One of my students, Inness Thomson, though only part of the way through his course, has just opened his first small show at Scotland Art.Com, a gallery in the centre of glasgow. As you can understand, he is justifiably proud:

I especially like his silver and…

I am now winding the workshop down for the end of the year. I'll be shutting-up fully on Thursday for two weeks, back again in 2013 with new projects to tackle.

Although I've not been quiet in this holiday season, I have been dealing with people who have been startlingly organised and this has meant that for the last week and the week to come, I don't have any rush-jobs to complete, no last-minute dashes to the post-office. The last Commission for the season was sent out on…

(I'm just back from a weekend in Edinburgh, which is why there was a hiatus.)

The last day in Chicago was one of pure tourism. I woke up very early and as the show opened at 11 am and my airport  shuttle was at 11.30 am, I thought that a walk around the area to see some more of the city would be in order.

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Time for spooky things, so I finished my second Spoon Skull Pendant with Antlers today:

The chain is made from silver and chunks of the EPNS cutlery which I've butchered to make other spoon skull things. I really like the fake hallmarks on these and two of them feature on the sides of the chain.…

It is only three days until I fly to Chicago to help out at the SNAG Stand at SOFA. Obviously, I am hoping that lots of Crafthaus people who are there will stop by to say "hello" and introduce themselves to me, SNAG member or otherwise.

I've been at a bit of a loose end for the past few weeks. After finishing some items to wear at SOFA, I was waiting on getting the go-ahead for a collaborative project with my friend and colleague, photographer…

My custom work keeps me happily working with gold.  Here's the most recent piece - a pendant designed around a natural "heart" shaped Australian boulder opal.  She was very happy with the results.

After the pleasing and welcome enthusiasm for the unfinished bombs, here are the finished ones!

H-Bomb…

I have no idea what happens to my time. Another two-week hiatus since my last blog post, during which time I've been invited to help with writing the "definitive book on soldering for jewellers", found out that one of my pieces is featured on the cover of a new book on stone-setting, bought a new CAD/CAM mill, sold several of my show-pieces and continued to put together the collection for the show in Wales.

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I can't believe that I've managed to get three weeks into the year without posting anything on here. It is not as if I've not been busy in the workshop, what with making a new spiky mace in silver and shibuichi:

1) A Christmas tree bauble filled with wax:

2) Hollowed out:…

I've been planning my entry for BJ Johnson's call for pieces based on inspirations from the works of The Cure. Since I first read about this exhibition, I've been planning what to make and have ended up going with my initial feelings that I should work with the initial idea I had after reading the proposal: to make a piece around "A Forest", their 1980 single and a song which, for me, encapsulates their…

When I was in my early 20s, I read compulsively Mervyn Peake's trilogy, "Titus Groan", "Gormenghast" and "Titus Alone", a remarkable body of work which is, superficially, fantasy writing: Alas! it is too often dismissed as such. In fact, what Peake created was a fantastical portrait of a rigid, class-ridden society on the brink of collapse, a parable for Britain in the early-mid 20th Century.

As mentioned before, a gift of a polymer clay owl skull prompted me to create a…