About the finds...

Ever since I was a child, I have loved ancient history.  My parents were forever getting me books on Egyptians, Mayans, Incas, and the Aztecs,  all of which I have to this day.  They came over to the UK with me when I moved here.  There are still quite a few of the "Gail" library at my mother's house in Pennsylvania that have yet to find their way to Suffolk.  I even have some really old editions of National Geographic that had articles on human sacrifice in Central and South America.  All this stuff fascinated me especially the art that adorned the buildings and tombs of these wonderful and ingenius people.

I also developed a fascination for Jack The Ripper at the age of five when my dad gave me a book about the murders.  He said " here, see what you think of this".  I now own about 20 books on the Ripper murders and attend Ripper conferences here in London.  Its not just the crimes that interest me, its the era too that makes me wish that time travel was possible.  I would love to visit Victorian London.  See the workhouses, doss houses, the mean streets and their inhabitants.

When I discovered Time Team and Meet the Ancestors, I was in heaven.  It was through these shows that I discovered field walking and gathering small finds from times past.  I visit and photograph priory ruins with my husband.  I am amazed that these ruins have survived and when I walk through them, I try to imagine what the day to day lives of the monks were like.  What sort of food they ate and what kind of cooking utensils were used.  This takes me to the present and my odd little habit of picking up bits of pottery I find.  A few of the bits I have found have been identified as medieval, as well as 17th and 18th century.  

I have collected this stuff for gone on 11 years now and have quite a nice little hoard.  After getting into working with silver clay, I decided to put the pieces to use in jewelry combining them with the clay to make what I now call wearable historical art.

I have already applied slip, which is art clay thinned with water to make a heavy cream like consistency, to several pottery pieces and have made a pendant with one and now I will be using the smaller bits to make a type of charm to use in bracelets and earrings.  I will also be using the pipe stems in the same manner but will incorporate the use of  both slip and clay in the designs.  I may add cubic zirconias to these as well  because they can added to the pre fired clay and are able to withstand the high temperatures of the kiln.

Selection of clay pottery found along the Thames at low tide.  This lot has been cleaned and the edges smoothed for ease of clay application.

These pieces have already had the clay slip added to the edges.  After a few applications of slip, they are individually sanded before adding several more layers of slip.

Clay pipe stems which have been cleaned.  The hollow parts have also been cleaned thoroughly using a wire to remove all traces of silt and dirt from the Thames.  I also soak them in bleach to remove stains and for sanitary purposes.  These have been sorted by size for the most part and will become earrings and possibly bracelet charms.

The pipe bowls will become pendants or keychains.  The foreshore at low tide is littered with pipe stems, bowls and pottery.  

Just how long these pieces have been in the Thames is anyone's guess.  But they are part of England's past and now with my unique jewelry, they can become part of England's present and future.  If they could speak, I am sure they would have some interesting stories to tell....