Ønskeseddel 2015

Årets Bedste Unika

Brosche, Sterling Sølv, foto: Camilla Hey

Jeg har i år deltaget på Kunsthåndværkermarkedet på Frue plads og i forbindelse med åbningen af markedet  torsdag den 13. august. blev markedets pris 'Håndfuglen' uddelt. I kategorien bedste nye unika modtog jeg prisen for min brosche i sterling sølv.

Årets Jury for håndfuglen 2015 var designer Nikolaj Steenfatt, Museumsdirektør Sidsel Maria Søndergaard fra Øregaard Museum og Keramiker Steen Ipsen og de var alle begejstrede for mit arbejde.

Broschen er lavet i sterling sølv og tager udgangspunkt i den lille fatning der skal til for at holde en sten på plads i et smykke, således at stenen præsenteres bedst muligt. Fatningerne er gentaget i korallignende strukturer der giver smykket et blødt, organisk og levende præg og distancerer det fra den meget stringente struktur som traditionelt præger juvellérarbejde. Ved et kig på tidligere tiders kronjuveler der ligger i alverdens skatkamre ribbet for sten, fik jeg øje på skønheden i det virvar af metal der ligger gemt bag de dyrebare sten og så dyrkede jeg det til fulde. Broschen er en del af en større serie af smykker med samme udgangspunkt.

Ny adresse...

Efter mange år i den dejlige butik på Møntergade er jeg nu flyttet ind til mine søde kollegaer i butikken Mano Motus rundt om hjørnet og har dermed fået mere tid til at fordybe mig i mit arbejde og nogen at dele hverdag med. Butikken er åben tirsdag-fredag fra 11-17 og lørdag 11-14, torsdag er min faste butiksdag og hvis det ikke passer kunderne er jeg også tilgængelig efter aftale.

Butikken er at finde på www.manomotus.dk og rummer, udover mig, guldsmedene Nanna Schou og Karina Bach Lauritzen og ædelstensfatter Mia Guldberg.

Balloon ring

Glass balloon tied to a silver ring.

Springtime will soon be here!!!

While I'm waiting for the world to put it's bright green dress on; I play with glass bubbles and balloons.

Alliance ring  fra The Coral collection - Sterling sølv - Photo: Camilla Hey Julemåneden byder på mange gode stunder og det ville glæde mig hvis du vil komme og se mine nyeste værker i min dejlige julepyntede værkstedsbutik, hvor alt bliver lavet af skønne materialer og med kærlighed til det gode håndværk. Lørdag den 13. december mellem 14 og 17 vil der være lækkerier til store og små, gode tilbud, lidt julelotteri i samarbejde med mine søde naboer hos Mano Motus og der vil osse være mulighed for at lave smukt julepynt på værkstedet - adressen er stadig Møntergade 14. Alle de andre dage i december vil der selvfølgelig også være julestemning og fine sløjfer om pakkerne, så I er meget velkomne til at kigge forbi og finde en helt særlig gave i ædle metaller. Jeg glæder mig til at se jer. Mange kærlige hilsner Lone

The Coral Collection and 14 karat

Ring from the Coral Collection, sterling silver

This year the Goldsmiths Guild of Copenhagen celebrates its 585 years anniversary and what would be more appropriate than to honor great craftsmanship with a little competition.

The winner of the competition will be announced tomorrow at 16.00 so please cross your fingers for me as I'm up against very talented and skilled goldsmiths and designers.

Here's a little more about the contest and my designs:
585 is the hallmark for 14 karat gold, a gold alloy that holds 58,5% gold, and the brief for the competition was to create a 14 karat gold ring, no heavier than 5 grams, with a 0.05ct diamond set in it. The ring could then be backed up by a series of rings with a more artistic feel.

So the silversmith (me) started working; and from this sprung a series of rings in gold and silver sprinkled with a bit of diamonds, sapphires and pearls with a soft and organic feel.

The collection takes it starting point in the structures of traditional diamond jewellery which is often a bit too rigorous and edgy for my taste. My solitaire ring is straightforward; the setting for the stone is organic and rounded and the ring shank has been given extra weight at the bottom, so it sits light and elegant on the finger, but does not seem stingy.

The next rings (unfortunately not photographed yet) copies the structures of classical 5- and 7-setting rings, but an asymmetrical and random placing of the settings gives the rings a lively and organic expression. And then in the next generation of the rings the settings has had their own life and grown wild, just as some lush undersea vegetation.

After handing in my work for the competition in February I have continued working with the little organic settings with or without stones and have had a great response to the pieces. They can be seen and tried on in the shop over the next months.

Kisses of silver

Meringue box, Sterling silver, Lone Løvschal, photo: Iben Bølling Kaufmann

 A few years ago i made this little silver box for an exhibition on Bornholm (one of my favorite places in the world). The title of the exhibition was 'Lækkerier' ('Sweeties') and I found it intriguing to work with the delicious shape of a meringue; making a box that would protect your meringue, should you bring it with you in your pack lunch.

The shape is a complex juxtaposition of curves that comes naturally when extruding the egg/sugar-fluff with a piping bag. Unfortunately I wasn't able to use that technique when baking a fine silver meringue; but, with the help of a press tool I made up for the purpose and a lot of hammering and fitting, I succeeded. The result being a very beautyfull yet rather expensive piece of silver, as it took quite some time to make.

One of my aims when joining the Royal College of Art was to look into methods of production which would make batch production more accessible in smaller companies such as my own. I still find it intriguing to find ways of producing more of the same without loosing exclusivity and finish. (I might have inherited my fathers 'this-could-be-made-easier'-gene; more on that subject some other time)

Back to the Kiss; in Danish we call this meringue a 'kiss-cake'.

I was overwhelmed with the attention this little piece of silver got and it spurred me on to work on a less expensive version, that would make it possible for more people to bring their meringue unharmed to work every day, or simply add some more beauty to our world.

Meringue box, Sterling silver, Lone Løvschal, photo: James Bates

And now it's here......more crisp than the one-off, however just as mouthwatering. Still with a lot of time spend on the finish and never a mass produced product, but affordable and ready to eat.

In case of emergency...

I always dreamed of being a glassblower. Glass is magic, it has vibrant colors, transparency, is worked when it is glowing hot and it is a relatively cheap material; everything that gold and silver isn't. 

I never had the chance to learn glassblowing and now I'm quite content to work in metal. However I feel very happy to have taken the time to experiment with some lampwork and have practiced blowing tiny bubbles of colorful glass in my workshop.

The result being 'In case of emergency - break glass'; the name of the ring where an airy glass bubble embraces the setting of a sparkling diamond in a silver or gold ring. A poetic and humorous take on the classic solitaire ring.

A social Act

Jeg er så heldig at være med i en loge; ikke en af de hemmelige der har rødder tilbage i de klassiske håndværk og hvis optagelsesritualer involverer døde høns og oplæsning på latin. Min lille loge er opstået en sen nattetime på et af byens brune værtshuse i muntert lag med andre udøvende typer.

Vi har den særlige egenskab i logen at vi altid griner meget sammen, I ved; der er sådan en menneskelig kemi og samhørighed der gør at alting bliver sjovt når vi er i selskab med hinanden, ikke forceret eller plat, bare virkelig sjovt. Det var derfor naturligt at foreslå netop disse damer at mødes over en alternativ spiseoplevelse hos de to kokkegutter i kødbyen der kalder deres events 'The Social Act', og det viste sig at være lige i skabet! Desværre var én logesøster forhindret, men det kom en italiensk/finsk madeventstuderende til gode; idet hun fik fornøjelsen af vores muntre selskab, (joeh; der findes skam Italiensk/finske madeventstuderende!!!)

Spiseoplevelsen, der var SÅ meget mere end bare et dejligt måltid mad, var virkelig uovertruffen; her ville det være naturligt at underholde jer med en lang liste over lækre fødevarer vi blev bespist med, men jeg vil blot sige at det hele var super lækkert og en simpel opremsning ville ikke yde lækkerierne retfærdighed, dog bliver jeg aldrig den store tilhænger af dehydreret mad, som åbenbart er det nye sort.

Som designer, med speciale i service og især bestik, havde jeg håbet på at se lidt flere udfordrende måder maden blev serveret på. Der blev hovedsagligt brugt klassisk bestik og service, lidt sjov med takeaway plastic og meget sjov med kaffeservicet. Men tænk; så havde man valgt at benytte en engangs-teske til en af forretterne, kan I høre forargelsen i mit udbrud? Naturligvis ikke forargelse over brugen af engangsbestik, for det er jeg jo stor tilhænger af, men her var der desværre tale om én af den slags der, efter min mening, burde forbydes i fødevareindustrien; bæredygtig eller ej, engangsbestik af træ er bare ikke lækkert at spise af!!!

Kaffeservicet var der gjort meget ud af. En ung mexicansk fyr havde hygget sig med at dreje keramikkopper med rund bund så de ikke kunne stå af sig selv. Ikke et godt design for mig der altid levner en sjat, men en god kilde til at engagere sig i hinandens kaffedrikkeri. Nogle af kopperne var yderligere bundet sammen to og to med snore så korte at man var afhængig af at den der havde koppen i den anden ende af snoren/rummet samarbejdede. Alt i alt skabte kaffedrikkeriet en dejlig masse postyr på tværs af det lille lokale og The Social Act levede i dén grad op til sit navn hele vejen igennem aftenen; det var tydeligt at gæsterne alle var kommet for at få en god oplevelse med ligesindede madglade og åbenhjertige folk og det var så opløftende at opleve at god gourmetmad kan være meget andet end sagte restaurantsamtaler over korrekt dækkede borde med stentøjstallerkener der skal illudere ny nordisk skovbund (no offense keramiske venner, I ved jo jeg elsker jeres arbejde) og mad der er så korrekt anrettet at man ikke er i tvivl om at der er benyttet skydelære.

Jeg gik fra Kødbyen med et helt fuldt kinderæg; En spøjs pakke der mest lignede et kit til indsamling af sædprøver; en bekræftelse på at måltidets rammer er mindst ligeså vigtige som maden og med følelsen af at have fået en ny håndfuld dejlige logevenner.

2014 - the year of the spoon

Så fik vi igen overdraget et helt nyt, let krøllet men ubrugt år , lige til at tage i brug. Den slags giver altid anledning til at gøre status over det forgangne år og sætte, ofte urimelige, mål for det nye; det springer jeg fint hen over i år og glæder mig blot over at 2014 umuligt kan blive lige så udfordrende som 2013...umuligt! 

Nytårsfortsættet er helt klart at lave mange flere skeer i 2014. Hvis der overhovedet er noget jeg kan gøre for verdensfreden og klimaproblematikken, må det være at lave skeer; små skeer og store skeer, korte eller lange skeer, skeer der er smukke og som folk bliver glade af at bruge og skeer som bringer lykke til den der får den foræret ved en særlig anledning. Skeer der indbyder til fordybelse; slow eating; til at tygge maden grundigt og smage ordentligt på den. En ske der kan bringe næring til en svær debat. En ske der er nem at tage i den anden hånd, eller een der er til at bide skeer med.

Eller bare en ske der opfylder det mest basale behov og gør det muligt at spise havregrød uden nogen dikkedarer.

Teapot in the making

Here's a glimpse of the process behind the making of one of my latest pieces; a silver teapot with ebony lid. As shown on the first image, I started out with a flat sheet of 0.8 mm sterling silver, a thinner gauge than I normally use, and it proved to be more difficult to raise than the 1 mm or 1.2mm I normally go for. 

The beginning of something new

In a time like this where 'relaunch' is seen a little too often within the Danish design scene, it's a pleasure to be part of a real launch, and a really exciting one as well. Yesterday the Danish jewellery brand Trollbeads presented a brand new jewellery concept to the world; X by trollbeads, and I have had the pleasure of designing some of the pieces in the collection. I could explain the concept to you in detail, but Isabel is doing it so well in this little film:

So now you know what it's all about and I hope you find it exciting to be able to build your own bracelet or neckpiece that shows your personality and reflects your style. In this little film I tell you about my designs and my thoughts on X.

If you wish to explore the great pieces go to www.xbytrollbeads.com or visit the new flagship store in Østergade in Copenhagen.

Gold drops

Now on the shelves; drops of gold for your warm late summer tan.

Admirably, old and wise.

Looking back at the past week, I seem to have spend most evenings with wise elderly men that I admire.
Firstly I had the pleasure of experiencing the Indian philosopher and writer Swami Parthasarathy who visited Copenhagen and gave an introduction to his ideas and his view upon life. The 86 years old guru encouraged us to develop our intellect, to be giving and thoughtfull  and challenged our way of living. He explained how concentration, consistency and cooperation was the keywords to becoming succesfull and 
Secondly I had the pleasure of dining with my father on his first day out of hospital in 5 weeks, a nice evening that we all enjoyed. He has just had major surgery done and is still hospitalized but were allowed a trip out into the real world. I was more than delighted to make his favorite food and very happy to have an afternoon with him under more relaxed circumstances.
Thirdly I spend last night at a concert with my all time favorite band; The Pet Shop Boys. Two men aged 50+ with a weakness for things that say 'ding' and 'blip' and a really large selection of strange hats.
In retrospect I feel very fortunate to be in such good company.

Twig spoons

I just love this photo of my 'Twig Spoons' shot by James Bates. Poetic and fragile twigs combined with re-used leaves from old silver teaspoons.

Duck love

Snowdrop necklaces from 975.-

The ducks have started doing naughty things in the lake outside my windows at home today. I live in the furthest part of Copenhagen, out where the city is extended with old cardboard boxes and where the windchill factor always is in two digits. People that don't live or have their daily life in Ørestad, a reasonably new part of Copenhagen, normally describe the place as a windy urban concrete landscape without any soul whatsoever, lacking of culture and other urban pleasures.
They are very wrong; we might not have the extended caffe-latte-culture out here, but we certainly had a lot of dating couples today, as mother nature loosened up a bit, giving us hope of spring to arrive soon. The couples dating was mallards; a duck recognized on the males beautiful green head, found in pairs all over the common wild life speed dating. 
Oh joy! That means that the snowdrops are revealed from under the melting snow and we can look forward to little ducklings in the lake, strawberries and long scandinavian summer nights. 
Winter is soooo last season.

Snowdrop earrings from 900.-

and a happy new year....

Four weeks into the new year and I haven't taken the time to wish you all a happy new year. I know it's a bit late now, however now we have taken a bite of 2013, and I don't know about you, but I really like the taste of it. 
January has been busy so far and I have done some of the things I like best; made customized pieces for those who didn't get what they wished for at christmas, taught nice people, made new models for the summer collection, developed new products for new customers, neerded with some 3d modeling and started the planning of a new website. All in all it has been a fine year so far, so here it is; HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Facebook site

If you use facebook on a regular basis, you are welcome to follow me here as well.

Tasty new pieces in the shop

Last friday this little guy moved into the shop in Møntergade; along him came Louise Degn who is the 'baker'. Louise will be working in the shop and her beautiful pieces of jewelry can be found here. Louise is trained as a goldsmith and have developed a series of playful and humorous jewelry, using gold, silver and precious stones. 

Snow Drops

Beauty, simplicity and the flora of the Nordic countries is the starting point of my new series of jewelry. Little elegant buds in polished or oxidized silver to remind us that even though the winter is long, cold and dark, it is filled with bright moments and spring WILL return once again.


All pieces are produced by hand at the workshop in Copenhagen; some in series and some in one-offs. Stop by the shop to see some more models.

Necklace, sterling silver, from 4500.-

Necklace, Oxydized silver and Tahitipearl, price on request.