This May The Scottish Gallery hosts an online tribute to Wendy Ramshaw CBE, RDI (1939-2018) – Wendy’s World where you can view available works including Ramshaw’s signature ringsets.
We have also produced a series of blogs that take you through Wendy’s illustrious career in her own words. Please enjoy part four that focuses on her brooches and the connection to her large scale sculptural work.
A JEWELLER'S WORDS
‘I recognise that scale is an element to be considered and reckoned with when making jewellery. I think jewellery should, ideally, read well from a distance and also be of interest close-to. Jewellery, unlike most other art forms (certain kinetic art being an obvious exception), has a life of its own. As the wearer approaches, turns and moves, light falls upon the piece. It is fully seen, half seen. It is a portable art form.’ – Wendy Ramshaw
Wendy Ramshaw, p134, Rooms of Dreams, published 2012, The Harley Gallery & Ruthin Craft CentreYou may know that the lines of imaginary maps are often evident in my pieces. They are some kind of homage to my Father’s profession. Constructed from fine gold wires, they may be symbolic of travel and potential discovery. I am often working on a subconscious level.
works on a larger scale
Wendy Ramshaw’s work also encompassed designs for textiles, screens, gateways and sculpture. Here Wendy describes in her own works how larger works involved thinking and design processes similar to those required for her sculptural jewellery:
‘In my childhood I lived a large part of my life in my imagination. In art classes at school it was possible, in a primitive way, to make some of these imaginings visible. Later, at Art College, imagining and making was transformed by discovery through the use of professional facilities and techniques.
Imagining an object and then planning its existence became increasingly fascinating arid addictive. Carrying through this process of planning and making is the way a small studio functions. A living is earned as objects are made...
Once, I made only small objects – pieces of jewellery. They were, in their way, site specific. The ‘site’ on which they were to exist was the body. Now I make large objects, including gates, doors, mobiles, and screens. The sites they occupy can be found within buildings or gardens. The increase in scale, from very small pieces to very large objects, has appeared to me to be a seamless development.
Site specific, large-scale works involve working with both a client and a team outside my own studio. The final work eventually fulfils a need beyond my own. I work to a brief and extend my imagination to reach a solution. A finished work has its place in the wider world and many people may enjoy it.
When I see the finished work that once existed only in my imagination and now exists in the real world, it never ceases to surprise me.
I approach each commission differently, often using new technologies to expand my working methods. I use my experience of working with a variety of materials, methods and scales.’ – Wendy Ramshaw
explore wendy's world
Below we bring you a short film showcasing a selection of brooches that feature in the exhibition.
publications available
For further reading you may wish to explore two publications that are available to purchase on our website. A Life’s Partnership (below left) presents a beautifully illustrated career with archive images and quotes from Wendy Ramshaw herself. Wendy Ramshaw The Scottish Gallery Collection (below right) allows you to explore works available to purchase at The Scottish Gallery and for the duration of this exhibition it is at the special price of £10.
For further details discover our online tribute to Wendy Ramshaw – Wendy’s World where you can view available works including Ramshaw’s signature ringsets.
