Metal musings
When I was a kid, my dad taught Metalwork and Jewellery at Sheffield City Poly, this meant that occasionally mum would be gifted a student or colleague piece, contemporary to the 70s, well designed and often quite chunky. As a child I knew these bits weren’t typical, they were special, unique and they contained a piece of the maker. I also inherited a couple of bits from grandparents - a lovely big lapis ring that got lost somewhere; psychedelic glass and plastic pieces, or simple but dramatic silver baubles and hoops.
Before I made jewellery, I didn’t buy very much. If I saw something that spoke to me I might buy a ring to mark an achievement at work, or a life milestone (my divorce ring was silver, cheap and simple). Never overly expensive or blingy, but something that would identify with me. That I could wear daily as a reminder of my achievement, but also be a lodestone for where I wanted to be in the future - providing a connection to my own creativity. I know that sounds a bit poncy, but I think we all have our own relationship with jewellery and the decisions behind what we choose.
I find it exciting to now be able to make the kind of jewellery that I want to wear myself, the kind that you don’t really see in the shops, unless lucky or browsing for hours online. I like pieces that have some gravity to them, weight and scale, without being clunky. So anyway, this is the ethos that goes into my work now. I’m not interested in fashion trends, mass production, quick and dirty - I’m interested in making special pieces that really connect with the wearer. But they also have to have something of me in them too.
Style-wise, for the moment I’m fulfilling my own shopping list of jewellery desires - so that means simple geometry, clean lines and the pursuit of bold, but delicate proportion and scale with pops of colour. But my eye and my curiosity are always one step ahead whether I’m revisiting the things that have made me tick over the years that I’m looking at with new eyes, or I’m looking in new places for inspiration.