Shimmery Long Seaweed Cluster Earrings
A cluster of hand-formed silver squiggles connected to a handmade chain a create a tactile shimmer. These gorgeous earrings are lightweight and playful to wear.
"The poem Blakeney Marshes evokes a liminal space and this is what comes to mind for me when thinking about visiting the coast. To me it is a dreamscape - cloud cover, shifting shapes, glimmers and glitters shimmering light then dark. The jewellery I have made is a response to this effect of the light on the sea. Strands and clusters of items caught up together on the beach, still wet and hung up by a passer-by, mesmerised by it’s twisting, glinting movement. The tactile quality of the work is like sand falling through fingers. The polished silver like a bright yet breezy day." - Julie Mellor
Made for the Poetry In Ocean showcase and inspired by Blakeney Marshes by Louise Walker:
"Vast clouds process in state
towards the distant sea;
starlings swirl through
dusk like ink in water.
Sodden ground offers
no resistance and a haze
of fawn grass surrenders
to the wind. Impossible
to tell where marsh ends
and sea begins: the soft border
between waking and sleep."
The Designer
Julie Mellor is a lover of ancient processes, monocasting and hand forging unique jewellery and objects which look to the first precious items made and treasured by our early ancestors. The small objects found and pocketed along the way provide an intimacy, as a tangible piece of a larger landscape. These could be fragments of shells picked up on the beach, the perfect twig from trees like oak and birch, or seeds from a pinecone or stolen cherry.
These gathered objects are then transformed into metal; often as a direct cast from nature, which burns away the original organic material so that each piece created is completely unique. With a sensitivity to the nature of her materials, Julie combines metal finishes and patination to draw attention to the variety of textures, highlighting their natural forms.
Julie is a hands-on designer/maker, completing all stages of the process herself; from foraging the objects to carefully attaching the delicate wax sprues in order to create each one-off casting mold in a kiln overnight, ready to eventually pour in the molten metal in this ancient, elemental process. She then uses her jewellers' skills to transform the metal objects into wearable pieces, choosing analogue tools where possible to allow for meditative and responsive making of these precious objects, giving their natural, living origin the respect they deserve.
Jewellery Care
To look after your jewellery we recommend it must not be worn in the bath, shower or whilst swimming and we advise any perfume or hairspray is to be applied before putting on your jewellery to avoid contact with chemicals and cosmetics. Please remove your jewellery before engaging in practical activities such as sport.
Please get in touch to enquire about our cleaning services and restoring surface finishes.
