from inside the workshop

Sunny Day

Alys Power — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:47:34 +0000

Finally, a sunny day. Seeing my chance I dashed into the garden to take some photos of my new work before the clouds returned and the rain started again. So good to feel a bit of sunshine and the perfect conditions for photographing my work.

I usually photograph pieces on a plain white back ground. For me it shows my work off to it’s best and makes it easier to accurately capture the details and colours. My photography set up is not very sophisticated and my photography skills leave a lot to be desired so keeping things simple works for me. I use a light tent similar to this to diffuse the light and set it up in the garden out of direct sunshine. I find this gives me a nice even light with no harsh shadows.

I took a couple of hundred pictures taken today, while the weather lasted, and now it’s just a case of editing – cropping, adjusting and balancing each one and then getting them online.

Home Sweet Home

Alys Power — Tue, 01 May 2012 07:37:11 +0000

So, at last, the drama and chaos of moving house are fading and I can finally get back to work. The new studio is just about set up (there will be more on this soon) and is at least functional and after three frustrating weeks we have proper, full speed internet being piped directly to the house. No more squinting at emails on a tiny phone screen, no more visits to the library to see the internet full size and keep the website going. It is so so so so nice to be able to sit here, watching the drizzle fall in my tiny garden and finally be working again.

This seems to be the place to send out a big thank you to everyone who has helped us move and also to those customers, shops and galleries and all the countless others who have been so patient with me while things have been manic.

Normal service is now resumed. Thank you.

Tools part three – Pliers.

Alys Power — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 08:04:47 +0000

The third in my series about tools and techniques. Pliers. These are the five I use most often but I am always picking up new pairs here and there at DIY shops and car boot sales. You can find vintage and second hand ones for pennies, especially if you value those which have a bit more character but if you do go for a vintage pair -make sure you check the closing mechanism and try how they feel in your hand – the joint can stiffen with age and might need a bit of maintenance before they are comfortable to use.

From left to right.

1. Half round pliers. For bending rings and curves, these ones have one curved surface to bend against and one flat smooth face so as to not mark the metal.

2. Flat nose. With a slightly tapered end, I have four or five pairs of these because they are so useful but I always mislay them somewhere. It’s good to have at least two pairs though, one for each hand. It makes jobs like opening jump rings or making bead links so much easier.

3. Side cutters. These ones are DIY rather than jewellery pliers so they are a bit more heavy duty. The don’t leave a flat end to the wire when you snip it but they go through just about anything – even stainless steel pin wire.

4. End cutters. These are made for jewelers so they are a bit smaller, they leave the cut surface flatter and are good for getting into difficult spots such as cutting down a rivet ready for hammering.

5. Round nose pliers. Designed for making loops and bends in wire, again I have a few pairs of these and couldn’t be with out them.

6. Large round nose pliers. As above but with a thicker diameter. These are a vintage pair I picked up at a car boot sale.

Spring Colours

Alys Power — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:38:40 +0000

The dull, drizzly weather has been with us for too long but now little shoots are finally poking up through the earth and the hedges have a twinkling of new green growth on them but I need more, I need luscious, juicy and vibrant colours to cheer me up and help me look towards the spring. Last year I began to develop a new collection. Using recycled sterling silver I began casting rings, clasp, and long thin forms in lovely organic shapes. See more about the process here. Recently they have so reminded me of the bare winter branches and silvery winter weather I wanted to see how they would look contrasted with something a little bit more colourful. The ideas behind the Sticks and Stones collection are all based around natural forms and materials and I wanted to continue this so on a recent trip to London I visited one of my favourite bead shops and bought some strings of stone beads. So far I have strung up a few bracelets but I love this combination of rough cast silver and smooth, cold polished stone so I think I will definitely be doing some more.

You can see more images of the Sticks & Stones collection here and there are even a few pieces available to buy online.

Tools part two. Cutting

Alys Power — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:50:02 +0000

This is the second in my mini series about my tools. The tools I use shape my designs and my creativity so this string of posts will help you see into the studio and find out what I work with. If you are thinking of taking up jewellery making it should give you a good idea of what you will need too. You can read the first in this series here.

Top: Piercing saw

Bottom: Tin snips

When it comes to cutting metal these are really my only two weapons of choice. A piercing saw is absolutely essential for any kind of small scale metal smithing. For those who don’t know, it has two clamps at either end into which you fasten a thin, serrated metal blade, I usually use a 2.0 grade blade. Mine has a third nut at the top which adjusts the tension and means you can use different length blades. I have had this saw for almost ten years – one of the first tools I bought when I started getting into jewellery. It is brilliant for cutting through thicker sections of metal, working around intricate shapes or getting into tight spots. It will also cut wood & plastic. I am hankering after one of these but this one should last me another ten years.

The tin snips are basically just a pair of seriously heavy duty scissors. I have a few different pairs but I have had this pair for about ten years as well. They are battered and in need of a sharpen but it’s funny how fond you can get of the items you use frequently. I use them every single day, for cutting sheet metal into nice, almost straight lines. You can get curved ones for cutting rounded shapes but I have always managed fine with the straight edged ones.

A New Direction And A New Adventure

Alys Power — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 21:00:25 +0000

Today I took a trip out to Derbyshire to drop off some new work for the Lost and Found exhibition at The Beetroot Tree Gallery in Draycott. I have been supplying jewellery to The Beetroot Tree for about 3 years so I really wanted to offer something new and to take the opportunity to try out something different.

My new work is a series of eight small three dimensional artworks using vintage photos, paper ephemera and all manner of bits and pieces I have collected over the years and that I couldn’t use for jewellery making. It’s great to be delving into them and bringing the photos to life again.

They will be available as originals through the gallery and also as prints – exclusively available through the Beetroot Tree for the duration of the exhibition but I will have them available in the webshop from the end of April.

The exhibition opens next weekend and runs until the end of April. It’s exciting but nerve racking – one of my creative resolutions for 2012 was to work a bit out of my comfort zone and stretch my artistic wings so now I just have to wait and see how it is received.

I Love Rainy Days

Alys Power — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:55:29 +0000

the view from my window today

I love days like this. The cold rainy weather is outside and it makes my little attic studio feel all the more snug and cosy. It helps me drift off into my own little world, the one where the radio keeps me company and I happily potter about finishing off a couple of commissions and playing with some new designs. Before I know it it’s four o’clock and I have to brave the weather to collect Matilda from nursery. For now though I will enjoy the calm before the storm.

These are a few of my favourite things

Alys Power — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:23:27 +0000

Tools!! It does occur to me that perhaps my love of making things is an excuse to indulge my love of tools. Here is the first of a series of posts about what I use to make what I make. And where else could I start but with hammers. I have far more than I need and am still collecting, but each one is different with it’s own character and it’s own uses. Especially the vintage ones. They have their entire working life imprinted into them and it feels like every time I use them this history is infused into the jewellery, they add texture, personality and for me a sense of integrity and reality to my work. They are objects which were made for a hard and heavy industrial life and now enjoying a gentler retirement with me in my studio. Here are a few of the ones I use most often.

Left to right.

1. vintage cross peen hammer. I use it for adding all the letters and numbers to my jewellery.

2. heavy vintage claw hammer. Good for shaping and forging thick sections of silver or brass

3. vintage tiny cross peen hammer. I use this one for flattening off rivets

4. ball peen chasing hammer. This one has a lovely weighted handle and a soft, smooth mat surface on it’s flat end. Perfect for planishing silver or brass to a perfect but not too shiny finish.

Left to right.

1. brass/nylon hammer with aluminium handle. Tiny and light it is good for when I don’t want to leave marks on the metal and for very delicate jobs like adjusting claw settings.

2. vintage blacksmiths hammer. Possibly my favourite, this one has a fantastic texture to the flat face and is the one I use most often for adding a texture to silver work. Despite having a wobbly head this one is really well weighted.

3. tiny ball peen hammer. Used for finishing tube rivets on the sparkler and button rings. The rounded end finishes the open ends nicely and is just the right size.

4. nylon hammer. replaceable nylon heads. I use this for round off rings and for when I need to reshape something delicate but don’t want to leave any hammer marks. The nylon ends can be unscrewed and changed when they wear out.

5. jewellery planishing hammer. The first jewellery hammer I ever bought. It has polished faces to give a bight mirror surface to the silver.

Hello 2012

Alys Power — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:21:07 +0000

After the madness of the autumn/winter sales season and then the whirlwind of a family Christmas returning to the studio felt like a welcome breath of fresh air. But first it needed a good clean. My work space is generally in a state of organised chaos but after 3 months of solid making the mess was getting ridiculous. You can just see my lovely new velux window in the top left corner. It makes an amazing difference to the light in the studio but the installation left a fine layer of dust on top of the jumble of tools, materials and odds and end that littered every surface. So I spent a lovely, peaceful morning pottering, tidying, sorting, dusting, cleaning and generally getting ready for the new year and some new work. The studio went from this

to this

I know. It is still a mess. I spent hours tidying and by the time I had done an afternoons work it was chaos again. I thinks it’s reflective of my current state of mind – there are so many things going on that the best way to keep track of them is to have everything out at once. I have work in an exhibition at the Bilston Craft Gallery, I am making new work for the Lost and Found exhibition at The Beetroot Tree in Derbyshire and for the Love Letters showcase at The Harley Gallery in Nottinghamshire, I am planning a set of workshops at the wonderful Debbie Bryan Studio and Shop in April, I am working on a brand new collection and I’m teaching myself bead stringing and stone setting to add a bit of sparkle to this collection, not to mention preparing stock for my first selling event of 2012 – SOCK in Loughborough in March. And I though January would be a quiet month.

Seasons Greetings

Alys Power — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:07:09 +0000

With only one fair left to go and a few orders left to finish I am starting my wind down for Christmas. It has been a fantastic autumn/winter and so I will say a big big thank you to all the wonderful people who put on events, exhibitions and of course to all my lovely customers who make this such a fantastic and fun job.

It’s such a pleasure and a privilege to help people find the perfect presents for the people they love and as I sit in the studio working my thoughts often turn to all the people who will be opening their little packets of jewellery on Christmas morning.

I will be taking commissions right up until Christmas and my next tasks are to get some more things onto the online shop (it is looking a little bit sparse at the minute) and then start preparing for some the exciting things that are happening next year – starting with a New Year showcase at Bilston Craft Gallery in Wolverhampton followed by exhibitions at The Harley Gallery, The Beetroot Tree and Unit Twelve. And today I have been accepted into my very first event of 2012 – the brilliant SOCK craft market in Loughborough in March.

Thank you for being part of a fantastic 2011 and here’s to 2012 being even better. Merry Christmas. xx