I have always had a jackdaw’s eye for shiny things… I love jewellery, possibly part of my Leo nature, and I began to learn silversmithing around ten years ago. Coming to jewellery design as an artist and enthusiast, left to myself my designs tend to be somewhat unusual and experimental. I love the qualities of sterling and fine silver, gold and gemstones. The pieces I create often have an ancient feel about them, with texture and patina and a solidity suggestive of something from a bronze age hoard.
I love the contrast of precious metal and gems with ideas based on rusting iron or gnarled tree bark… Many of my designs are based on industrial archaeology, rusted ships’ cladding or decaying buildings. I love taking an idea from something who’s intrinsic beauty can easily be overlooked, and translating it into something which will be examined, worn and treasured. When I go for a walk my eyes are always open, I constantly get sidetracked by interesting stones, the patterns made by peeling paint or the wonderful shape formed by an old piece of metal half reclaimed by nature. Looking at something like that gives an incredible feeling of the passage of time – that something iron, once shaped in the white heat of a foundry, forged by engineers to be strong, durable and made with precision, will sooner or later soften, become overgrown with ivy and brambles, and eventually crumble away entirely.
