11th Nov - 27th Jan 2008

NINE NEW GRADUATES

YORKSHIRE POST
9 NOV 2007

Jewellery display to showcase top young talent by Robert Sutcliffe

NINE graduates from this year's top jewellery talents are to showcase their work at an exhibition in Bradford next week. Kath Libbert Jewellery Gallery will show tropical colours that light up dark days, rubber gloves as you've never seen them before, coffee cup stains that transform into necklaces, wire, nails and string which become beautiful and tiny chairs and forks symbolising a far-away home. From around the globe, the nine new graduates, all from British universities, present collections inspired by their diverse experiences and backgrounds. They include Leeds jeweller Jenny Uewellyn with her collection of rings and earrings inspired by the luminous colours, amazing shapes and movements of creatures from the deep. Her silicone pieces move with the wearer and glow in the dark. Refresh and Collectable 4 Christmas, an exhibition of contemporary jewellery, can be seen at Salts Mill, Victoria Road, Saltaire. They both run from Monday, November 12, to January 27. Salts Mill is open week days from lOam - 5.30pm and weekends lOam - 6pm. For further information call 01274 599790 or visit
www.kathlibbert jewellery.co.uk

Picture: Gary Longbottom

YORKSHIRE LIFE
January 2008 - Art & Exhibitions by Justine Brooks

Refresh
WITH an eye for original jewellery as well as a nose for discovering new talent, Kath Libbert Jewellery's latest exhibition is a strong a show as ever. Refresh presents the work of nine British graduate jewellery makers whose creations have caught Libbert's attention. The work is diverse, unusual, often quirky and sometimes downright outrageous, created in a kaleidoscope of colours and a range of different materials.
Until January 27th, Kath Libbert Jewellery, Salts Mill, Saltaire. www.kathlibbertjewellery.co.uk

FINDINGS - The Association for Contemporary Jewellery's quarterly newsletter.
March 2008

Refresh and Collectable
4 Christmas
Reviewed by Carrie-Ann Black

Paint yourself this picture. It's January, the festive season has ended, you're feeling the repercussions of your over-indulgence, and the dark cold days are doing nothing to feed the creative soul. What could be a more perfect tonic than visiting the KLJ gallery to view two exhibitions showcasing talented jewellers both at the beginning of their career - the nine graduates in 'Refresh' - and four established and renowned designer makers who comprise the 'Collectable 4 Christmas' exhibition.

Walking into the gallery space was visual delight; I wasn't sure where to start exploring. Work wasn't just displayed in the obligatory jewellery cabinet, there were installations on the walls, suspended on wires and submerged underwater. I felt like a child in a sweet shop.

Refresh was really just that, an exhilarating selection of work from new jewellery talent originating from around the world and selected by Kath herself from New Designers in London last summer.

Momoko Kumai's work held resonance with me; her designs seem effortlessly simple and beautiful, but the technical ability is awe-inspiring. The range is split into three sub-collections: permanence - working in gold alloys Kumai made herself; semi permanence - combining permanent and impermanent materials; and, impermanence - using tissue paper and washi (Japanese paper). The permanence series, inspired quite simply by stacks of copy paper and the repetitive shapes created by these bundles was stunning - both a technical and aesthetic feat. The overlapping shapes and subtle change in alloys were mesmerising.

I was instinctively drawn to Christine Kaltoft's playful work, with its graphic lines and irregular wire shapes. I was fascinated to find out that her own pet chickens underpinned these designs! The collection reflects Kaltoft's observations of their movements and interactions, down to the patterns their beaks leave in dust.

Juxtaposed with Refresh was Collectable 4 Christmas - Bettina Speckner, Marianne Anderson, Xavier Ines Monclus and Poppy Dandiya, four internationally respected jewellers, created a compact yet highly desirable exhibition.

I was delighted to see Bettina Speckner's work, having previously only seen photographs of it and being fascinated by her photo-etching techniques. Her combination of precious metals and stones with photographs is both captivating and haunting. Xavier Ines Monclus' colourful work never fails to make me smile; his charming and idiosyncratic brooches create surreal and wonderful worlds that evoke the inner child in you.

Kath Libbert's choice of these designer-makers provoked a sense of immediate gravitas, in what is undoubtedly a highly collectable and diverse exhibition.

I came away from Salt's Mill jubilant, seeing such imaginative and innovative work in such thoughtful exhibitions was invigorating and filled me with excitement at the prospect of just what else would be in store for the world of contemporary jewellery in 2008?

Picture: Christine Kaltoft, Brooch, Chicken with a Golden Egg, 2007. Silver, 18ct.

DIGYORKSHIRE

NOV 2007

REVIEW: JEWEL PURPOSE
Our limited perceptions of jewellery tend to be based upon expense, the wearer or how a piece of jewellery is worn: an understated but necessarily expensive diamond ring demurely worn on a slight, satin-gloved finger, is, for instance, generally recognised as a sure sign of old-fashioned ‘klass’ (as Sinatra-types say), whilst a whacking great, loose excess of urine-hued gold flapping from a fat, dart-throwing wrist is seen, on the other hand, to belie a wearer’s inherent lack of taste.
There can be more to jewellery than that, though, and a jeweller can be more than simply than a skilful craftsperson.

Refresh at Kath Libbert Jewellery Gallery is a fun-filled, internationally-flavoured exhibition of 9 graduates from UK universities whose work can easily be seen as art in itself; individual work that might just have a real story behind it.

‘Hiraethu’, a longing for the Welsh farm on which she so happily grew up, is one basis for Sian Anwyl Williams’s jewellery, but so, too, are the imagined experiences and lives of those that went before her; something seen most clearly in her ‘Sheep Spoons’, where she has taken the ear-markings from a sheep-husbandry book left behind by the previous farmer to create specific, representative indents in spoons crafted in ancient techniques from precious metals.

Similarly moved by farmyard life, but of a different sort, Christine Kaltoft is the former head of a national charity whom now spends her life creating jewellery based on the lives of the non-laying hens saved from battery farms with whom she shares her home.

On a rather different level, Antonella Giomarelli’s witty work is inspired by her time spent in a tedious office job with a certain Yorkshire city council. Binding tape used to secure boxes of office paper is recreated as striking silver bracelets oxidised black, discarded knots of string become whitened silver brooches and a stylish necklace is shaped to correspond to the sticky coffee stain that you’ve just put your elbow in whilst reading this.

What else? Well, childhood holidays are symbolised in Finland’s Helga Morgensen, Yorkshire lass Jenny Llewellyn’s underwater organisms glow in the dark (check out her funky necklace displayed underwater in the gallery), Iris De la Torre’s magnetically detachable pieces are colourfully bold and versatile, whilst Anna Deacon’s hefty Pippi Longstocking- inspired bejewelled textile skull and crossbones neck-wear are great fun.

The 2 real stars of the show, though, are Momoko Kumai and Min-Ji-Cho.

South Korean Min-Ji Cho’s jewellery made mainly from – wait for it – rubber gloves, is the talk of the town, so to speak, and needs to be touched, not just seen, to be believed; there are mirrors, specially designed by the artist, to hang them on, too.

Momoko Kumai discovered her style of work whilst folding bus tickets and her skilfully crafted ‘permanent’ fine gold and silver rings are displayed on folded towers of paper by the gallery to hint at this, but Kumai is more resourceful yet, creating beautiful semi-permanent and non-wearable necklaces out of, respectably, the Japanese tissue-like washi and tissue itself.

All things considered, the jewellery at Refresh is, Kumai’s perishable necklace aside, wearable art, and art that’s a damn sight easier to wear than a framed Bacon triptych or carry around than The Zeus of Artemisium.

Rory ffoulkes

Visit Kath Libbert Jewellery Gallery especially, not just as part of a general visit to Salts Mill, and maybe make a loved one very happy this Christmas with a purchase on the Arts Council’s Own Art scheme, which allows you to take away a piece of jewellery on the day and pay for it interest-free over a whole year

Refresh at Kath Libbert Jewellery Gallery , Saltaire 22 November / 27 January 2008

DALESMAN
December 2007

Seasonal jewellery at Kath Libbert.
To January 27 Saltaire
Salts Mill. Kath Libbert Jewellery. Sparkling festive collections.
Details 01274 599790, www.kathlibbertjewellery.co.uk

ANTIQUES TRADE GAZETTE
1 DEC 2007

Not common in Yorkshire. . .
BY JOAN PORTER

THERE's something unusual at one of Kath Libbert's two jewellery Christmas shows at Salts Mill in Saltaire, Yorkshire which are already open for business. These are Sian Anwyl Williams' set of three sheep "ear-marking" spoons, made of silver and steel.

Sian, winner of this year's Goldsmiths Precious Metals Bursary Award, comes from a farming family in the hills above the Conwy Valley in North Wales. She takes her inspiration from these rich agricultural surroundings... and a small, old, torn book.

A farming tradition, particularly for sheep that roam in the mountains and moorlands of Wales, is the custom of identifying sheep. Each farm has a set of marks which are cut into the sheeps' ears. The book shown in the picture right, which is not for sale, came from a previous owner of Sian's family farm, who had collected sheep ear markings from all the local farms and compiled them into a book with diagrams of the markings, and listings of all the farms they belonged to alphabetically under every local village.

Each spoon has been hand-forged using traditional hammers on an anvil, with the steel spoon heated to give a blackened effect.
They have been stamped with names of local farms taken from the book. The two silver spoons are £450 each and the steel spoon is £300.

Sian and other top jewellery talents exhibiting at the gallery can be contacted at Kath Libbert's Gallery on 01274 599790 or see www.kathlibbertjewellery.co.uk

LEEDS GUIDE
12 DEC 2007

Craft Creations
Rich Jevons presents highlights of craft for Christmas

It's always tricky to choose Christmas pressies for friends and family that aren't cliched and basically rather dull. So if you are looking for something just that little bit different and extra special this year, why not try one of the region's many craft venues? . . .

. . .Once more Kath Libbert Jewellery excels itself with two highly innovative and intriguing shows.
Refresh features nine new graduates from British universities including Jenny Lewellyn's collection of rings and earrings based on creatures from the deep and Iris De La Torre's tropical colours from her native Mexico. Alongside this is Collectable 4 Christmas featuring four internationally established makers with German jeweller Bettina Speckner's brooches made up of photos combined with precious metals and diamonds and some Spanish surrealism from Xavier Ines Monclus.
Happy crafty shopping!

Kath Libbert Jewellery, Salts Mill, Saltaire, Bradford,
01274 599 790 until 27 Jan.

Hebden Bridge Times
1 NOV 2007

Hebden Wide
Jewellery will be in exhibition
A HEBDEN Bridge designer will be featured during a brand new jewellery exhibition.
Antonella Giomarelli, of Woodland View, will display her creations at Kath Libbert Jewellery Gallery, Saltaire.
Her work is inspired by the patterns made by discarded waste which she aims to turn into elegant accessories.
Sarah Collins, of the gallery, said: "For Antonella, the mark left behind by a coffee cup is transformed into an elegant necklace and the lonely knot of string at the bottom of the bin becomes a captivating brooch."
The exhibition, entitled Refresh, features nine graduates from across the world, including Antonella, 29, who moved to the town after completing a degree at Sheffield Hallam University. It runs from November 12 to January 27.

ILKLEY GAZETTE
8 NOV 2007

Jenny's sea slug earrings go on show at Salts Mill

JEWELLERY inspired by jellyfish and sea slugs is being displayed at Salts Mill by a Menston designer. The far from traditional glow-in-the-dark items are the work of Jenny Llewellyn, who graduated with a BA (Hons) Jewelley from Middelesex University this summer. Jenny is one of nine new graduates from around the globe, featuring in the Refresh exhibition at the Kath Libbert Jewellery Gallery in Saltaire which opens on Sunday and runs until January 27. She is showing a vibrant collection of rings and earring inspired by the luminous colours, amazing shapes and movements of creatures from the deep. Her silicone pieces move with the wearer and glow in the dark to create jewellery that is described as 'playful and very tactile.' Earlier this year Jenny spoke of her work after taking a starring role at Middlesex University's annual art and design exhibition. She said: "The jewellery is based mainly on jellyfish and sea slugs. They don't sound very inspirational but I've done a lot of research and visited lots of aquarlums and the variety of colours you see in them is amazing."

The silicone material she uses has to go through a challenging colouring, curing and casting process before it can be made into jewellery that recreates the glowing properties of sea creatures. The Refresh exhibition also includes rubber gloves as you've never seen them before; coffee cup stains transformed into necklaces; and wire, nails and string becoming things of beauty.

Refresh

Something Old, Something New

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