Early 90’s, & I’ve just confirmed a position as a Systems Administrator with a fashion wholesaler in Exeter. Conveniently a house in Pennsylvania is included. Having just returned to the uk after a year of travelling, most of my things were in storage. I’d sold most of the big stuff and so when accumulated, the room of boxes was what was left of my previous life.

Found a small weird house in St Leonards, near the river, which needed some renovation. Met an angel builder both capable & affordable, things were looking up. Or so I thought!

Within weeks the fashion company went bankrupt, & I had to move into my little house, & sadly, my lovely builder died suddenly! I was busy trying to find another position but there wasn’t much around of a similar level. I did a variety of things to survive. Finally, working on a magazine, covering the south west as Features Ed., a small organisation with the nicest of people and a excellent product.

Magdalen Road was my local shopping area & Denmark Road my doctors… so how could I miss Studio 36. I don’t know if you know what it’s like to arrive somewhere new, you know no one, then you stumble across a heavenly oasis, that was what finding Studio 36 was to me. It was, & hopefully still is, a delightfully whacky, anything can happen, sort of place, & it usually did..!

I often wonder why I ever left Devon as it became my adopted homeland, which for a Scot says a lot..!

Life in Brittany, France, for someone who is really bad at languages, is not the wisest of moves. Other than my failure with languages & the catalogue of French ‘trials’, it is truly beautiful. Very similar in its greenness to Devon, but with next to no traffic – I get excited on the extremely rare occasion I’m in a line-up of say 6 cars delayed for a few minutes.! 

My next move must be, where English is spoken & I can emerge from my enforced semi-retirement to be the teacher & therapist I enjoy being.

As a sometime actor & director I have few reflections amongst the kind friends here.

Enjoy & appreciate the delight of 36.

I am not artistic. I don’t understand art. In fact, when I read an artist’s description of what inspires them and what they are trying to achieve, I usually end up completely confused. But that’s the point. When I walk into Studio 36, I am challenged, I have to set aside my assumptions, my expectations. Veronica always says it is best not to have expectations about anything, and this I try to practice.

Veronica and her fellow collaborators’ work is bright and colourful (usually) and always enlivening. Gordon’s art was the most colourful of all, as he celebrated and revelled in the bright colours we associate with childhood. Our house is now awash with brightly decorated mugs and plates and jugs and calendars, all from Studio 36 of course.

I cannot offer a painting or a sketch or a ceramic creation or inventive woodwork – or anything like that. I enjoy photography and that, and perhaps words, are the nearest I can get to artistic expression. But I can be in the audience and be appreciative – and of course challenged – by what I see and hear. Coming to 36 Denmark Road is coming to see friends.

And what about me otherwise? All the same things as many other people my age – birth, school, university, work, marriage (twice, second time much better), children, retirement…just one thing on the list left to do! I studied English Language and Literature at university, not half as assiduously as I would if I was back there now. From there a spell of voluntary work led me into social work and a career in Social Services, the NHS and lastly, before its abolition, the Audit Commission. I am interested in people, in nature and wildlife, and in history. I walk, cycle a bit, think (maybe too much), read, and write – a family history going back to 1379; my own history (because the 1950s was such a different world to that which my grandchildren inhabit); and even a history of our estate. Maybe I should be braver and try to write something more creative?

So, to end, and apropos of nothing in particular, here are spring tulips in the garden sunshine. Life continues.

Laurie Fentimen

CONTEMPORARY JEWELLERY IS SO EXCITING ….

It encompasses many materials, but also precious metals and gems. It is experimental, can be provocative, or political, and is wonderfully inventive. 

Whether you explore the modern nostalgia of Jo Pond, Lina Peterson’s playful wooden jewellery, the precision of Daphne Krinos’ exquisite work, the riot of Jillian Moore’s resin jewellery, the delicacy of Kwon Seulgi’s silicone structures, or Mario Albrecht’s jewellery from recycled plastic, there is much to marvel at. Look them up, if you do not know their work. These are just a few of well known makers from around the world. 

My own path to silversmithing evolved from a deep interest in art and crafts. I discovered silversmithing, admiring a brooch a young woman I met was wearing, which she had made. I was fascinated, attended a silversmithing jewellery evening class, was amazed by the tools, hammers, saws, drills, files and more and fell in love with material and process.

I enrolled in a silversmithing course at the School of Art and Design in Bristol and learnt the many different techniques for making jewellery. I have experimented with different materials, acrylic, paper, wood. Still, silver remains my favourite, and my favourite techniques are fusing and reticulation, using heat and layers of silver to pattern and shape. To create shapes, I draw plants and leaves, to learn their details, then search for interesting lines. Although many designs are based on natural shapes, I do not want these to be easily identified.

I am passionate about texture and colour and use dichroic glass to enhance my patterns. Colours and sparkle have seduced me into making flamboyant pieces of jewellery: neckpieces, brooches and cuffs. Each piece is unique and exuberant, and clients say, when worn, empowers them.

Uschi Arens Price 2020

You can view some of Uschi’s work below and on this website.

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I’m missing the room you let me use in Denmark Road and all the people who I meet when they visit you. I’m making the best of a small room at home. Having the box easel has been really useful, it’s like a studio that folds out of a suitcase.

I’m also missing life drawing and working with a model. Instead I’ve fallen back on subjects close to hand. I’ve done a couple of paintings of shoes and a self portrait. I don’t know why I hadn’t discovered this before but I’ve been propping my palette upright on the easel, this has the advantage of being able to see the colours more easily. Of course it only works if the paint isn’t runny.

As you know I collected the little screw press from the studio and I’ve been doing some printmaking. I don’t attach much importance to this work but it I really enjoy it. I’m printing cards and bookmarks.

We’re lucky we’re able to carry on working during this crisis but I look forward to getting back to the studio and the company around your kitchen table.

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