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| Modelling at Wortley Hall |
Having had a few busy and productive months in the first half of 2019, my next day out, to Manchester, was prompted by numerous e-mails that I had been receiving over the previous few months from FashionablyIn. I presume that they had seen, via Social Media, my attempts to market a set of beautiful silk scarves that I had made for me, using images from my Glowing Edges Designs “Rock Art”, which is based on photomicrographs of rocks and minerals.
Back in 2001, when cataloguing more than 1500 minerals that were held in store by Clifton Park Museum in Rotherham – at a time when it had a dedicated art gallery space – I came up with the idea of a temporary display of their very best mineral specimens, combined with a few photomicrographs of rocks and minerals on the walls.
Making the most of the connections that I had made as the principal surveyor and former Chairman of the South Yorkshire RIGS Group, I used a few rolls of Fuji Velvia film in my first attempt at photomicrography – at the now defunct Department of Geology at Sheffield University. Although the manager, Steve Blackbourn, was very impressed with my ideas, news that the museum had been awarded National Lottery funds for its refurbishment was received days later, which prevented these from being put into practice.
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| Glowing Edges Designs on ceramics |
Knowing that the response to my unique designs was extremely positive, I then had various images printed as framed photos, canvasses, wall tiles, ceramic coasters and associated tableware and even a design to decorate a ceramicised basalt table top – a speciality of the Catania region in Sicily - which I haven’t yet received, but is still marketed without my permission or payment to me on the Artesole website.
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| Uno tavolo in pietra lavica ceramizzata |
A few years later, I was invited to take a stall at the Doncaster Art Market on a Saturday morning when, 10 minutes after the opening of the event, the heavens opened and it stayed like that for the rest of the day.
With nobody coming to Doncaster to buy their fruit and vegetables from the nearby traditional market, a very well-spoken woman in her 50's strode up to my stall out of the blue, pointed at one of my large Glowing Edges Designs and exclaimed “that should be a silk scarf”!
I was once described by a friend as “having the fashion sense of Indiana Jones” and, without any experience or interest in the fashion industry and not having the financial resources, I didn’t act on these comments at the time.
The idea stuck in my head and four years later, following an aborted AA2A project with fashion students at Doncaster College, I had a 4 metre length of Chiffon silk digitally printed and cut and sewn by a local manufacturer. Although these were unsuitable for sale, the very positive reaction was such that I began to investigate this idea further. After all, Liberty of London – via the BBC's Britain's Next Best Thing – had been convinced that images of polished minerals could be turned into silk scarves that could be sold for a very good price.
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| Glowing Edges Designs at the Doncaster Art Market |
With nobody coming to Doncaster to buy their fruit and vegetables from the nearby traditional market, a very well-spoken woman in her 50's strode up to my stall out of the blue, pointed at one of my large Glowing Edges Designs and exclaimed “that should be a silk scarf”!
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| A Glowing Edges Design identified as being suitable for a silk scarf |
I was once described by a friend as “having the fashion sense of Indiana Jones” and, without any experience or interest in the fashion industry and not having the financial resources, I didn’t act on these comments at the time.
 |
| A 4 metre length of Chiffon silk |
The idea stuck in my head and four years later, following an aborted AA2A project with fashion students at Doncaster College, I had a 4 metre length of Chiffon silk digitally printed and cut and sewn by a local manufacturer. Although these were unsuitable for sale, the very positive reaction was such that I began to investigate this idea further. After all, Liberty of London – via the BBC's Britain's Next Best Thing – had been convinced that images of polished minerals could be turned into silk scarves that could be sold for a very good price.
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| An attempt at the sewing of Chiffon silk |
I spent more than 6 months producing a formal Business Plan for a small business that would grow alongside other work that I had developed in Rotherham, based on my experience as a geologist, but a succession of let downs by various organisations and individuals took the wind out of my sails and brought this project to a standstill.
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| A set of Crepe de Chine silk scarves by Glowing Edges Designs |
5 years after leaving my ideas on the back burner, I finally put these into action in the summer of 2017, when I had two sets of 12 new designs digitally printed on to Crepe de Chine silk, with a high quality hand rolled hem. Being based in Rotherham hasn't helped, with many promises of a sale coming to nothing, and more than 80% of my orders have come from abroad.
The FashionablyIn event in Manchester generally proved to be a disappointment for me because, except for a manufacturer from India who dealt only in large quantities, it turned out to be a gathering of a very limited number of small businesses that had little in common with me.
Although things hadn’t turned out as envisaged, I still have faith in these beautiful scarves - which are still available directly from me or via my Etsy shop - and I just shrugged my shoulders and headed off in the glorious sunshine to explore Manchester.
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| A reference from the former editor of Earth Science Ireland |
Although things hadn’t turned out as envisaged, I still have faith in these beautiful scarves - which are still available directly from me or via my Etsy shop - and I just shrugged my shoulders and headed off in the glorious sunshine to explore Manchester.
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| Enjoying the sunshine in Manchester |
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