Perfect Lines
INTERVIEW WITH THE HOPE VALLEY JOURNAL
The Hope Valley Journal is a celebration of one of the loveliest corners of Britain, Derbyshire’s Hope Valley. Using beautiful words and images, the Journal hopes to allow its readers to stop for a while and take in the wonders that surround us: the landscapes, the wildlife, the plants, the people. It is a local magazine with a difference and one we hope will be treasured both by the people lucky enough to live here and those further afield who love this place.
I’d like to thank the editor, Kate, for including me in this latest issue. It’s such a gorgeous and unique publication, and I’m thrilled to have my work alongside such talented writers, photographers, businesses & painters.
Get your copy of the issue Holly’s interview is printed in (Issue 5) via the Hope Valley Journal website, or La Biblioteka in Sheffield.
Words by Kate Chappell.
IN HER COPPER CONTOUR WALL ART, HOLLY CLIFFORD HAS MANAGED TO CREATE SOMETHING EARTHY BUT ELEGANT, INDUSTRIAL BUT FRAGILE, ABSTRACT BUT INSTANTLY RECOGNISABLE TO THOSE WHO LOVE THE LANDSCAPES SHE DEPICTS. AS SHE REVEALS A BEAUTIFUL CONTOUR MAP OF THE HOPE VALLEY CREATED FOR THE HOPE VALLEY JOURNAL, WE SPEAK TO THE SHEFFIELD-BASED ARTIST AND JEWELLER ABOUT HER WORK, HER LOVE OF MAPS AND THE HOPE VALLEY HILLS THAT INSPIRE HER…
Holly, first of all, this piece is stunning. It encapsulates the physicality and the spirit of the Hope Valley perfectly.
I really enjoyed working on it. The Hope Valley is such a special place.
Tell me about the process of making a contour piece like this one.
I start with an Ordnance Survey map and literally trace the contours. My pieces are definitely sculptural, but it’s important that they’re also accurate - there’s no room for improvising when you’re dealing with contours! I use oxidised copper sheets for my contour layers as it looks so beautifully weathered, and dark tones really help the lines stand out.
For this piece I divided the Hope Valley into four sections, as the sheets of metal I was working with were so big and it would be near impossible to cut out the centre in one piece. Then I cut everything from the copper by hand using a piercing saw with a very fine blade. Each section took about 5 hours to cut. It’s a real labour of love!
Is cutting by hand an important part of the way you work?
Definitely. Craftsmanship is everything and I’m passionate about using skills that have been used for generations. Part of it is practical - there is no way a machine could create a map with the thickness and quality of metal I want to use and the level of detail I want to depict - but it’s more to do with the unique qualities of each individual piece and the meaning behind them. All of my commissions are bespoke and the little flaws and idiosyncrasies that come with a handmade piece are all part of what makes them unique. People are so used to things being mass-produced that to have something made by a skilled craftsperson especially for you is a very special thing.
I know you’ve been receiving some very meaningful commission from people with landscape close to their hearts. Which has been your favourite so far?
Meeting people and hearing their stories is probably one of the best parts of my map-making. Landscapes and places mean so much to us and it’s wonderful being able to capture that for someone.
One memorable commission was for a map of an area in Cumbria where the client used to go with his family as a child. His parents had recently died and he wanted to do something special with his mother’s wedding and engagement rings, so I handcut the contour map and marked particular places with gold and precious stones taken from the rings: the campsites they used to stay at were marked in gold, and the two hills where the parents’ ashes had been scattered were marked with a ruby and a diamond. I made two identical maps for the client and his brother. I love that even though other people will probably see the pieces on their wall, only they will really know the significance of the maps and the places marked.
Where did the idea come from to start creating your contour wall art?
I have always loved maps. I grew up on the edge of the Cotswolds and my family were big walkers, but my favourite part would be following our routes on an OS map, finding new paths to explore and learning the names of all the hills, farms and lanes that unless you looked at a map you would never know. I still find it endlessly fascinating. The more you look at a map, especially the Landranger OS maps, the more you see, and it’s always amazed me how cartographers manage to capture all that information and put it onto paper in a way that’s physically accurate. So, when I graduated from the Birmingham School of Jewellery in 2016, one of the first pieces I worked on was a copper contour piece. I wanted to use the intricate jewellery-making skills I’d learned to channel that love of map-making.
As well as the wall art, I make bespoke contour map jewellery in silver: necklaces, brooches and cufflinks depicting a relief map of a special location.
Do you find yourself looking at the landscape differently since you started immersing yourself in contours?
Yes, I suppose I do. You end up questioning everything,: whether landscape features are natural or man-made, what processes created that edge or that valley? Luckily, maps almost always have the answer.
You’re still a map fanatic then?
Absolutely! And it’s not just the contours and the place names that I love: maps have helped me discover places and paths I would never have known about otherwise. I was at Fairholmes car park by Ladybower Reservoir the other day and it was absolutely over-run with people heading off on walks. I had a look at my OS map, found a little track heading away from the popular routes and within minutes we were by ourselves. Maps are a brilliant resource and we don’t use them enough.
The Hope Valley map is availbale to purchase. Please email Holly at contourmapcollection@gmail.com to make an enquiry.
Above images by S6 Photography
