Wendy Ramshaw - take three

This is what The Mall, connecting Buckingham Palace (at the distance) with Trafalgar Square, looks like a week after the Jubilee celebrations. Last week, The Mall together with Trafalgar Square, Westminster and the river banks were a no-go area as I have experienced first hand. There were people everywhere you looked. I wrote about it a little in my last post when we waited and waited by the river Thames for the arrival of the Queen (and at the end left a bit early anyway).

Last week, I also tried to go to the Somerset House to see 'Room of Dreams: Wendy Ramshaw'  exhibition. Because of the Jubilee celebrations, there were so many road and pavement closures that one needed to plan well in advance - something I simply forgot to do. And so I ended up being refused access to the key areas twice, the path I would usually take was not accessible. Therefore today was my 'take three' to go past Buckingham Palace, through the edge of Trafalgar Square, down to the river and further to Somerset House. Yes, today I succeeded.

Wendy Ramshaw is a jewellery designer whose career spans over 50 years. Coming to prominence with a pop-up paper or acrylic jewellery in the '60s, she took jewellery design further with not only the actual precious metal pieces but also the way they are displayed/stored. She introduced the Rocket-like stands for her rings as seen on the left.

Over the years, she has worked with precious and non-precious metals, gems, glass, wood, bronze, leather, textile and found materials designing both small delicate pieces and large architectural works.

Returning to the exhibition, it consists of three small rooms. The middle room houses a maquette of the 'Room of Dreams' (right). When you look inside and than around you, you realise that you are in the 'Room of Dreams'. Whatever is attached to the small walls of the maquette is also precisely displayed in the room you are standing in. Silver or gold jewellery, necklaces combining precious materials with fine threads, matching or unmatching ear-rings, rings and others. All these works executed with such care and uniqueness.

Wendy Ramshaw's practice spans further past jewellery design. Working on a bigger scale, she is responsible for designing the gates to Number One Hyde Park in London, St. John's Gate in Oxford and many other sculptural pieces. And this was the reason why I had to see this exhibition. Not only for the jewellery but also for the person behind the larger scale sculptural pieces. I had gone past these on so many occasions but would not even think that somebody who works in a delicate territory could upscale so much and be a competition to the industrial field. Kx