28 May Thursday…with Salt + Stone

A little while ago the lovely Brooklyn based jeweller Jaqueline Stone from Salt + Stone asked if I’d like to collaborate with her and work with some of her new ocean inspired jewellery…

I have a fascination with the sea which often appears in my paintings, and I find the indifference the ocean and it’s underworld has towards us completely humbling.

I’ve also always had a fear of shipwrecks….maybe it’s something to do with this giant, working machine being slowly taken down to the beautiful, quiet depths; out of sight and yet in another world.

But I also have to live by the sea…it’s exciting and alive, and maybe I like to be reminded that we’re never in charge of this planet as humans; nature is, and that’s very grounding when I’m wrapped up in the daily digital!

So…of course these pieces from Salt + Stone were completely up my street, and when Jacqueline said she’d also send some of her sea shell collection I was really excited as it felt like it would be a very personal project…seashore finds always feel like a moment of childhood; a moment when we connect to something of no value just because we like it, and want to pick it up and hold it…So, I took great joy in combining some of my shells from Brighton and Cornwall with some of Jacqueline’s from across the Atlantic!

I had some hydrangeas which had wilted a little…the name hydrangea, by the way, comes from the Greek word “hydor,” meaning water, and “angos,” meaning jar or vessel, which seemed very appropriate for the compositions as both the jewellery and the flowers are water lovers…

I then became intrigued by the quality which wilting flowers have…the blubells were past their peak, and yet they gave the impression of something underwater…I like to work from a place of no fixed ideas…so I collected my palette of colour and texture with flowers, shells and natural rock salt, and then loosely added some of the silver pieces…I played with their lines, shapes and sizes……and started adding some colour…but when I started playing with the delicate silver chains, I really began to feel the underwater flow and then added plants which felt like they could have appeared in rock pools……I wanted the stingray to feel like it was swimming in it’s own habitat……it was something like beautiful sunken treasure appearing in front of me; something which was morphing into it’s surroundings…I was really enjoying the closeness of the shots, as it sort of made me feel like a diver…

…but I came up for some air…or at least stood up on my chair!!…before going back under…

…the whole shoot was a completely immersive experience, which led me to making this film…

This was a collaboration which felt so pleasing as there was something about trying to create a sense of water without any water and that was incredibly calming…

The pieces themselves felt like those special sea shore finds…I always think I’ll make something ( although never do ), from a rogue shell or stone with a natural hole in it which I’ve picked up on a beach walk, and these pieces from Salt + Stone really felt like those treasures, but ones I can actually wear and that sparkle!For more information about Jaqueline and her company Salt + Stone you can visit her site here, as well as her Instagram and Twitter feed

There is also a Steller story here to flip through today…