SEA TANGLES AND GHOST NETS
I spent many teenage hours in my room stringing beads and twisting tiny pieces of silver wire dreaming of learning more but only began silversmithing in 2017 while living in Kent. I took courses with Edward Mahony at his Createstudio (now More Than Metal) in Faversham.
Before this I lived in Edinburgh for many years where my husband and I worked in architectural conservation. We’ve recently moved back to the Carse of Gowrie and spend winters in France.
My great-great-grandparents, Gordon Pyper and Eliza Blackie, came from Newport-on-Tay and Tayport respectively, and my father lived in Strathmiglo so I am particularly attached to the area and its beaches and thrilled to be exhibiting here in a building that was familiar to them.
These Sea Tangles and Ghost Nets are inspired by alarming images of nets and lines dumped at sea and the threat this pollution poses to marine life. Ten percent of my sales will go to The Scottish Coastal Clean Up charity.
I work with recycled fine and sterling silver, incorporating sea glass, china and sea plastic fragments I’ve found while beach combing in Scotland.
I hammer, twist and/or fuse the silver to set off the forms of the found objects. I enjoy the unpredictable and organic results of reticulated silver.
I add mother-of-pearl, coloured pearl beads and antique Murano glass suspended in nylon coated copper mesh.
In 2024 I exhibited at the Halpern Gallery Open in Medway.
Anne Emerson
May 2025