OliviaJeffries:Studio

I'm learning to step back, to spend time away and it's hard because the brain want to do do do and if nothings doing I feel like I'm not getting anywhere when in fact the opposite is true. Eight days of not being in the studio has opened up a new energy, a wave of invigoration and an ability to see things with fresh eyes. Note to self - please take more time off.
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Straight in at the work bench today and two pairs of right bobby dazzlers jumped out at me and came together in an instant. Full of jazzy summer vibes, textured copper passed through the rolling mill against etched plates with my hand drawn patterns, a dab of paint, sterling silver and some jangles to complete the look. Available in my shop today, follow the link in my profile for more images and details...
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What came to me after a coaching session last week was that the personal creative practice is a vast and intricate matrix which can be as expansive as it is insular, often unknowable and difficult to sum up in short if asked. Moving through the ebb and flow of what it means to be a creative individual is oftentimes overwhelming to me personally.
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After that came the thought that what I’d like to do is create a space for a small group of individuals to meet - be it online or in person - to talk about their work, their practice, their joys and their difficulties of being a creative mind. A support network, a critique, a place for discussion and feedback. I am by no means teaching anything in this offering, just creating a space for dialogue.
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I’d like to start mid January and meet once a month for 3 months. If you’d like more details please send me a DM.
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The leaves are starting to fall quickly outside the studio windows now and this image captures a moment of sunlight streaming through onto one of my panels. I love the contrasting glimmer on what I often depict as a flat and even surface. I frustrated myself as I scrambled to take the photo, only yesterday I wrote the words ‘the shared experience in the moment is between you and the universe so be in the joy with it’. Oh well, you can’t win them all. 🙃✌️
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The purpose is always changing. New thoughts evolving from old thoughts. A transformation of sorts. A bit part slowly becoming the whole. New newness, who knew? I didn’t see it coming, the new newness, hmmm it’s different. I fancied a change, something not known, something to sink my teeth into, something to open my eyes that little bit wider. It’s very something the new newness and you can’t put your finger on it. The possibility lifts me up. Fresh as a daisy. Absolutely.
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Corners of my studio…have a wonderful weekend all 😀
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If a piece of your work could talk, what would it say? Would it be able to put into words how it came into being? To delineate all of the warp and the weft that occurred in your life to bring those materials together in front of you and that one spark in your mind that set you into motion in a split second to manifest that thing through your hands. Although it isn’t quite what you imagined it makes you stop and think yes! There it is the perfect thing that so eloquently made me feel alive that I had to make this part of my being visible to anyone and everyone in the whole world who would like to see it.
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There’s no peace in this piece, I’ve been nothing but unsettled since I made it. Why is it here now? It’s a signpost, a marker and it says STOP. Stop, who goes there? Are you friend or foe? It’s a stranger to me, stranger than fiction, a stranger on these shores. It’s like I’ve opened the fridge and there’s that faint whiff of something on the turn but you’re not sure what…And what I discovered behind the wizened carrot is a helping of trying too hard that’s past it’s best. Trying to be nice, trying to be easy, trying to be accessible. Me and this print are watching each other from across the studio and I’m trying to figure out what happened to get me here.
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Timeworn beauty with an underscoring of sonorous texture.
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Mysterious intricacies woven within.
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Ancient modular forms unearthed and resonating wildly.
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In recent weeks I have reignited my 3 year lapsed meditation practice. A practice which got me through some heavy times. I have resolutely been ignoring the possibility of meditating and being with myself. Instead, I’ve been looking in the other direction, fingers in ears la la la not listening to it trying to coax me back into its regime. Because I’ve been too busy being busy. Doing doing doing. I’ve been too tired/angry/empty/energised - delete as applicable. Got to go to work. Got to make make make. Got to find the answer to the questions that my brain is busy computing the most logical answers to and find all the potential outcomes to an absolute finite outcome.
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Right now, part of me wants to burn everything to the ground, part of me wants to keep creating through and despite it. It’s an awkward space, the meditation practice, opening the door and stepping into a hall of mirrors, enlightening as it is uncomfortable, both humbling and horrifying in equal measure but it has gifted me the ability to see my work from a distance and ask a lot of questions.
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Four more pairs of these lovelies have been added to my shop this morning. I’m loving how these jewellery pieces are coming together at the moment, slow and spontaneous, and loving that they seem to be resonating with people. I’m grateful to be making these wonky danglers to adorn your quirky ears. Follow the link in my profile for more pics and details…
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This week in the studio has been all about textiles. Cutting mustard lining, prepping for some printing next week and playing with some new zips. Thinking I know what I’m doing then getting the seem ripper out because I’ve sewn the wrong bit again! It’s been slow going but necessary work as I prepare to bring back my zipper pouches and also make way for some mighty tote bags…watch this space 👀
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Tomorrow, Saturday 25th September, you’ll find me with a display of my work .holt in the North Norfolk town of Holt. I’ll be there with silver jewellery, painted earrings and textiles from 10-4pm. The shop is stunning and arranged with a beautiful display of work from some of the regions finest makers.
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This is what I wrote following on from my post before last…
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What came next was an opening up into my own story, my own capabilities, a vast understanding of the mystery of creativity and an immense sense of gratitude for the space and time to make things which want to reveal themselves through my hands.
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I sat and cried. It was wonderful. Then I got up and spent the rest of the day exploring and playing with ideas which I’ve been avoiding and ignoring for quite a few years. It was time to get on with it.
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The possibilities are endless…big circle, square with soft edges, wonky everything, grey dots on black, yellow grid on indigo blue, concentric circles in white, no - pink! no - red! Black stripes, silver oval, blue stripes, silver circle, big spots, thinner lines, strong colour, quiet intention, blue dots on pink grid, blue on blue, orange on blue, big spots, small dots and the pinkest pink on everything.
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For all those lovers of radically unique mismatched skewhif earrings in a patchwork of colours I have just the thing for you - 9 new pairs of handmade, hand painted, hand printed earrings have been added to my shop today and they are all ready and waiting to head off out into the wide wide world and make you look even more totally fabulous than you already are! 😘 Swipe left to view them all and follow the link in my profile for more details…
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A rare treat of a day in the studio yesterday just pottering about, doodling around and finishing up some more of these painted earrings. I just love making them. So many possibilities. I’ll let you know when they’re available later in the week 😀
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The ink is finally dry! What a difference it makes when you can pick things up and touch them…
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One of a kind block print in linseed oil based inks on acid free cartridge paper.
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Sending these four off on a journey this week…
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I’ve had some great days in the studio this week, I’ve been playing and thinking and finally had to hold my hands up and admit to myself that firstly my sewing just isn’t good enough and secondly I don’t enjoy it. The realisation has been that this is holding me back in some areas of my work and it’s time for a change so I’m looking for some assistance on the sewing side of things.
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Ideally I’d like someone local who can come into the studio to work alongside me. I would consider working with someone at a distance if it’s the right person for the job. The work will be occasional - although I do have a bit of a backlog of fabric to get through at the moment! Drop me a DM if you’re interested with some details on yourself and some examples of previous work. Thanks!

Today I’m releasing a collection of original prints. These are all cut from one of my larger one of a kind panels which features an improvised design created from my stash of blocks and stamps in linseed oil based ink on linen.
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These prints are decorative and unique works of art inspired by maps and stories from the inner landscape. These pieces are modular weavings, with mysterious grid references, they veer off the map and down the winding path, through portals, under veils, into openings and out of endings, they are their own language and I wonder what they are saying.
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Ten prints in a variety of sizes from small to large are available in my shop today, follow the link in my profile for more details…
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