Author Archives: Martyn Pugh

Malvern Spring Festival 7-10 May 2026

I will be exhibiting with the Worcestershire Guild of Contemporary Craft in Wye Hall at the Malvern Spring Show that returns with internationally recognised contemporary craft and the RHS Flower Show.

Come along, say hello and handle my latest creations.

RHS Malvern Spring Festival opens the UK’s horticultural calendar, attracting gardening enthusiasts nationwide for the ultimate Spring celebration of plants, gardens, and outdoor living. Visitors can explore breathtaking RHS-judged Show Gardens and enjoy exciting talks and demos from renowned personalities and gardening experts across the talk theatres. This, combined with a brand-new judged category “Blooming Borders”, inspires creativity for green spaces at home. Returning this year is the region’s largest “Festival of Houseplants”, featuring the popular Indoor Plant Gardens, sparking ideas for indoor gardening and interior design flair. The festival is also home to the bustling Floral Marquee, filled with expert growers offering valuable advice, and specialist nurseries displaying beautiful, unique flowers and plants. With hundreds of shopping stands, delicious food and drink, plus plenty of family activities, it’s an unforgettable day out for all.

It’s a perfect way to enjoy the best of the spring season and promises an unforgettable day out for all the family.

Tickets are available here.

DISC Series

In 2018 I began a fascinating collaboration exploring 2D geometry in the 3D world. Silver sculpture is becoming increasingly prevalent and while I have always been known for making deeply practical pieces I’m increasingly interested in form without function and the idea of expressing the purity of geometric principles through art intrigued me.

‘Guardian Timepiece’ Making a Clock – Part Five

Last summer nearly 6 weeks passed between the construction and hanging of the Guardian and its official unveiling. In that time I returned to the workshop before driving around Europe for 3 weeks with friends. It was the perfect break, with food, conversation and a total change of scene.

‘Guardian Timepiece’ Making a Clock – Part Four

Using a host of local manufacturers all of the components of the Guardian returned to the workshop in early May, bearing their final anodised, plated and polished finishes. Some of the changes in colour were subtle (from raw aluminium to silver-grey), others were dramatic (the central dome is now a bright, gleaming gold) and radically changed the character of these elements with which I’ve been working for so long. Read more…

‘Guardian’ Timepiece: Making A Clock, Part Three

With the hanging date of the clock approaching, the final pieces of the project are now coming together and forming a whole. Read more…

‘Guardian’ Timepiece: Making a Clock, Part Two

Materials and components for the Assay Office Birmingham sculptural clock (see the complete design), ‘The Guardian’, have been arriving in the workshop during the past few months. My team and I have been cutting aluminium, finishing bronze and smoothing out the hiccups that inevitably occur in such a complex project. Read more…

The Colour Blue: Sapphires, Aquamarines and Tanzanites

In the second in my series on coloured stones I’m going to look at blue gems. Sapphire is the birth stone for September so it seems appropriate to gaze into the depths of blue-hued stones this month.

The sapphire is the leading stone among blue gems, Read more…

The Colour Red: Rubies, Tourmalines & Spinels

In a new series of blogs I’m going to discuss coloured stone choices – focusing on different colours; red, green, blue and the remaining tonal rainbow. The sheer variety of coloured stones on the market can be disorientating but setting your mind towards a certain hue or style can make selecting something perfect for you much easier.

As the Ruby is the birthstone for July I thought it appropriate to begin the series with red stones: Read more…

Remodelling Jewellery

Remodelling old or inherited jewellery is a common practice for me. Each piece that comes into the workshop brings with it a different story and a wealth of personal significance.

Guardian Timepiece: Making a Clock, Part One

In 2011 The Birmingham Assay Office made the historic decision to leave its Victorian home and move, for the first time in 135 years, to a purpose-built building. Founded by Matthew Boulton in 1773 this venerable institution needed a home that was more suited to its modern, high tech activities as a state of the art testing lab. Read more…

Contemporary Silver Jug: ARC 2

The ARC series pursues the principal of the ‘vanishing line’ and here I have pushed that idea to an elegant extreme. A tapering, hot forged handle appears to float alongside the body of the jug, adding a wonderful sense of drama to the piece as the point of the handle extends past the top of the jug and out, over the pouring lip. Read more…

Old Mine Cut Diamond Ring

Over the years I have undertaken commissions to recycle diamonds into new jewellery, keeping the family connection while housing the stone in a piece that fits the character of its new owner.

My clients came to me with a large 1.85ct diamond set into a very typical, Victorian bar brooch which wasn’t my clients style. Read more…