Acrylic Jungle

Ever since Tatty Devine began making their brilliant bold and quirky necklaces, lots of other designer-makers have embraced laser cut acrylic - and who can blame them?  You only have do the design once, it's minimal work and can be endlessly repeated - in wood, metal, fabric and lovely shiny, or metallic, or glittery acrylic.  For someone whose making process is very labour-intensive, with each piece being a one-off and hard to repeat exactly, this sometimes seems like a very appealing way to work.

Mexican Embroidery - my favourite Tatty Devine design.

But now suddenly,  SO much laser cut stuff is about.  And has the seductive nature of producing a beautifully clean-edged piece that looks so good on its own maybe overcome creativity and originality in some cases?

I have been resisting using it for just that reason.  Resisting it until I can think of some original and personal way to use it, something that doesn't look like a lot of the other things around.

Back in the summer of 2014, I started hatching ideas for necklaces based on a variety of inspirations.  One was a lot of richly coloured necklaces on sale in the V&A Shop a few years ago, which were strung together from fabrics, chains, tassels and lots of different sized beads.  I loved their mix of elements and their asymmetry. I made quite a few designs, using beads, charms, recycled elements and old plastic animal toys found in a local street market, which I bling-ed up with fabric and little jewels.

My favourite, and the one that looked most like what I was aiming for, featured a tiger and lots of floral beads and hanging glass leaves and was inspired by the naive and incredibly decorative jungle paintings of the 19th century artist, Henri Rousseau.

The necklace looked different and unusual, but I couldn't produce any more like it as I wasn't able to find any more leaves and tigers.  Then the brain kicked into gear - could this be achieved using acrylic?  The combination of other materials and semi-precious beads with acrylic pieces would definitely be a way of making the jewellery look different to anything else I've seen around.

I produced some sketches of the leaf and flower shapes that I wanted, using Rousseau's foliage as a very loose inspiration.  The tigers were based on my original little plastic tiger.  The ability to have shapes cut inside the shapes was also an exciting possibility - even the holes could be added in this way, saving having to drill them all individually.  I wanted to choose loads of colours, but found that the cutting process was going to cost a lot more that I had expected, so had to rein in my greedy little magpie tendencies.  I also wanted to produce necklaces in one-colour options too, in case people didn't fancy wearing bright multi-coloured ones.

Eventually, the shapes came back, still in their square sheets, and I spent ages popping them out and peeling off the plastic coating, then laying them out to form the complex jungle necklaces.  This design process takes a long time, as the composition of each necklace is as vital to me as the composition of a painting or photograph.  It's important that the colours, shapes and beads flow and balance.  Pieces are swapped or removed and colours changed many times before they are finally attached.  Even then, there are often still changes to be made as the necklace looks different hanging on and moving with the body.

I'm so happy with the finished pieces and also delighted to be able to make earrings too.  I love earrings (I have dozens of pairs!) but have found it hard to make them in the other materials I use.

The necklaces and earrings are on sale during the month of May at one of the Brighton Artists Open Houses on the Fiveways trail (for details, click here) and most of the following necklaces are in the Shark Alley shop.

Brighton Festival Open House 2015

Was it really JANUARY that I last blogged?  How very remiss of me.

Suffice to say that when I'm quiet on here, it's because I've been busy elsewhere and in this case it's because I've been cooking up a whole new range.  I'll devote another blog post to this very soon, but meanwhile you can see the fruits of all this effort exclusively at 202 Ditchling Road Brighton for the next four weekends.

Happy New Year

Ok, so it's a bit late, but HAPPY NEW YEAR from Shark Alley.

I have many plans for new projects in 2015 and I look forward to sharing them with you as soon as they are hatched!

I hope you all had fun over the festive period and that great things are in store for you in the coming year.

Christmas Event Dates 2014

Here are the Christmas events that Shark Alley will be appearing at this year - two in Brighton and two in London.  Pop them in your diary and I hope to meet you there!

NOVEMBER 2014

OPEN HOUSE AT 202 DITCHLING ROAD

Saturday 22nd/Sunday 23rd & Saturday 29th/Sunday 30th November
Shark Alley is once again delighted to be invited to take part in artists Polly Raynes and Chris Brooks' long-running and much-loved Open House.  It's not part of the official Brighton Christmas Open House trail, but is based in the Fiveways area, so if you've been making a day of it on the Fiveways trail on the weekend of 29th-30th, come in to browse a mix of art, textiles and jewellery with a complimentary glass of mulled wine.

House open 11am - 6pm.
202 Ditchling Road, Brighton, BN1 6JE.
Click here for more info.

 BRIGHTON CRAFTAGANZA

Saturday 29th November

Come and find Shark Alley at this popular Brighton craft event - I'll be there for one day only!

11am - 5pm

Fabrica Gallery, Duke Street, Brighton BN1 1AG.

Click here for more info.

DULWICH COLLEGE CHRISTMAS FAIR

Sunday 30th November

Head to the Boardroom to find Shark Alley's stall at this hugely popular and MASSIVE shopping event at the historic Dulwich College in South London.

11.30am - 4pm

Dulwich College, Dulwich Common, London SE21 7LD.

Click here for more info.

DECEMBER 2014

THE ISLINGTON CHRISTMAS GIFT FAIR

Friday 5th/Saturday 6th/Sunday 7th December

Come and mark Small Business Saturday at Shark Alley's debut at this three-day event!  Late night shopping on Friday too.

Friday 5 December:  12noon - 8pm

Saturday 6 December:  10am - 6pm 

Sunday 7 December:  12noon - 5pm

Entry ticket £3 (includes entry to the Free Prize Draw to win goods to the value of £700)

Islington Assembly Rooms (next to the Town Hall)  Upper Street N1 2UD.

Click here for more info.

I look forward to seeing you!

New Look

Finally I've got some time to blog about Shark Alley's new look!

This has mostly revolved around a new shop that I've set up, which I'm so happy with.  It looks sleek and clean and helps me offer more to my customers, which is great.

 

So how did it all start?

Following a valuable business mentoring session with Craft Central at the beginning of June, I decided that Shark Alley needed a rebrand.  Since setting up in 2010, my work and style has evolved and clearer needs have been identified, so these had to be addressed with some changes.

But how to do it?  The trouble with the creative brain (well, mine anyway!) is that it just wants to make beautiful things and it can't step outside and be objective about the business of it all.  I started off gently by gathering images on Pinterest - not with any clear ideas in mind, just to sort out the things I was drawn to visually in terms of look, feel, presentation, colours, logo etc

Then one night my friend Lucy, a 3-D designer, revealed she'd had an idea for Shark Alley. We made plans for lunch and a massive brainstorming session . . .

This is NOT our brainstorming lunch, I hasten to add! 

Lucy's idea was that, given the name, Shark Alley might be an actual place, and all the animals might live there in different streets or locations off of it.  BRILLIANT!  So maybe construct a map then? I put this idea to friend and map illustrator extraordinaire Neil Gower and he suggested that maybe there should be more of a reason for it to be a map. so it shouldn't appear too contrived  As Lucy and I brainstormed, suddenly the idea popped into my mind - TREASURE ISLAND!  Treasure, 'cos I make jewellery, RIGHT?!  This really got things going as we discussed look, feel, colours, logos etc and did lots of drawing and scribbling of notes, then I went back to the studio and started working on putting these all together in some sort of coherent form.

Inventing the environments was the next challenge. Originally I was very into the idea of constructing these from cardboard, which could also feed into an interesting display at craft fairs.  A very frenzied Sunday afternoon was spent on the floor surrounding by a sea of cardboard trying to make it work.  Should they be flat or standing?  How would I photograph them with the products?  It just wasn't working and I was so upset and frustrated.  How could I do this all by myself?  Too much!  I threw the cardboard in the recycling and started aimlessly scribbling in my sketchbook.  As is often the way, when the brain is in neutral, the ideas will come.  I had started drawing simple graphic shapes . . . hmmm, maybe this could work?

 

These shapes helped make the final choice of the environments, as it was important to be able to suggest them just by using a simple and easily-recognisable image. So they became; Mountain, Garden (flowers), Lagoon (waterlillies), Forest (trees), Bay (shells) and Lake.

Eventually the map was roughed out in Illustrator, with everything laid out nicely.

After lots of fine-tuning, the map was finally created in Photoshop, using scans of torn paper collage, brown paper and cut-out product photos.  The shark fins are a nod to the old Shark Alley logo.

The new logo is based on a quick sketch I did after the brainstorming session.  Nothing was ever better than this first one, so I ended up using it. It also inspired the shape of the island.

(Anyone notice a vague similarity to my favourite place?)

The map was the main header on the website, but I also needed headers for each category.  These originally featured four images, but they were just too much for the eye to cope with with all the products on the page as well, so I put together a simpler version instead.

All the Shark Alley products needed to be re-photographed as well, and from different angles.  I settled on brown paper as a background, as it is a good neutral colour and helps define the white stars on some of the necklaces.  Making these work on white backgrounds was always a nightmare of Photoshop jiggery-pokery!

The brown looks different for each product on the page, but I like it.  I think it fits in well with the natural theme.

 So there you go!  The new little world of Shark Alley. What do you think?  It was unbelievably hard work under the time constraint I stupidly gave myself (I wanted it done before The Handmade Fair), working evenings and weekends and having to do everything myself.  So many times it felt impossible and there was a lot of self-doubt along the way (Should I do THIS? Is THIS any good? etc etc). I'm reminded of this little gem.

www.sharkalley.co.uk

They Draw Horses, Don't They?

Waaaay back last summer, a gauntlet was thrown down in The Annexe Studios by fellow member Steve Woodgate (the man who supervises my printing needs).

Based on the theory that horses are the hardest thing to draw, he challenged all of us (and other local artists including Tracy Beaker illustrator Nick Sharratt) to produce postcard-sized images of horses in what ever style or media we cared to use.  You can see them on Pinterest here if you care to. There was a little vote-based competition (your correspondent came second), and then the whole idea went on to become a shop - with a launch event.  Hurrah!

Steve Woodgate introduces Harry Venning

Held at The Latest Bar in Brighton, delights on offer included all work to purchase on prints, mugs and teatowels, 'live' screenprinting on paper recycled from - wait for it - manure and cartoonist Harry Venning's legendary presentation on how to draw cartoons.  Harry is the artist and writer behind Clare In The Community - a Guardian comic strip and award-winning Radio 4 comedy.  It was hilarious - almost brought the horse down.

Harry in full flow

Horsey screenprints - done on the spot.

Illustrator Paul Collicutt's horse - available for further artistic interpretation.

If you want to purchase any of the horsey goodness, visit the They Draw Horses, Don't They? shop HERE.  Mine's not there just yet - must remember to sign that release form . . .

Remembering The Handmade Fair 2014

So, two weeks ago I was running around like the proverbial fly with a blue bum in preparation for the first ever Handmade Fair presented by Kirstie Allsopp.  (For those of you not living in the UK, Kirstie presents a series of TV programmes with an emphasis on traditional crafts and upcycling.)

And now its all over and I'm just back from hols and feeling very odd!

I haven't had a chance until now to blog about the fair - or blog about anything at all lately to be honest - so here goes.

The Fair was held in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace - a magnificent pile once owned by King Henry VIII - and it is quite stunningly beautiful.  As I grew up nearby I used to go there as a child, but through adult eyes it seemed so different - more spectacular if anything.

Strung with heaps of colourful bunting, all the marquees looked lovely as we set up on 18th September - a day so hot and sunny it could have been July.  A few teething issues with unloading times made the whole thing slightly fraught - sitting in a hot field for over two hours was not the finest start when you want to feel all Zen to set up your lovely bijou little stall - but eventually (if rather sweatily) everything got done.

So - the Fair began on the Friday and ran for three days. Visitor numbers were good, with Saturday being the busiest.  I was so grateful that I'd invested in a dinky little Paypal card reader, as sales have been lost in the past when people ran out of cash.  I was also delighted to sell a necklace from the brand new Fables range!

Getting to grips with the card reader.  Photo by Skye Pennant

'The Watcher In The Woods' one-off resin and semi-precious bead necklace - SOLD to the lady with the excellent taste

Rushed off my feet - and loving it. Photo by Skye Pennant

I felt that there was a strong sense of mutual support amongst the exhibitors and I was lucky to have some familiar faces there - Tina Francis Tapestry and Victorious Bee - as well as making new friends Joanna Clark Design, Lorna Bateman Embroidery and Honey Bee Beautiful.  I was also incredibly touched that Mary Ann Nelson from Zarafa Designs, one of the Fair's Experts and the lady who taught me how to use resin, came and found me and said how proud she was that I had gone on to make resin jewellery and that she always encourages her students to look at my website.  This was such a lovely boost and very flattering.  I picked up lots of info and tips as well as having a good laugh with my fellow stallholders.  I also bought some gorgeous make-up bags from the very talented Punto Belle - who designs her own fabric before making them into a range of bags.  These are ostensibly PRESENTS, but I don't know. I'm not convinced they'll be received, if you get my drift.

Medium Make-Up Bags by Punto Belle.  Photos by Punto Belle.

IDIOT MOMENT - missing an opportunity to say hi to special guests and my ex-employers Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably when they popped into the West Tent on Saturday.  I umm-ed and aah-ed, thought they might walk past me later, but didn't, so I blew it.  I used to work on mosaic projects with Kaffe back in the late 1990s, culminating in Gold Medal winning garden at the 1999 Chelsea Flower Show, which is where these pictures were taken.

Late on that day, there was a bit of a party for the exhibitors to make up for some of the problems people had been experiencing.  I have to be honest here and say some people were very disgruntled, and later several people from the event's organisers went round asking for feedback on how things could be improved for everyone in the future.  Kirstie made an appearance and was mobbed, there was food and wine on offer and it was just nice to spend a bit more social time with my fellow exhibitors, as there was little time for that during the busy days.

I was most intrigued with Kirstie's amazing pompom embellished shoes.  This was a nod to 'World Pomination' - the fair's attempt to make the world's longest string of pompoms.  Members of the public were asked to submit three pompoms each, which would then be added to the string.  I think they did make it in the end!

Kirstie Allsopp's (very blurry) pompom shoes

The pompoms looked so pretty laid out on the grass in the sunshine and wound round the trees.

So all in all, it was an experience, sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating but I came away feeling that I learned a lot and that what I'm doing is worthwhile.  Will I do it all again?  I'm still deciding.

The new look Shark Alley stall. Photo by Skye Pennant

I guess that means it's over.