Open Studios 2024

Coming up - Open studios 13-14-15th September. See & buy a selection of my work, discuss commissions and visit the Markfield Road Festival.

There will be free events, DJ's, workshops, panel discussions, artist talks, film screenings, live music, poetry and on Saturday 14th a carnival procession.

You will find me in Studio 23 in the attic of Unit 5 at Gaunson Creative Studios.

Opening night Friday 13th 6-9 pm
Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th 2-6pm

Gaunson Creative Studios
Markfield Road
Tottenham
London N15 4QQ
Nearest tube & Overground Seven Sisters & Tottenham Hale (11 minute walk)

Gaunson Open Studios 2024



Source: https://www.openstudios2024.co.uk/

ReClaim Exhibition Review

“Elizabeth Bone for this exhibition has transformed scores of oat milk ring pulls into the striking “!Exclamation!”  and “Ziggurat”.

They have the force of ceremonial dress, and the culture they represent is destructive and throwaway.  They are nevertheless fun.  If you had the figure for it or the courage, you could wear “Ziggurat” and be a party sensation.”

Read the full review by Barbara Lewis for London Grip here

Scrap merchants Live

In September pieces from my new work Chain Reaction series along with my Brexs*ht pieces was featured in a catwalk show Scrap Merchants Live by At Work Gallery London. Following the catwalk show all the pieces featured can be seen in At Work Gallery 35 Ponsonby Terrace, SW1P 4PZ until October 31st.

Chain Reaction is a series of wearable pieces made in response to plastic waste created by the consumption of oat milk.

! Exclamation Mark! 2023

Ziggurat 2022-23

Graduation 2022-23

With special thanks to those who have contributed oat milk ring pulls: Anita Gohl. Ros Milloy. Casey’s, Clapton. Brunswick East, Dalston.

ReClaim - Call to Action Art Show on Plastic Waste Crisis

I am pleased to invite you to ReClaim an exhibition featuring my new work.

Visual artist, jeweller and K2 Academy Co-Director Katrin Spranger has brought together six artists and makers for a collaborative adventure to create work that takes its inspiration from the plastic waste that is causing a global environmental crisis; creating beauty from destruction, while also serving as a call to action. The result is sculpture, jewellery, fashion pieces and objects that are shocking, thought-provoking, and beautiful.

The exhibition will take place in a greenhouse of an enchanted garden. Founder floral artist and gardener Jens Jakobsen has created a sustainable Green Community Hub to help locals, workers, and visitors to reconnect with nature and each other.

Exhibition dates:
3 - 5 November 2023, 12 - 6pm
Private View: 2 November, 6- 9 pm.
To attend the PV please RSVP reclaimcocreate@gmail.com  

Location: 
Greenhouse at The Onion Garden
5 Seaforth Pl, London SW1E 6AB


Silversmithing for Jewellery Makers - New edition published

I am really pleased to announce that the book I wrote in 2012 Silversmithing for Jewellery Makers - techniques, treatments and applications for inspirational design, has been updated and the new 2nd edition published on September 30th 2022 by Search Press.

Earlier this year I was working with the publisher on the new edition which includes information updates, new gallery images and maker profiles. The result is a refreshed new edition of what has become a popular and well respected book.

A second edition of the USA publication will also be released and the book is due to be published in other languages too.

Drum Works Studio X Barbican

As part of my Drum Works Studio project working with reclaimed materials I have created a new collection for the Barbican retail shop. The collection went on sale in May 2022 to coincide with the Barbican exhibition Our Time on Earth tackling the subjects of climate crisis, our ecosystem and living more sustainably. The exhibition also aimed to give the Barbican an opportunity to pilot new ways of sustainable working.

This project follows on from 2021 when I designed and made a collection of affordable and easy to wear jewellery pieces made from used and broken hickory hardwood drumsticks from the Drum Works Music project. (see previous news post).

The Barbican jewellery collection comprises of earrings, pin badges, necklaces and cufflinks in black and white. Fittings on cufflinks and earrings are surgical grade steel, chosen because stainless steel is made from 60% recycled materials, is 100% recyclable, has a long term life, won't corrode and can be worn by most people with metal allergies. Should stainless steel end up in the ground it will have no damaging effects on soil and water. I used water based acrylic paints and varnish and to complete the range the packaging has been created from recycled cardboard. The collection is only made to order and is hand delivered by bike. I hope that ticks lots of boxes!

10% of each sale goes to Drum Works, a Barbican Artistic Associate and music project based in East London that encourages social cohesion and improves educational and aspirational outcomes for its participants.

40 Brooches for 40 Years exhibition

I'm really pleased to have been invited by Dazzle Exhibitions to show a piece of my work for their 40 brooches for 40 years exhibition marking their 40th anniversary this year. Brooches from 40 makers across 4 decades are currently on show and available to buy online and at the exhibition at Dovecote Studios in Edinburgh from 7 - 29th August 2021 as part of Edinburgh Festival Dazzle.
Learn more and see all 40 brooches on the lovedazzle website.

I first exhibited with Dazzle in 1993. I chose this Geometric oxidised silver with silk brooch for the exhibition because this body of work has not been previously exhibited with Dazzle.

Geometric brooch 2.jpg

Marking 30 years of creative practice

As part of marking 30 years of creative practice I have been looking through my archive of work which entails looking at photographs, notebooks and sketchbooks. I have no digital images of my work until about 2000 so I have spent a considerable amount of time during the third lockdown of the pandemic scanning images of my early work in to my computer, editing and archiving them. I have a few archive pieces in my possession, pieces that I decided to keep for myself, but most of what I made sold. It has been a really useful reflective exercise. I am currently working on adding these archive images to my website so watch this space! In the meantime I am posting images here everyday on Instagram, these posts chart my career from the start and include various highlights, follow me to see these and future posts.

30 years of creative practice

This May 2021 I will have been running my creative practice for 30 years. I will be marking this by launching my web shop. With the web shop launch there will be some special offers to mark this milestone, so watch this space and follow me here on Instagram to make sure you don’t miss out. In the meantime I am sharing a photograph of what is left of my trusty bench peg which I used from the early 1990's to 2010. It is on display in my studio in a box frame, I see it as a work of art in itself!

Benchpeg1991-2010.jpg

New project with Drum Works using reclaimed materials

"A unique collection of jewellery pieces, handmade from used hardwood drum sticks by professional jewellery artist and Drum Club member Elizabeth Bone" Drum Works 2020.

I am excited to share my latest project working with Drum Works Music. I have designed and made a collection of affordable and easy to wear jewellery pieces made from used and broken hickory hardwood drumsticks from the Drum Works Music project.

I have been a Drum Club member for a good few years now, attending weekly drumming sessions at the Barbican and taking part in occasional performances. Broken sticks are an inevitable part of drumming and I was often struck by just how many could be in the bin at the end of a session. I started taking them home, thinking about them, sometimes using them as kindling in our wood burner. Lockdown has given me the opportunity to get to grips with using the broken drumsticks in a project that will benefit the work that Drum Works does. Any unusable sections of the stick are saved for kindling, there is no waste!

10% of every sale goes directly to Drum Works, a music project based in east London that encourages social cohesion and improves educational and aspirational outcomes for its participants. Their vision is to build a community where every individual is empowered to make positive choices about their future, to aim high and to take responsibility for their role in supporting others around them. Drum Works started in 2007 and are a Barbican Artistic Associate and work closely with the Guildhall School. Drum Works now involves around 500 people every week through six East London schools, two senior bands and an adult ensemble. Buying a piece of Drum Works jewellery will help support the continuation of the important work that they do with young people.

You can browse and buy the collection of necklaces, pin badges and earrings here

Hand Medal Project

I am proud to have been able to take part in this international project which has involved artists, jewellers, students, and professionals from all over the word. We have created medals that will honour the service and sacrifice made by frontline health care workers during the Covid -19 pandemic. You can follow the project and learn more about it on Instagram here and see the project website here.

#Artist support pledge - supporting artists and makers

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many artists around the world have found themselves without work, teaching, technical support, gallery work, exhibitions and sales have disappeared. In an attempt to help alleviate some of this stress artist Mathew Burroughs has instigated the #artistsupportpledge
The concept is a simple one. Artists post images of their work to sell on Instagram for no more than £200 each + shipping. Anyone can then buy the work. Every time £1000 of sales are reached we pledge to buy another artist's work up to £200. Follow me on Instagram here to see the pieces on offer for this campaign.

December 2020 newsletter

Hello and welcome to my newsletter. Firstly, I hope that you are well and managing to negotiate your way through these difficult and unprecedented times that we find ourselves in.

It has certainly been a very challenging and stressful year. It has not been easy to be creative or productive during the last 9 months, I would describe it as a kind of a paralysis. Walking my two year old fox terrier Mr. Sparky has been a real lifesaver! My sons were due to sit their GCSE and A Level exams. The eldest is now at university and his brother back at school studying for his A Levels.

On a positive note lockdown has given me time to complete my new website, engage with some new work and realise a project that I have been thinking about for a while. At times it has felt like a struggle but somehow I have got there eventually.

In September, after 6 months off, I returned to face to face teaching. The interactions I have been able to have with my students have been hugely beneficial and very much appreciated, it has felt like a little bit of 'normal' amongst the craziness.

Thank you for taking time to read my newsletter. Please do get in touch if you would like further information about my work, to enquire about a particular piece on the website or, to discuss a commission. If you no longer wish to be on my mailing list please feel free to let me know.

My very best for a happier and healthier 2021


Elizabeth

Mr. Sparky