Well you know I love birds but after the flowers and butterflies I just started to imagine all the birds I was seeing in the garden as sprayed copper birds.
Some are wall hung and some are standing and some like the Magpies just need to be in pairs “Two for Joy”
We all need Joy.
Firstly it was the Magpies, they are so cheeky but I fooled them with my copper Magpies and I fooled the dog too.
Pairs of Magpies prices from £60
Next it was the Pigeons, I know most people complain about them, but they have such lovely colours and markings. I couldn’t resist trying to make some. My garden gave me Blue Tits, Robins, Magpies, Blackbirds and Crows, so that is what Ive tried so far.
Well I have made plain copper butterflies before but the whole rainbow idea made me think of how I could create a sprayed copper butterfly rainbow.
My absolute favourite colour combo is pink and green and this leads back to my childhood and finding an elephant hawk moth caterpillar (who we called four eyes). I saw him eventually emerge into the beautiful pink and green moth. So pink was covered as a colour in my rainbow, I just had to work out the other colours.
I started by trying to stencil all the markings but also did some hand painting, especially on ones like the Peacock butterfly.
Years ago when I was probably a teenager my Mum did some silversmithing evening classes and she made me not only a lovely silver ring with 3 balls on it but also a silver bangle which I loved.
This had been missing for years but when my Dad was unwell last year and I was back in Derbyshire cleaning, I found said bangle. It was as if my Mum was sending me a sign of her being with me.
Anyhow I’m digressing, when I did my foundation course in Art & Design there were 3 areas I was interested in: Textiles, Photography and Jewellery and my tutors pushed me towards textiles (so Embroidery BA it was).
Years later my husband gave me a gift of a one-day silversmithing course with the lovely Janet Richardson, which I absolutely loved and I ended up continuing on with her classes afterwards.
I’ve divided my jewellery into four sections hopefully making it easy for you to look at similar pieces.
Sweet Necklaces prices from £35
Bird, Pear, Key, Disc and Monopoly Necklaces prices from £30
I’ve always loved colour and chose to do a degree in embroidery at Manchester Metropolitan University, but I got sidetracked whilst doing my degree by my love of metalwork.
So after doing my MA at Wolverhampton in metal and working in metal for many years I realized how much I was missing colour and my embroidered birds with copper bodies began to emerge.
I found my love for metalwork during a two week elective in the second year of my embroidery degree.
My lovely Uncle then taught me how to weld and this dragon was the first sculpture I made.
I was given a MIG welder for my 21st Birthday by my Dad and proceeded to make various animals out of old tools, spanners, knives and forks.
To try and incorporate my metalwork passion into my embroidery degree show I welded an octopus hat stand out of an old lawn mower roller and exhaust pipes and drove this all the way from Derbyshire to Manchester, sadly for it only to be rejected by my embroidery tutors!
When I was a child I wanted to be a milliner and often sketched hat designs. Every time there was an opportunity I would try to make a hat or headpiece for the occasion. As time went on this fascination with hats didn’t diminish and I ended up aged 15 writing to various milliners in London and asking them if I could come and visit and see their workshops.
Luckily for me both Frederick Fox and Phillip Somerville said yes!
I’ve been making headpieces for myself ever since, then last year I had the chance to make a few commissions. I love doing this as you have a colour scheme to work with and it’s fun sourcing from different millinery suppliers. (One of which is called Randalls Ribbons, despite that being my maiden/work name there is no family connection).
Headpiece Gallery bespoke headpieces from £75 upwards
I love making a headpiece to match an outfit, and having a bespoke headpiece makes it even more special, as it will be unique to you.
The images above are all headpieces I have made either for myself for events or made to order specifically for someone and their event.
Headpiece Testimonials
“Oenone designed a beautiful fascinator to compliment my dress for Royal Ascot races. She drew sketches to show me her inspiration before making the piece. Her millinery skills are exemplary.”
Gina Bujakowski
“I had been in search of a fascinator for my sons winter wedding. After ordering three off the internet and none being the colour described, Oenone came to the rescue. She knew exactly what I was looking for. I showed her the shoes and dress I had chosen and within a few days, the perfect headpiece was created. It is a beautiful piece I will keep and wear again. Also, two of my friends have borrowed it since for weddings and everyone commented on how gorgeous it was.”
Tina Thorpe
“Oenone made a stunning Fascinator for my daughter’s wedding. She matched it perfectly to my dress and then balanced it perfectly. It was admired by all. The quality of her work is fantastic with her checking her design and materials with me throughout the process.”
Andrea Paskins
“Oenone carefully matched the colours to those of my outfit and the design to my personality. I have worn it several times since and always get complimented on it and ask where I bought it. Being bespoke it matches so much better than an off the shelf headpiece. It has breathed new life into old outfits. Don’t buy a whole new wardrobe just add a new twist.”
Sue Whitfield
“I asked Oenone to make me a headpiece that would not only match my dress but also look as wonderful as a hat but not a fascinator. The end result was a bespoke headpiece exactly how I wanted that was exciting to be involved with. Wearing something that is exactly what you want is truly special and I am in love with it.
I would not recommend anyone else. She is the best.”
My Isolation colour photos were taken over 30 consecutive days and are about me and my dog Tolly working our way through the Rainbow during lockdown with a few special additions…
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Turquoise
Blue
Duck Egg
Pale Pink
Bright Pink
Purple
Black
Union Jack
White
Gold
Rainbow
Black + White
Cream
Silver
Sequins + Glitter
Khaki + Camouflage
Cardboard
Denim
Leopard
Star
Brown
Spotty
Iron + Steel
Stripey
Grey
Copper
My lovely friend Jacq sent me a photo by Rowena Meadows of her family all dressed in the same variations of one colour (Green) and said: “Reckon you guys could give this family a run for their money on this”
Well I sent back: “OMG I absolutely love this” and promptly put it to my family…who very quickly all refused.
I wasn’t going to be beaten so i turned to Tolly (our dog) and said “Well it’s you and me then Tolly” she didn’t say anything, so I assumed that was a yes from her.
This was sent through on a Saturday and I had a plan of action for Monday.
That weekend the colour collecting began on red and on the 27th April 2020 around 12.17pm my long suffering daughter Nell was called in to take the photo with my phone and hold the dog biscuit bone .(I say long suffering as I’m quite particular where I want the picture taken from and I do practice shots without me or Tolly in to try to get everything of that colour in the shot…)
On day two Orange it poured with rain so I took it inside to my kitchen.
Throughout these photos I have tried to put pieces of my artworks within the picture, but on day two I failed as I couldn’t find any of my embroidered orange book covers, but most other days I have succeeded.
It then became quite fun working out different areas of our home to set the photographs up in: kitchen, patio, drive, shroom, (inside + out) bathroom, garden, hall, shower, car boot, washing line, trampoline, shed, and any other spaces I could find for variety.
I sent some of the first days to the photographer in Australia Rowena who inspired the Rainbow photos and got a lovely voice note back. The jist of which was:
“Wow wow..the dog is loving it… there is so much imagination and joy…and glad you didn’t worry about your family not joining in..Stuff them!”
