'Stainbrough Castle'The whole piece is ~55mm x 40mm. The windows in the towers and the pattern of the stonework were done by etching before the towers were rounded.
By adjusting the curve of the towers, I was able to make space for the brooch pin so that the piece would sit flat when worn. The leaf clusters were cut out separately, formed to match the curve of the towers and soldered in place. To give the piece something of the atmosphere of the castle, I decided to give it a more aged look by first patinating the nooks and crannies and then applying a matt finish to the stonework areas. The polished finish to the leaves contrasts beautifully. Stainborough Castle also featured in a project by Sabine Little - one of my then cohorts in Pennine Artists. Forget those leaf things: how about running Rapunzel-style tresses of glass down one of the towers. One of the real towers, that is. Check out Sabine's Follies for Follies web page. |
Wentworth Castle Cardens are famous for, amongst other things, a wonderful collection of rhodedendrons and a fine selection of follies. The best of these must be Stainborough Castle: a perfectly magnificent mock castle, built around 1730.
"Believed to be the second oldest Gothic garden folly in the country, the castle was used by the 1st Earl [of Strafford] and his family as a play area and for picknicking." Each of the Earl's children had their own tower. I was commissioned to produce a piece of jewellery as a leaving present for one of the garden's management team. I knew instantly that the rhodedenrons and castle just had to feature in the design, and this is what evolved. I made it so that is can be worn either as a pendant or as a brooch. |