mike's journals

Fish print

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:55:33 +0100

Fish print

New Princes street (Taken with Instagram)

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 13:36:35 +0100

New Princes street (Taken with Instagram)

Mi’kmaq mocassins. We found these buried in a draw at...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:58:30 +0000

Mi’kmaq mocassins. We found these buried in a draw at Blair house on our last day. Amazing condition from the early 19th C. The leather is still supple.

Finally have a tiny bit of time to post something. Apologies...

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 09:12:00 +0000

Finally have a tiny bit of time to post something. Apologies for a lack of anything meaningful recently however there are relevant reasons. The two main ones being that I’ve been holed up in a 17^th century castle in Ayrshire photographing their collection. Two feet thick walls not only keep invaders at bay but Internet and phone signals too. The other factor is my imminent wedding. This time in two weeks I will be waking up a married man and making sure things are right on the day obviously takes some planning.

Anyway, the shot posted is from a series I did whilst we made our wedding rings. Yup, made them. I couldn’t recommend this more highly. Two amazing young jewelers, Hannah Lamb and Donna Barry, both amazingly capable at their craft helped me and wife-to-be make each others rings a few weekends back.

We had designed our rings already and were looking around to either buy or have them made somewhere in Edinburgh. Through a connection at the auction house I was put in contact with the ladies via www.makeweddingrings.co.uk and immediately realized this was the way to go. Donna and Hannah are two really lovely people and expertly guided us through every stage of the jewelling process. I started the morning with a rough strip of 18 carat white gold and finished the day with a glass of champagne and Kate’s wedding ring. If they can get me making something like that they are truly skilled. Anyone thinking about wedding rings right now should give this option some serious thought. Buying a ring just doesn’t seem right to me now.

I wanted to document the day of course and like the rest of my personal work was shooting on film. I brought along my Hasselblad and a Pentax 67 with a few rolls of T-max and couldn’t have been happier. I wanted to create the handmade artisanal aesthetic to represent the day and I am a sucker for a workshop so the rough black and white fit perfectly. I’m going to be posting more from the series soon and the girls have asked to use the images for promoting their business which I have happily agreed to help with so you should be seeing them around elsewhere too.

I’m back the castle next week so will be mostly out of contact again. Have a look at the girls’ work, they’re on Facebook as well. Be back soon.

Death’s Head moth in flight.

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:03:41 +0100

Death’s Head moth in flight.

A little abstraction.

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:08:21 +0100

A little abstraction.

Detail of meteorite surface.

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:11:15 +0100

Detail of meteorite surface.

Teaser from the upcoming Decorative Arts sale at L&T. Three...

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:42:53 +0100

Teaser from the upcoming Decorative Arts sale at L&T. Three piece silver set.

Jade brush pot.

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:48:04 +0100

Jade brush pot.

Just to share a little interesting story this week that could...

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 09:37:00 +0100

Just to share a little interesting story this week that could only really happen at an auction house. As part of an upcoming sale a Chinese table was brought in to be investigated and sold. One of several brought in this one had a special interest as the underside of the top had an inscription. The quality of the wood and the origin period (circa 1880) seemed to back up a theory the furniture specialists were working on that it could be from an Imperial collection. Getting hopeful that we had found something really special they decided to have the inscription translated which would take a couple of days. During which we did a basic Googling ourselves and thought we could identify an imperial mark. Getting more and more excited we finally got the results. To paraphrase:

“Insert the below wooden piece here.”

Or as Ikea tend to put it:

“Insert part A into slot B.”

No imperial pedigree I’m afraid but quite possibly the earliest example of a flat pack table in existence. Got to appreciate the funny side.

Quick iphone pic of the Kudu setup I tweeted about earlier. ...

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:16:34 +0100

Quick iphone pic of the Kudu setup I tweeted about earlier. Amazing what I get to see.

Communion cups. Just sold for £59,000 at Lyon &...

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:15:03 +0100

Communion cups. Just sold for £59,000 at Lyon & Turnbull’s Scottish Silver sale.

Old Wisden Almanacs. One for anyone watching the cricket.

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 10:31:49 +0100

Old Wisden Almanacs. One for anyone watching the cricket.

Dread God

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:55:02 +0100

Dread God

Glasgow silver

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 10:58:37 +0100

Glasgow silver

Photo

Tue, 10 May 2011 10:40:05 +0100

Photo

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:57:22 +0100

Ron Mueck Keyring

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:20:27 +0100

Ron Mueck Keyring

Sperry Top Siders

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 14:06:04 +0100

Sperry Top Siders

Photo

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 14:52:25 +0000