This stunning contribution – part ammonite, part spine, part turbine – will feature in a new exhibition at Axolotl on Dundas Street.
'Forse Shore' by Michael Bullen appears as part of Katnes Folio, featuring paintings, craftwork, sculpture and photographs made in Caithness.
It runs from 8–30 November (Tues–Thurs, 11am–4pm; Fri–Sat, 11am–6pm).
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At 23 Union Street, the Edinburgh Printmakers Open Day is on 12 November (11.00am–5.00pm) with workshops for adults and children, printmaking demos, artists' talks and frame sales. All workshops cost £2.
From 12 November until 23 December, the largest annual exhibition of members' work – Hidden City: Edinburgh Uncovered – will show. This year it is themed around the capital's secret selves and unusual perspectives.
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[img_assist|nid=2277|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=165|height=200]Pop up Precious – an exhibition of new jewellery by local designers – will show at the Framed Gallery on Gayfield Square later this month.
Eleven artists will display their work, all of them members of the recently formed Edinburgh branch of the Association for Contemporary Jewellery.
Dorothy Hogg, MBE – the first jeweller in residence at London's Victoria and Albert Museum – has met the group and finds them impressive. She also likes the nature of their pop-up exhibitions, writing: 'Their vision of a new context in which to show the work of jewellers has an exciting "off the plinth" approach'.
[img_assist|nid=2276|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=165|height=200]Among the jewellers represented will be Spurtle reader Jaimie MacDonald. A 2004 graduate in Jewellery and Silversmithing at Edinburgh College of Art, she now specialises in recycling materials, particularly plastics.
She starts with what may seem rather unpromising objects such as contact-lens or film cases, but goes on to create translucently delicate natural and organic forms (see her '4 Days' earrings, above; 'Wave Goodbye' pendant, right; and '31 Days' necklace, below).
'I find freedom in working with these abundant materials, allowing me to experiment and play with forms and construction.
[img_assist|nid=2302|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=200|height=200]'I take the time to explore the material until it reveals its precious and subtle nature. I enjoy the sense of peace and unclutteredness that using a limited colour palate brings into my work. I also love the tactile quality that my work brings, as well as sounds produced by elements clustered together. I find something familiar and comforting in these sensations.'
'Working in plastic may not seem particularly in keeping with traditional Scottish crafts,' she written elsewhere, 'but the extent of my enquiry into the material – through cutting, texturing and forming – draws out an unexpected empathy with the natural Scottish environment and I think complements it.
'Through my work I also consider the preciousness of our natural surroundings and the impact our wasteful lifestyles are having on it.'
[img_assist|nid=2303|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=200|height=133]Pop up Precious will show at the Framed Gallery, 11b Gayfield Square from 19 November–2 December. Right and below are images of work by three other participating artists: in order, Caroline Cloughley, Claire Wright and Jessica Howarth.
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On 25 October, we perhaps irritably suggested Richard Taylor and Ross Hamilton Frew's Superclub exhibition on Gayfield Square was unhelpfully titled in Latin Ipso Facto.
[img_assist|nid=2305|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=200|height=143]Fortunately, visitors to the exhibition at 11a Gayfield Square can pick up an A4 sheet which includes the following explanatory passage:
'The phrase "Ipso Facto" translates to "matter of fact" and was used by Jean-Paul Sartre in reference to Alberto Giacometti's approach to rendering his drawings in sculptural form, and the conference these manifestations then had with the viewer. The terminology rings true within this exhibition and the project as a whole, as both artists have used the essence of drawing to develop their own production within a shared timescale and exhibition setup. For both artists their work has never been compromised to accommodate that of the other. Instead there is an equilibrium attributed to the what is shown, in terms of exploring collaborative and artistic partnership: both formally and conceptually.'
[img_assist|nid=2304|title=|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=121|height=200]We trust everyone is now clear. If not, either have a cup of tea and a lie-down or go to the previously linked 'web-logs and placing art practice' discussion scheduled for Thursday 10 November, 6–8pm.
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The excellent Gallery on the Corner (34 Northumberland Street), which opened in March 2010, fully represents and supports 'inclusive artwork and crafts produced by artists who have a physical or mental health condition or those from a disadvantaged background'.
Right now they are looking for art groups and artists to submit proposals for exhibitions next year.
Relevant background information and application forms appear below.