Designer | Eileen Moylan

04.27.2012 by Eileen Moylan //

I finally got around to joining Pinterest this week. Pinterest is an image sharing website that allows you to create virtual pinboards to organize and share all the beautiful images you find online.

Having only been part of the Pinterest community for few days now, so far I’m impressed. It’s perfect for grabbing an image and posting it quickly. Often I’ll be looking at work of an artists or designer and will want to remember them for a later blog post or something to add to my sketch book. If I’m in a rush this won’t happen I’ll scribble the name down promising I’ll come back and investigate the work.

I can instantly see how Pinterest will solve this problem, now I can just pin the image really quickly so I can share it with others and also revisit it myself. Often my ideas for a new design will be inspired by something that I spotted some time ago. And now rather than it being a distant memory written on the back of a sketchbook it will be perfectly organized on my Pinterest boards. For someone working in art or design this is also a perfect way of sharing current projects and making techniques. I’ve already found some great boards that feature handy tips on silversmithing and jewellery making.

As yet I’m only following a few people and haven’t pinned enough to attract any followers. But I’m planning to get stuck in to Pinterest over the weekend so if you are on Pinterest too come find me under Eileen Moylan.

Happy Pinning!

Seoid 11

08.31.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

Sabrina Meyns, handmade paper, dandelion seeds, 18ct gold

I’ve been writing alot about the Year of Craft in Ireland which coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Crafts Council of Ireland. As well as lots of great events going on around the country Irish craft has been exhibited worldwide. A perfect example of this is the Seoid exhibition which is currently touring Australia. This month the work of eleven Irish jewellery makers is on display in the Pieces of Eight Gallery in Melbourne.

This exhibition which has been curated by maker Claire McAlister showcases the work of both established and emerging contemporary jewellers working in Ireland. The title of the exhibition ‘Seoid’ is from the Irish word for jewel is pronounced ‘showed’.

Angela O'Kelly, Sculptural Arm Pieces fabric and paper

The show has gathered together works in different mediums from Angela O’ Kelly’s vibrant fabric and paper pieces to Eily O’ Connell’s silver organic forms. It is a brilliant display of how different artists draw inspiration from a range of sources and materials. Each interpreted using their own distinctive style and approach to jewellery making. As well as curating the show Claire McAlister also exhibits her intricate jewellery which combines silver and wood veneer. Her work often rivets these two materials together to create movable, geometric forms such as the brooch below.

Eily O’ Connell’s work has received much publicity recently and when you see her dark, organic forms it’s easy to see why. Her work is beautifully crafted, with brightly coloured gemstones emerging from brittle looking forms. She creates these new life forms which replicate organic matter yet they are not quite as they seem.

By acting as the divine creator, Eily O Connell mimicks the power we have to alter nature’s path, which ultimately leads to chaos and the sinister presence lurking throughout her work.

Eily O'Connell, sterling silver, gemstone

If you happen to be in the Melbourne area call in to the gallery and see the work for yourself. If like me that’s a bit far to travel, have a look at the Seoid website to see the other amazing work from the eleven exhibiting artists.

Ecclesiastical Silver

04.22.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

Since this is Easter weekend I’m taking a look at some contemporary ecclesiastical silver. The history of silver is strongly linked to religion since church commissions throughout the ages kept many silversmiths in business. It can be seen in museum collections of silver and gold that many of the most expensive and elaborate pieces have a religious association. These days there is less ecclesiastical work being made which makes it all the more special when you come across beautiful pieces like these.

Chris Knight , 'If you seek me' Chalice and Paten — Chris Knight , ‘If you seek me’ Chalice and Paten

Barry Thomas, Processional Candle Holders

Stella Campion, Oxford University Church Chalice

Happy Easter!

Alex Ramsay

04.18.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

This week I’m taking a look at the silverware of Alex Ramsay. She uses traditional silversmithing techniques along with her stunning contemporary designs to create a range of vessels.

'Nitrate Negative 2' Alex Ramsay, Silver & Glass

Her silverware inspired by silver nitrate photography explores the ideas of light and dark, positive and negative in these pairs of vessels. Many of her pieces group together a silver vessel with a hand blown glass vessel. The combination works beautifully each object reflecting different elements of the materials.

I don’t know much about hand blown glass but I think the design here is created by the addition of copper oxide to give these effects of light and dark. The silver vessels area all hand raised with the surface patterns on the glass creating a starting point for each pattern on the metal. She begins by raising the forms of the outside and the inside bowl separately and then transferring the patterns onto the domed silver. These drawn patterns are then painstakingly pierced out of the silver using a traditional silversmiths saw frame. Once the design has been cut out, the two bowls are soldered together to create these hollow layered vessels.

'Nitrate Negative Series' Alex Ramsay, Silver & Glass

'Nitrate Negative 3' Silver, Alex Ramsay

The double walled technique is used to great effect here to build up the shadow and depth of the silver vessel. It also enhances the play between reflection and shadow. When the silver vessel and the glass vessel are brought together they become a unique pair, each piece balancing and reflecting the other. If you want to see more of this amazing work take a look at her website or she’s also featured in the members gallery of the Contemporary British Silversmiths.

Silver Peaton Pots, Salt & Pepper, Alex Ramsay

Silversmith Shopkeeper

04.06.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

This month I am in the process of setting up an online shop. It’s my first time doing something like this online so it’s been a steep learning curve!

As you might have guessed I’ll be stocking my shop with jewellery but I had to make a decision about what style of jewellery I wanted to make and sell online. I had a look at what was out there and saw a gap in the market for good quality Irish silver jewellery. Many of the websites I found were selling poor quality mass produced celtic jewellery that probably never set foot in Ireland! What I wanted to offer was a good quality alternative that would be designed, made and hallmarked in Ireland. I wanted to be able to provide a service whereby someone could order a piece of Irish silver jewellery and know the piece was specifically made for them in Ireland by an Irish silversmith (me!).

Rather than concentrate on the mass produced ‘Irish’ designs I began looking at our rich Irish heritage of art and design and where better to go than the National Museum on Kildare Street, Dublin. I came away with lots of ideas but I just had to figure out on how to capture the beauty of the pieces I had seen.

Once I had chosen some of my favourite artifacts from the National Museum I also researched Irish celtic knot work. With all this material I began designing the range of silver jewellery. I am going to concentrate on mens jewellery for the moment. This is mainly because I love making cufflinks but also because it’s so difficult to find anything really nice for men in the line of jewellery.

I plan on launching the website with a small core range, many of which can be altered to suit the buyer. I designed an ogham collection which has Irish words such as grá (love) engraved in ogham but this ogham could just as easily read any word that the buyer choses. I also have a range of family crest and coat of arms jewellery but done in a contemporary acid etched style.

For me the easy part was designing and making the work the stress started when I had to go about setting up the shop. I had no idea where to start. It’s amazing how much you take for granted when you look at a website and complete a transaction online. Thankfully I found shopify. This is a great website that hosts your online shop for a monthly fee so you don’t have to worry about getting someone to build the website for you. As the operator of the shop I am able to upload photos, add prices and descriptions as well as write a blog. It’s also very easy to manage and edit your products. While there are certain things I would like to do differently shopify is a great start to take the stress out of setting up an online shop.

It’s still a work in progress I have lots of tidying up to do like change the look and colours of the website and add some artwork. I also have lots more products to finish and photograph. As soon as its ready I’ll post a link here.

Majoral

04.04.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

On this wet and windy Monday I went looking for some summery silver to brighten my day. The great people at Majoral definitely gave me the summer feeling I needed.

This Spanish based jewellers get their inspiration from nature and their Mediterranean surroundings. The company was set up by Enric Majoral who designs the jewellery along with his son Roc Majoral and Abril Ribera. As well as amazing jewellery, the pieces are so beautifully photographed the website is a joy to explore.

Here are some of my favourite pieces and photographs.

Majoral 'Papallones' — Majoral ‘Papallones’

The work has been described as

full of vitality and energy that are capable of transporting us to the orange groves on a warm and ripe autumn afternoon

Hope it brightens your day too. If you want to see the workshop that produces all these amazing pieces have a look at Mar de Color Rosa blog. She has a great piece about Enric Majoral as well as lots of photos of the workshop.

Kathryn Hinton

03.11.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

This week I came across the work of Kathryn Hinton. This British silversmith has a great collection of silverware specialising in silver cutlery. I had seen her work before in the Contemporary British Silversmiths website but when I went on to her own website I found lots more lovely things to look at.

Cake Slice and stand, Silver & Sycamore, Kathryn Hinton

One of my favourite examples of her work is this beautiful cake slice and sycamore cake stand. The way she has considered how the cake slice sits on the stand shows the attention to detail of her work. The great thing about this piece is that the function doesn’t compromise its aesthetic and actually adds to the beauty. As you know I’m in the process of making my own cake slice at the moment so I was delighted to see this piece. My cake slice has been put on the back burner until I can find the perfect vice. My old vice just isn’t up to the job so I’m on a vice hunt at the moment!

'Exhausted Cutlery', Silver & Ceramic, Kathryn Hinton

Another great example of Hinton’s flatware is ‘Exhaused Cutlery’. This knife, fork and spoon set are made in sterling silver. The cutlery follows the shape of the ceramic plate which it seems to have collapsed onto. Giving the impression they fell there of exhaustion from constant use!

'Non Sharing Bowl', Silver, Kathryn Hinton

The other piece in Kathryn’s collection that put a smile on my face was this ‘Non Sharing’ bowl and fork. This fork was made for people like me who are very protective of the food on their plate! The tines of the fork spell out the word ‘MINE’ so there can be no mistaking the sentiment. The double bowl also has the word stamped in two different fonts which looks almost like a hallmark. The concept of this piece is the playful interaction between the bowl and the fork. The two pieces come together through the lettering on the fork and the evidence of where it has been on the bowl by leaving its mark.

She also has a range of personal forks where you can commission a fork with your initials on the tines so you can hallmark your own food. The example below is made using her own initials.

In contrast to her Non Sharing bowl she also has a sharing dish for those of you who are feeling more generous!

Silver Valentines

02.14.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

It being Valentines day I went looking for the perfect silver vase to hold all the flowers I’m expecting! While there were loads of amazing pieces out there. The silversmith that stood out for me was Olivia Lowe. She creates these amazing hand formed pieces inspired by the flowers themselves.

'Coalescense' Olivia Lowe, Sterling Silver

'Just the two of us' Olivia Lowe, Sterling Silver

I would be happy with any of these vases and I’d even buy my own flowers!

Bling for your buck.

12.06.2010 by Eileen Moylan //

With the Irish national budget only a day away and Christmas shopping on everyone’s mind. I decided to go in search of some recession-chic jewellery. You’ll be delighted to hear the gold and silversmiths didn’t disappoint!

The jeweller Andy Cooperman has a collection of work looking at the effect of magnification. In this recession friendly pendant he takes a small diamond and sets it beautifully with a 7x lens to magnify the stone. So a diamond which may be considered modest, with a little help from a lens looks unaffordable. A perfect illusion in these frugal times!

The other jeweller I found was Sarah Hood. I loved the use of organic objects in her jewellery. The acorn ring and necklace above are really good examples of combining precious metals with found objects. What Scrooge would deprive you of her jewellery when these jewels really do grow on trees?!

Christine Gandernack, Illusions of Grandeur

I found this piece called ‘Illusions of Grandeur’ in a book I have called ‘500 Necklaces‘. Unfortunately I couldn’t get any more information on the maker or other pieces in the collection. I love the detail of this piece and marvel at the fact that she went to the effort of cutting out each little section by hand. This attention to detail is what makes this piece work so well.

Hopefully this has proven that we don’t need a large budget to adorn ourselves with jewels. As long as there are creative makers out there we will always have an alternative.

I’m dreaming of a Silver Christmas!

12.02.2010 by Eileen Moylan //

Since we’re into the month of December and the weather has turned all Christmassy I thought it would be as good a time as any to look and see what the world of silversmiths are making for the festive season.

Ann Ruthven-Taggart, Silver Christmas Leaves

I found the first three images on The Goldsmiths Company website. They have a brilliant directory of makers, Who’s who in Gold and Silver, where you can view a selection artists work.