All that Glitters!
You can't have missed the hype surrounding the new BBC tv show called All that Glitters which is like Bake off/Sewing Bee/Pottery throwdown where 8 contestants complete some jewellery challenges and each week someone is evicted. There are celebrity judges of course and a comedian to compere the show!
As you can imagine as a jeweller, it fascinates me - so much so that I thought I would challenge myself to complete the first task. The contestants were asked to take a piece of 1.2mm sterling silver sheet and turn it in to 3 bangles. They had 3 hours... I ordered my silver and over the course of the last week I have been juggling orders, school run and normal family life but slipping away to work on my 3 bangles.
It has been quite a challenge... I spent a good few days thinking through my designs (the 3rd bangle really stumped me), I broke a LOT of saw blades in cutting the piece of sheet silver in to 3 pieces. I spent a long time filing and sanding the bangles (and if I'm honest I ran out of time with that task).
My theme was about finding peace in the chaos of life. My first bangle is a wide cuff and I used my rolling mill to add a texture of small bubbles which represented all the tasks we set
ourselves to do. My second cuff features a design of holes which represent the word Peaceful in braille. I wanted to evoke that feeling that we are sometimes doing things in the dark in an attempt to get them all finished in a day, but that there is a little more order than the first bangle which just bamboozles you in terms of volume of tasks.
My last bangle is a representation of the ups and downs of life - some smooth patches and then some holes you fall in to and then a piece of chain which represents a little more muddle.
I really enjoyed the challenge, it prompted me to really think differently but I did realise that I've been spoiled by being able to order sheet silver cut to the proportions I need. There was such a lot of filing and sanding which I needed to do...
Have a look at my finished pieces and let me know what you think!
April 2021
