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 two that focuses on the Journey Through Glass and Drawings in Gold series.
journey through glass
‘Some artists work in response to the natural beauty of nature. I work with the beauty of man-made structures. The universe in miniature and in totality is made of geometric patterns, forms, rhythms, order.
Because I come from the northern town, now the city, of Sunderland, my aesthetic from childhood onwards responds to the beauty of ships, the sea and the sky above. My father spent most of his professional younger years as a ship’s navigator. My grandfather was the Master of a ship under sail. The danger and romance of such professions sometimes illuminates my thoughts.
I see man’s creative and destructive instinct as part of nature, his buildings, cities, planes and ships no less enthralling than a honeycomb or an ant hill.’
– Wendy Ramshaw, Journey Through Glass, The Scottish Gallery, August 2007
drawings in gold
‘Drawings in Gold is a series of drawings which have been transformed into gold jewellery. In my studio the lines of a series of pencil drawings are re-drawn exactly, but now using fine gold wires in place of thin pencil lines. The drawings re-emerge in the fine lines of hard gold and can be worn as jewellery.
I try to draw without preconception. I draw a single line – a straight line or a curved line. I draw this line almost without thought. I add another line to the first – it may be curved or straight, but this time I am thinking of the relationship of one line to another. A third line is added, and now I am working with the drawing, adding and removing lines until I am finished and satisfied with the result.
I have no aim other than that of making a drawing. The lines are very delicate – an unwelcome line or unwanted mark can easily be removed or replaced.’
– Wendy Ramshaw, Drawings in Gold, 2008
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.
explore wendy's world
Below we bring you a short film showcasing a selection of necklaces that feature in the exhibition, featuring In Love with Blue, from the Journey Through Glass Series
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.
