I make my modernist silver and gold jewellery at my studio in Reading, Berkshire, where I’ve been working for more than 17 years. From January 2010 to December 2011, I was Jeweller in Residence at South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell. In 2021, my book that I wrote with fellow jeweller Janet Richardson, Silver Jewellery Making, was published by award-winning craft publisher Search Press. Combining my studio practice with teaching, I teach jewellery making in Berkshire and Oxfordshire. My work is regularly shown at galleries and exhibitions in the UK. In August 2023, I was awarded an MA in Jewellery and Metal from the prestigious Royal College of Art. In 2024 at the Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Awards, I won silver in Smallworkers design and bronze in Smallworkers and Modelmakers for my work of six scored silver miniature vessels.
My philosophy is conveyed through this quote by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn: “Dwell on the past and you’ll lose an eye. Forget the past and you’ll lose both eyes”. Whilst the pursuit of progress and “the new” has its place, the skills and knowledge of the past should neither be abandoned nor forgotten.
Distilling the abstract forms and clean lines of modern art into my own self-imposed strictly limited palette, my work focuses on strong shapes such as lines and circles. I find my creativity by limiting myself, making iterations of my chosen shapes with varying details. I have a drive towards design that is clean and crisp combined with a desire to push craftsmanship to higher levels.
But it’s not all serious: I aim to subvert the formality of these shapes. A lightness of touch is present; perhaps an unexpected detail, a spot of optical illusion or a miniature scale to invite approachability. Although my work uses quite formal visual language, there’s an edge of playfulness that entices the viewer to come closer, to interact with the pieces. These handmade pieces invite the viewer to handle them, feel their weight, touch their edges and explore their details.
