Whilst walking around Pimlico the other day I stopped to gaze into what I thought was an unusual looking jewellery shop. It was tricky peering across the railings so I ventured inside. There were all manner of amazing contemporary jewellery designs in the many cases in the sizeable interior – using wood, pearls, acrylic, silver and gold and designs covering just about everything including bugs.
I was particularly taken with some chunky acrylic bangles, some delicately coiled gold pieces, some fun and colourful comic cartoon pieces and lots of etched silver.
I started chatting to the owner and discovered that much of what was on display had been made by students – those who were formally trained in jewellery making and others who had been self-taught or attended classes at the shop.
My interest was piqued, having thoroughly enjoyed an evening making jewellery a while back (see http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/blogs/showblog.php?post=2272). So I went downstairs to take a look at where the workshops were held. There were four very workmanlike workstations and a cornucopia of tools for cutting, soldering and polishing.
Classes include:
Beginners Jewellery – Six evening classes where you learn to make silver jewellery and create your own designs (£270)
Make a ring in a day – Fridays or Saturdays £120 which includes all materials Intermediate jewellery – Six evening classes to translate your ideas into 3D jewellery £245
Beginners beading course – A one day class covering knotting, finishing off and adding catches (Sundays) and you take home a beaded necklace or bracelet of semi-precious stones, coral or freshwater pearls £120
Beginners lost wax casting – A six week project to create multiple identical pieces for limited batch production £270
Wedding ring workshops – A day to make bespoke rings with one-to-one tuition where each step is photographed for posterity
I was told that quite a few of those who attend the classes work in the local area – there are lots of offices in and around Victoria. What a great way to counteract the stresses of office life – beating out some metal or wielding an oxyacetylene with aplomb.
www.atworkgallery.co.uk
There’s also contemporary jewellery on display at the workshops in Brick Lane, Hoxton.
