FOUND IN TRANSLATION | Broughton Spurtle

Submitted by Editor on Wed, 05/12/2012 - 08:34

Six artists working out of SilverHub Studios in Leith are exhibiting their work in Translation at McNaughtan's Bookshop on Haddington Place this month. It's an intimate setting befitting artefacts of great subtlety and beauty which this reviewer found almost impossible to do justice to with the camera. Go and see them for yourselves! Below are some personal favourites.

Pictured right is a bracelet by Andrea Ribeiro. A product designer with professional experience in Russia, Portugal and Spain, she has created the 'Roses' collection for this exhibition.

'She draws inspiration not only from a flower, blessed and treasured for its beauty, but also from its symbolism of elegance, sophistication, gentleness, passion, sweetness and joy.' This piece is made from Silver 925 with a rhodium plated finish.

Eleanor Symms graduated only this year from Edinburgh College of Art with a BA in Combined Art and Design with Distinction. Her work here was inspired by the word 'curiosity' and its recent association with the Mars Rover. She uses a wide range of precious, non-precious and found materials in her work, reflecting a fascination for space exploration. The 'Meteor Shower' necklace below is made from enamelled copper wire and reclaimed plastics.

Readers may remember the work of Aofie White from her part in this summer's Eccentri:city at Whitespace Gallery on Gayfield Square. Her locket featuring Calton Hill gets a second showing here.

White graduated from the University of Ulster in 2010, and was awarded the First Trust Award for excellence in contemporary craft in June of that year.

Her startlingly intricate work today comprises one-off interpretations of nature, mythology and the elements. 'Observational drawings of plants and animals are used as starting points from which various design techniques are applied to create a sense of transformation in her organic metal forms.'

The 'Peacock' dangly earrings below are made from sterling silver.

Quite different are pieces by Silverhub founder and tutor Lisa Arnott.

Interestingly, they are a response in form to the artist's recently diagnosed dyslexia: each small, geometric construction corresponds to the spaces and patterns she finds in her own language.

Arnott is a graduate of Edinburgh College of Art, but trained in jewellery design in Melbourne before turning professional in 2005. Her work has been successfully exhibited in Australia, and – since her return to Scotland in 2008 – across the UK. She opened Silverhub Studios in May last year.

The necklace below (sterling silver, hand pierced and aquamarine stone) is called 'In Between'.

The two discs in 'Two Button Necklace' (below) by Fiona Luing were made from casts of black Victorian buttons found in her grandmother's sewing box. It is fashioned from sterling silver, amethyst, onyx and silk. The piece's understated exoticism reminded this observer of elegant Roman designs.

Luing took night classes at Edinburgh College of Art in 2006 whilst helping to establish a business in the Borders with the aid of Scottish Enterprise. She shares a cooperative, Crafters, in Melrose with 12 other artists whose work is displayed alongside that of 4 guest makers each month.

Her work is perhaps the most varied on display here, including domed and textured pendants, an unexpected appearance of Muffin the Mule, and (below) the more solid 'Fire Triangles' with wonderful reds and oranges emerging from highly polished agate.

In the wider world reputed to exist outwith Broughton, she is better known as an acclaimed gold and silversmith and tutor. She trained, worked and taught extensively in Florence before returning to Edinburgh in 1993 and establishing herself as a freelance designer/jeweller at Coburg House in Leith.

She feels it is vitally important for established artists like herself to pass on skills to others 'so that we do not lose the knowledge which has been given to us as a result of millennia of experiences'.

She has been employed as a jewellery tutor by both East Lothian and Edinburgh Council for the last 5 years, and is now collaborating with SilverHub Studios as one of their tutors.

Bell's work in this exhibition ponders 'the life cycles and microscopic structures of plants', and how their organic forms can be translated into more permanent materials. Pearls and sterling silver feature in these beautifully simple rings. AM

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SilverHub Studios run a variety of lessons and workshops for all abilities, with class sizes limited to six.

'The ethos of the studio is set up to inspire creativity, the sharing of knowledge and skills, and to encourage a sense of being part of a collective of artisans.'

It is based at 130/7 Leith Walk. To find out more, contact Lisa Arnott at Mob. 0783 785 2430, visit www.silverhubstudios.com, email contact@silverhubstudios.com or check out the Facebook page.

Translations will continue at McNaughtan's Bookshop, 3a–4a Haddington Place, Tues–Sat 11am–5pm, until 29 December.