What I've been up to......

I have a few events coming up over the next few weeks which I am also preparing for alongside the run up to the BCTF which is now only about a week and a half away! I hope the weather continues as it is at the moment as i remember the BCTF at the beginning of april last year was heavy snow forecast which i think made a lot of buyers shy away from the sunday..... but fingers crossed spring is now here to stay.

Anyhow the few things coming up are a small craft fair in Knaresborough which I'm going to try out and she how it goes. I went to see it at Valentines weekend and it seemed a nice place I
would recommend a visit.

I am also taking part in an exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park throughout the summer. A great place for my work to be sold surrounded by the sculptural structures and countryside.

I'm also working towards a May exhibition which is being held at the Zillah Bell Gallery in Thirsk. They hold various exhibitions throughout the year and the May exhibition is interpretations of the White Horse of Kilburn by invited artists. This is interesting as it is locally topical, I spent the other day taking pictures of anything that inspired me around Kilburn and the White Horse. I think I'll be able to use some of them to create some interesting jewellery. I have added a couple of pictures so you can see the beautiful surroundings.

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Jessica at Work - Part 2

As i said in one of my previous blogs i wanted to give you an in sight into how i create my work. The acrylic does have to go through a variety of processes to become jewellery. All my work starts with a flat sheet of acrylic. The bangles for example first get cut into the correct size, then i print my image onto the surface of the acrylic, this will become the inside surface. I then bend the flat piece. At this point the bangles don't look much so the next step is to cut the ends off which also gives me flexibility with sizing. I then have to take the surfaces through a variety of sanding stages. Once this is complete i then have to polish the surfaces (see image from Jessica at Work blog). After these processes you have a finished bangle - see image. It is very time consuming but enjoy working with acrylic and feel going from a flat sheet to a wearable unique pieces of jewellery is very satisfying.

Progress with BCTF continues, all the invites have been sent and I am getting all the work finalised. The website now has a catalogue showing a good selection of my work that will be shown for all those that would like a preview or can't attend due to not having a trade connection.

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