England from the Netherlands and Italy, as well as stimulating interest in Jewellery as an art form in this local area. The next Aura exhibition will move from its original home at Burton Agnes Hall to take place in York at The King's Manor in November 2008. It will showcase the work of talented jewellers from Wales and Germany, as well as that of the four organisers; Jacqueline Stieger, Jacqueline Warrington, Emma Sedman and myself. More information is available on www.auraexhibition.co.uk - an informative website which I built in order to give on-going maximium opportunity for publicity and contact for all the participants.
Last year I founded 'Creative Jewellers on show', (CJos), which has already had two very successful group exhibitions. The first one was of mainly British artists in Amsterdam at the Sieraad Art Fair. It successfully conveyed the very high level of skills and design talent currently being achieved in the UK. The most recent event featured seventeen jewellery artists, comprising 9 women and 8 men with ages ranging over 4 decades, from a variety of countries - Australia, Japan, Italy, Germany, Netherlands and the UK - and all with very individual approaches to their work. This was part of the Form exhibition which took place at Olympia in London from 28 February - 02 March 2008. This fair was described as showcasing Modern & Contemporary Art & Design and our stand was quoted in the 'Findings' magazine as 'making a strong showing'. We were certainly one of the most popular and successful exhibitors at the event.
CV & Education
Qualifications and training
2003 - PgCert, Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, BIAD, Birmingham
1972 - CSAD(Cert), Central School of Art and Design
1969 - Foundation Course, Scarborough
Group exhibitions
2012 - Ringleaders, Pyramid Gallery, York
2012 - Thirty30, Pyramid Gallery, York
2011 - Ringleaders, Pyramid Gallery, York
2011 - Rings, Craft Centre & Design Gallery, City Art Gallery, Leeds
2010 - Aura, Grays Court, York
2010 - CJos at the Pop-Up Shop, In association with London Jewellery Week, Clerkenwell, London
2010 - CJos stand at Simply Christmas, Harrogate International Centre, Harrogate
2010 - Sieraad Art Fair, Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2009 - Aura, Grays Court, York
2009 - Sieraad Art Fair, gashouder westergaterrein, Amsterdam
2009 - Silver with a Pinch of Salt, Goldsmiths' Hall, London
2008 - Aura, Kings Manor, York
2008 - Form, Olympia, , London
2008 - Urban Armour at The Ringstead Gallery, British Silver Week, Burnham Market
2007 - Aura, Burton Agnes Hall, Driffield., East Riding of Yorkshire
2007 - Sieraad, Rai exhibition centre, Amsterdam, Holland
2006 - 25th Anniversary Show, Royal Exchange Theatre Craft Shop, Manchester
2006 - Aura, Burton Agnes Hall, Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire
2006 - Sieraad Jewellery and Silver Design Event, Europa Foyer, Rai exhibition centre, Amsterdam., Nethelands
2005 - "On The Cuff", Goldsmiths' Hall, London
2005 - Aura - with Jacqueline Stieger, Jacqueline Warrington and Emma Sedman, Burton Agnes Hall, Driffield, East Yorkshire
2005 - Showcase in association with the Castellani Exhibition, Gilbert Collection Shop, Somerset House, London
2005 - Sieraad, RAI Exhibition Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2004 - Shapes of Jewellery, Pavilion of Designers, Vicenza, Italy
2002 - Celebration, Goldsmiths' Hall, London
2001 - Supermodels, Goldsmiths Hall, London
2000 - Christmas Exhibition, Roger Billcliffe Gallery
1999 - Goldsmith's Fair, participated each year since 1983, Goldsmiths' Hall, London
1998 - Artisan, EICC, Edinburgh
1995 - Jewellery Show 9 and 10, Craft and Design Shop, City Art Gallery, Leeds
1991 - Heartlines, Craft and Design Shop, City Art Gallery, Leeds
1990 - Jewellery Show 4, Craft and Design Shop, City Art Gallery, Leeds
1988 - Rings, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
1987 - Silver and Jewels, The Design Centre, London
1986 - A celebration of English Silver, Shreve, Crump and Low, Boston, USA
1986 - Frankfurt International Fair, Goldsmith's Co stand, Frankfurt
1986 - Hallmark Silver Collection, Goldsmith's Co exhibition, nationwide
1984 - British Silver, Bullocks Wilshire, Los Angeles, USA
1983 - Dazzle, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester and other venues
1981 - Chelsea Craft Fair, Chelsea Town Hall, London
1980 - Treasures of London, Adelaide, Myer Art Institute, Perth, Western Australia Art Gallery, Sydnet, David Jones Store
1978 - British Jewellers, Jaffa, Israel
1975 - Loot, Goldsmiths' Hall, London, Leeds City Art Gallery, Los Angeles County Museum, Minneapolis Art Institute
Curated projects
2010 - CJos at the Pop-Up Shop, In association with London Jewellery Week, Clerkenwell, London
2010 - CJos Stand at Simply Christmas, Harrogate International Centre, Harrogate
2010 - CJos Stand. Sieraad Art Fair, Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2009 - CJos Stand. Sieraad Art Fair, Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2008 - CJos stand at Form, Olympia, London
Educational experience - tertiary
1991 - Jewellery Tutor, Design Department, University College of Ripon and York St John (until 1995)
