You carry it with you

A recent piece I made for an application for an exhibition organised by the Art Jewellery Network. I don’t usually make jewellery objects but I thought this was a good opportunity to try something different and the final piece moved away form my initial idea in quite an interesting way. I had intended on making one of my abstract objects – using the form of the key to represent the idea of home, and have it attached to a loop of string to make a necklace. However I ended up using the overall form of a chain and pendant as the underlying form. The idea of home was expressed through the materials used- rose thorns gathered from the garden where my studio is sited, beach combed objects from the local beach where I walk, metal pieces found on the streets of Belfast and pine needles from the woods where I wander. I also used linen thread which to me has strong associations with Ireland. The steel loop of the pendant was made from a worked reinforcement bar from car windscreen wipers [which I use a lot in my work] and the ceramic stopper found on the beach is from a Belfast brewery which closed in 1950- which had to be used for its strong associations with home.

Hopefully if it is selected it will be exhibited in Koru5 during August 2015 in Finland and October 2015 in Space CRAFT Gallery, Ireland.

And yes it is uncomfortable to wear- snags and catches- but then Home isn’t always a comfortable place to be.