September, summer over

At last, back to the blog.
I have no pics yet, but we have been to a 2-day family wedding in  Garmisch Partenkirchen, in Bavaria. My son, Laurie, lives there with his family. It was one of those occasions that went like clockwork, where most got, if not drunk at least very jolly, let their hair down and completely relaxed. We will have very happy memories.
Back to London and the stress of having rather too much to deal with kicked in straightaway, only to ease up after a few days of gradually, slowly getting on top.
To Garmisch yet again in a couple of weeks to participate in a conference: 8 Tagung zur Hinterglaskunst,  (8th Annual Conference of Reverse glass Painting) 4/5 October.
It will be held at the Schlossmuseum at Murnau, where so much traditional glass painting was done.
I am to do a practical demo, struggling along with my horrible German (my head is full of Polish, which goodness knows is only elementary, and at my age switching is like turning a blooming liner).
My chum Erik Winkler will be giving a talk on the whole history.

He is Dutch, so German is no problem.
Last year I had prepared a paper so I could read it. The audience broke up when I tripped over one of those schwippesterer words (I made that up) and burst into giggles. At least that broke the tension. Heaven knows it had been pretty dry and German until then.

The other thing is I am going to be taking a stand at Pure, London, in February, 2014. www.purelondon.com It will be at Olympia. It is fashion and accessories.
I am a bit nervous, it is a big investment, but I have to do it as all the buyers come, looking for the next new thing, or for anything, frankly, that will turn a profit, I guess.
It will save me a lot of nerves and footwear to be where they will come me, rather than me trying to find them. I will have the jewellery and also some new paperweights which I think will be very exciting. All sorts of possibilities there!
I visited it recently and met the charming Jennifer Chuks.
She is young and just starting out, and asked me to help publicize her work.
Her site is cheekypoppins.co.uk, and she make accessories for shoes etc.  I found the goldiest one I could for the blog.  If you are reading this, take a look at the site!
Thats it for now, more soon!  Take care.

 

See the button?

Buttons for a waistcoat

Detail

Detail

These buttons are done as offerings to potential clients. We will see what happens. I have used moon gold to match the embroidery and paint glazes to try to match, in paint, the changing colours of the leaf. Not easy, but is doable. I am pretty excited by the possibilities.

Slack, simply slack

So when was the last post? June I think.
That is simply unacceptable. (ha)
From here on I will aim to get a note, however short, on every week or two.
Life is complex, a lot going on. Which is NO excuse.
To explain these pics:
Stefan and I are rebuilding on the site of his childhood home, in Stopnica, Poland, 100km NE of Krakow. We spent a few weeks in the summer, getting it ready for the builders who will come in soon and lay the foundations. The plan is to do a lot of work ourselves, and we expect it to take up to a couple of years. Maybe it will be quicker.   We want to live there. When we can actually make the move is predicated on the fact that we are living with and caring for my elderly parents, each mid 90's.
To me it is beautiful. Very lush in a good summer, like this one. I am crazy about the easily availability of fresh, seasonal fruit and veg. The weather is extreme and the winters long and hard.
But, you have to live somewhere, and the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. We will have a super duper little house, very warm, and surrounded by extended family who live from next door to all over Poland.
My own family is tiny: my son and his family live right now in Germany, and who knows where they will live next. So why stay in London? We can choose; what a privilege.
The language:  It has its horrors, but although of course I will never be able to speak well (I assume; who at 67 learns Polish for heavens sake?) I think it will be ok.  I am getting a bit of a handle on it. It is certainly better every time I visit, so there is hope!

Me clearing rubble and shoving it outside

The picture is taken standing further over to the left, with the tree on the right. The end wall, on the right, will also come down, so the builders have access to lower the floor to the level of the garden, thereby gaining height for a 2nd floor.

So, meanwhile I am working on the business and building new clients.  So far I have had custom from a couple of clients in Savile Row and Burlington and Piccadilly Arcades, and am working on samples for more clients. It seems they all like the idea of painted glass cufflinks and buttons done to match fabric. It is a bit fiddly and not cheap, but for those who want something very special, it is a good thing.

Meanwhile I have been included in Who's Who in Gold and Silver, a great honour.
http://www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk/exhibitions-promotions/who's-who-in-gold-silver/

Also work continues on samples for clients with my friend Lucy Batt, lucyalexandrabatt.com. She engraves glass and together we can decorate glass, front and back, and as usual, possibilities are endless. She has some excellent clients who want exclusive designs; just the thing.

The website is being redone as I write, by Tony Astley, www.sixtillnine.co.uk. That is exciting; the shop will work and look good and hopefully I will be able to generate business that way too.
Laura, my trusty assistant, is helping me get to grips with Facebook, which is still a struggle for me. Stefan is very good at it, (he does it, and I don't) and he has posted loads of pics of the Polish venture: https://www.facebook.com/stefan.majka.1?fref=ts

More soon and, as the man said, if you have been, thanks for listening. f

In situ by night

By day

Home made pic

another one

I have been rushing around trying to get as much out of London Jewellery week as poss. I missed The Jewelry Show, but you cant do everything.  Talked to lots of people about exhibiting.... learned a lot.
Consensus is I should do Treasure. The J Show is very costly and more for mass produced stuff. Mine is def not that.   Treasure will be good for meeting new people and finding clients.
Then there are the Pet shows. With luck I can find commissions through them, for pet portraits. Also I will do pics of horses!  That is a rich vein of customers, I think.

Work plans and a bit more

From the front with a couple of glazes on.

Stage 3

Stage 4. From the back, scratching through the paint

Now it is backed with foil so the silver leaf is both matt and shiny. I will photo it in situ. It is a devil to photograph, as anyone who has tried will confirm. But once in place it will be easier to read.
This is photographed from the front.
Size, 20" x 28". I used 4mm toughened glass.






Happy to say I am now collaborating with Lucy Batt, www.lucyalexandrabatt.com who is a glass artist working for interior designers. Together we are offering decorated glass that is NOT kiln formed, rather decorated with cold techniques that not only better fit tight(er) budgets (not you and me though, we are talking yachts and planes here) but that are less stressful to produce.
Lucy sandblasts the front,  using stencils and working deep, and then I paint and gild the backs! A perfect combination. These panels will be suitable for items such as table mats and table tops, as well as for wall coverings for bespoke interiors.

I hope in the future to get more work up on the blog.
One slight problem has been the lack of time. I am of an age when I get very tired and need my evenings. I am not a Margaret Thatcher type who can manage on 4 hours!
My husband, Stefan, and I are living with my parents and taking care of them. They are both well over 90 and pretty frail.  So my time at work is limited and very scattered. I am trying really hard not to get frustrated and to accept it all, (ha!) but a bit of a balancing trick is going on.  A lot of shopping, cooking, washing etc.  Anybody reading this know what I mean??

To get the work done, out there and sold is a big job!  I am trying (like LOTS of others) to get the jewellery marketed, without the lovely Laura, my p.a., who has just swanned back to Canada till September.
I did do well on my first visits to town as I said in a recent blog, but it needs more!
This is what I need to find:
1. a group of jewellers who will be happy to have me within their group, in order to share in exhibitions and be part of a community. This is not urgent, but I need gallery exhibition opps.
2.  suitable trade fairs to exhibit, such as the Pet Fairs, where I would push the Pet Portraits as jewellery; meet clients/collectors, gain commissions and even sell! Yeh!
3.  the right retailers to stock the work.
4. More clients like the last lot..... tailors, shirtmakers, fashion people for the buttons (!) etc.

None of this is rocket science, I just have to get on my bike and do it. It takes time but that is ok.

More pics soon once the splashback is in place.  

I do understand some people read this.  (someone I had never met before told me she read it!!) I was thrilled. Please people, if you are reading this, please stop by to say hello (comments?).
Best, f

Splashback, working larger.

Splashback stage 1. 

This is the first stage of a splashback for behind a cooker. Regular, toughened 4mm glass (not low iron, so rather greenish, which is no problem).  Strips of silver leaf laid on the wetted glass, left to dry and distressed.

Splashback stage 2.

First layer of paint, with a variety of colours, laid on in one go. Working in reverse I have to imagine how layers will look all together. The silver leaf is now covered. Further layers will build up the colour. The work will be viewed eventually from the front.