Highlights from "Pearls to Plastic"

Here are some of the highlights and a closer look at the Spotlight on Jewellery Exhibition Illuminate helped to choose a pieces for - "Pearls to Plastic" A collection of all of the jewellery we took were also included, as well as a necklace by Illuminate favourite - Nora Fok! 

All Photo Credits: Anthony Hopwood

An Excellent Opening

I would like to say a huge congratulations to all members of Illuminate, as well as a big thank you to anyone who participated in any way towards the opening of the Jewellery Exhibition last week! It was a great night and all of our hard work has really paid off. Pictures will be added soon!

Also, the room is looking very, very blue and is getting closer and closer to being a meeting space we can all be proud of! Now that the Jewellery Project is all wrapped up we can really concentrate on getting this room done and dusted... that is until we move on to the next thing!

Jewellery Project Opening!

Room decoration aside, the most important news for this week is the Spotlight on Jewellery Gallery Opening

    

Anne Morrell, Cerulean, 2009 Nora Fok, Disc-florets, Neck Piece 2008/9

Light & Line : Polly Binns & Anne Morrell Two leading figures in the field of art textiles show their work together for the first time, in an exhibition that explores the common threads uniting their practice, as well as their wider contribution to contemporary textile history. Both artists use stitch as structural and mark-making components in the development of their images and ideas. Both share a fascination with the light and texture of landscape: Polly has a long-held interest in the North Norfolk coastline and Anne is inspired by the contrasting landscapes of India and her own garden in Cheshire. Light and Line is a Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery touring exhibition, funded by Arts Council England through the National Lottery. Pearls to Plastic Imagine an Egyptian glass bead necklace, an Anglo Saxon bronze brooch and a Medieval ring; cut steel buckles and buttons, a Viking period brooch-pin decorated with enamel and a Spanish pendant of gold and emeralds; earrings made from human hair, Italian cameos cut from shell, gold filigree earrings made in India and a modern brooch in vibrant colours made of acrylic.  These are some of the fabulous treasures from Nottingham City Museums and Galleries’ collection of jewellery, which will be the focus of this Spotlight display. Many of the pieces tell of journeys through life - of love and fidelity, status and fashion, travel and souvenirs, death and mourning. A special feature of the exhibition is a stunning new necklace by Nora Fok, selected for the collection by members of Nottingham City Museums and Galleries’People’s Panel and Illuminate, the Museums’ Young Arts collective. Illuminate have also worked with photographer Siân Stammers to record people’s jewellery, as spotted on the streets of Nottingham. This project has been possible thanks to funding from Arts Council England, through the Grants for the Arts programme.

Featuring a neckpiece sculpted by Nora Fok and a photography project put together by Illuminate members this will be the culmination of a lot of hard work over the last few months.

Hope to see some of you there - and don't forget to bring your bling! 

NORA FOK - THE WINNER

The beautiful piece which Illuminate has carefully selected

Nora Fok is an artist who expresses her ideas in a personal and distinctive way. She has a unique ability to translate ideas into delightful delicate and intricate compositions which one immediately associates with her.

Nora works at home in Hove,on the sunny south east coast of England, she uses no mechanical equipment, all her work is carried out by hand processes, with only basic tools.

She is intrigued by the world around her; she also asks questions and tries to find answers to them. She is fascinated by different aspects of nature, structure, systems and order, and the mysteries and magic which she sets out to capture in her work. They are often quite complicated requiring many hours, days or weeks to produce and she has the necessary dedication to see her ideas through. She likes to draw attention to the very ordinary to make something special by presenting it in her own way. Her approach is not scientific; she combines her discoveries intuitively with her personal technical skills to produce her unique pieces.

Sculpture and Tactile Jewellery

mORE JEwELLeRY...

Pick yours... we would love to hear what are your favourites!

Hello Again, Illuminate this year has been organising and working on a lot of different projects. Our exciting Exhibition Spotlight on Jewellery is coming up in May and we are all excited for the launch.

We have been researching artists and contemporary jewellery in order to pick the best piece and with the help of the Nottingham Castle Gallery we bought it and we will exhibit our treasure together with the existen amazing collection.

Here is a sneak preview of the gorgeous jewellery we found last December at Lustre, the art and crafts fair at Lakeside Art Centre ...

Artist from top to bottom (clockwise for each picture): 

No.1:Anna Wales, Helen Sutherland, Nicola Lidstone, Gilly Langton. 

No 2: Rose Ellen Cobb,Carrie Dickens, Lucy Martin, Diane Turner, Karen Macmilan, Julia Perry Jones, Jo McAllister.

No 3, No 4. Jo McAllister.

No 4.Jessica Turrell, Garrie Dickens, Laura Moore

HAPPY CRAFT BROWSING!

The Jewellery Project

After a short rest and evaluation we have started our next project.

Here's some information about what we'll be up to..

Illuminate’s next project is about Contemporary Collecting. We’ll be looking at Nottingham Museum’s Jewellery collection, talking about the Jewellery we or our family own and the stories and memories behind them. We’ll be researching contemporary Jewellery and visiting contemporary Jewellery makers and Galleries as well as taking part in practical workshops. The aim of the project is to research and buy a piece of Contemporary Jewellery for the Museum Collection which will be displayed as part of the “Spotlight on Jewellery” exhibition at Nottingham Castle spring 2013.
This project is a joint project with Nottingham Museum’s People’s panel.

brooch with hair drawing by Melanie Bilenker