The Elements are coming together for a jewellery festival

The names of the makers have been unveiled for the seventh annual Elements festival – Scotland’s biggest celebration of jewellery, silver and gold.

Organised by the Scottish Goldsmiths Trust, in partnership with Lyon and Turnbull auctioneers, it will feature a blend of physical pop-ups and new online shop between September and November.

As ever Elements brings together work from some of the finest established and emerging makers from Scotland and across the UK.

This year’s participants include:

Michelle Currie: A Fairtrade jeweller based in Glasgow, Michelle used the prize money from her 2020 Elements Graduate Award to buy ethical gemstones from Nineteen 48 and for Scottish gemstones, which she plans to use in her collection for Elements.

Leonid Dementiev: A London-based creator of ethical jewellery, Leonid uses gold, platinum, pearls and gemstones to create handcrafted pieces that explore the techniques used by his own great-grandfather.

Leonid Dementiev

Katie Lees: A Glasgow-based maker of contemporary pieces, destined to become tomorrow’s heirlooms, Katie’s “Armour” ring was featured in press as it was made in lockdown and inspired by stories from clients.
Ella Fearon-Low: Mixing precious and non-precious materials Ella, from Surrey, is developing new work for the autumn, exploring ideas around strong women, leadership and historical queens.

Alice Fry: One of the few UK makers specialising in the metal niobium. A recent Glasgow School of Art graduate, Alicesaw her work featured in May’s online exhibition run by AdornAxis in collaboration with NYC X DESIGN featuring 66 makers from 17 countries.

Francesca Marcenaro: Francesca’s signature ‘glass granulation’ technique is inspired by ancient practices. Her current pieces interweave many materials including gold, silver, titanium and ebony.

Pop-up shopping experiences will be set up in Scotland and London – exact locations to be confirmed this month. An online shop featuring products by each of this year’s 37 participants, including Elements exclusives, will open its doors in September.

One of Michelle Currie’s creations

Ebba Goring, Scottish Goldsmiths Trust chief executive, said: ‘Elements is a wonderful opportunity to discover some of the best and most distinctive in contemporary, hand-crafted, designer gold, silver and jewellery.

‘It celebrates the work and talent of the makers, from all across Scotland and the rest of the UK, whose skill and imagination results in such wonderful creations – from everyday jewellery to pieces that will become treasured heirlooms and from tableware to decorative sculptures.

‘By offering a blend of online and physical events we are finding ways to give as many people as possible the chance not only to see a tremendous variety of gold, silver and jewellery but to find out more about the people and the inspirations behind each piece.’

Due to COVID-19 the usual Elements exhibitions, talks, gatherings and large-scale sales event at Lyon & Turnbull’s Edinburgh showroom cannot be held this year.

For full details click HERE.

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