The Yorkshire Sculpture park and visiting Julie Bailey and my personal goals.

This is me - Rebecca Mihill at my work bench

My goals

By doing this blog I hope to achieve the following goals:

-Make contact with a local jeweller and hopefully build a relationship with them in order to support me on my journey of setting up my own business.

-See how an independent jeweller runs their practice:

What do they make?

How do they make it?

How do they make a profit/living from it?

-Along this journey compile questions that come up and seek answers.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park 26th September 2021

The sculpture park is a fantastic place and I feel very lucky to have it in the north of England. It is in this park that I learnt to appreciate sculpture; prior to that I naively thought that I didn't like sculpture. I remember arriving at the park and seeing the large sculptures in and amongst the countryside, you could touch them (something I feel strongly about the right to do). I suddenly felt that I got what they were all about. Since then I try and visit at least once a year and they always have some great new work or stuff that I haven't discovered before, such is the size of the place.

Upon this visit a highlight for me is the Joana Vasconcelos exhibition in the underground gallery. She repurposes everyday objects and in this case has created things such a giant gun made out of retro telephones and a giant pair of stilettoes made from saucepan lids. This got me thinking about my own work and how to package it. On an environmental level I'd like for this to be a sustainable one, repurposing/recycling seems a good way to go. After the exhibition I started to collect old cardboard and magazines and will experiment with designs for packaging.

It's an inspiring place. Maybe I'll even be able to sell some work there one day like the designer below, who I received an email reply from whilst standing in front of some of her work whist at the shop - strange but true! The shop here is stocked with lots of local artists work.

Julie Bailey 2nd October 2021

Yesterday I visited Julie Bailey a designer/maker, who goes under the name ‘Papermetal’ and produces contemporary jewellery from her studio, she also runs workshops there. She has recently re located to Thirsk, having previously had studios in Lincolnshire and France. It was interesting to see a working jewellers studio and think about the space I might need. Julie has three workbenches and plenty of other space for designing, soldering, storage etc. At the moment I have a workbench in a corner downstairs, but eventually when my daughter moves out I will take over her large bedroom. Though people talk about jewellery making not needing much room, I can see the advantages of having additional space other than a single workbench.

I contacted Julie to see if I could do some volunteering with her to meet my PDP (professional development plan), but also out of a genuine desire to connect with some local jewellers to glean invaluable knowledge in order to help my own practice. Julie was very generous with her time and knowledge and we arranged three future dates for me to visit and discussed what I might do whilst there. I am really looking forward to spending time with her.

Photo of Julie Bailey courtesy of : https://www.papermetal.co.uk

Julie Bailey 14th October 2021

My second visit. I spent a very insightful day in Julies studio. She looked at some of my work and we talked about what inspired me. Julie is trying to help me discover what my style is and I did feel that with her help I started on that journey. Whilst she worked at her bench, she set me the task of making something with beads and wire.

Through this I could see that the twisty, curvy way I have always worked/ doodled and created came through in this instinctive piece. She showed me the work of jeweller Grainne Morton and I could see similarities with my developing style and hers.

An example of the work of Graine Morton

She also suggested some useful sites for me to look at such as the Design Trust and some good marketing information from the Craft Council. She imparted a wealth of industry information and lots of good tips about how to sell and promote your work.

Julie Bailey 21st Occtober 2021

Julie had work to do on the day of my visit, so whilst I worked on some of my practical projects I had the pleasure of watching her at work. Practical jewelling insights are one of the many things I pick up when I'm with her. I've been particularly interested in how finely she solders and have got lots of tips. Julie works in silver and sometimes adds copper, brass and semi precious stones such as turquoise. She is also a printmaker, and brings this into her jewellery making by rolling designs into her work. I have already decided to work in 925 silver as it adds a perceived (and real) value to the work, Julie reiterated this, but also talked about semi precious or precious stones adding more value to the work than glass or plastic. I do like to use glass beads in my work, but this makes me think about using semi precious stones instead. Even things like sea glass, Julie said, have an added value.

Later she showed me some of her exquisite pieces she made as part of her jewellery degree, we also went through some of her design processes and she set me some design homework, and talked about how this would help me to design a collection to sell! Julie currently sells on Etsy and Not On The High Street. She's also recently designed a collection for the National Trust. She does commissions and has sold on stalls and to galleries in the past.

Julie Bailey 29th October 2021

My final official date with Julie. In her studio I showed her the designs I'd been working on and she helped me progress them and sketched out ideas of how I could develop my ideas into pieces. I explained that next summer I wanted to start a part time business on Etsy and she told me which things sell best, how to have a showcase piece that people don't necessarily buy, but are inspired by and often this will encourage them to buy something cheaper. Julies work ranges from around forty pounds for a pair of stud earrings to three hundred pounds for a necklace - a showcase piece.

I have also been interested to see what equipment Julie has and uses. I'm constantly trying to gleam what equipment I really need to buy and what would be most useful to me. I am tentatively buying things and always have new things to add to my list. Julie has a well equipped studio, but even after many years of making she told me that she has only recently treated herself to a rolling mill and pendant drill. I went home and realised that I could buy a drill bit for fine holes to fit into the Bosch drill I currently have. Being on a budget I am mindful about what I chose to invest in.

At the end of my visit I asked Julie if we could stay in touch and if she would consider mentoring me in the future and to my delight she said she would. To have someone, well established and successful in the industry to guide me will be invaluable.

Above is a section of the beads and wire I made on my third visit to Julie. Julie got me to make a maquette of a possible brooch design. I stitched part of the wire section onto a cardboard backing. This could be a way of housing silver wire jewellery onto a piece of silver.