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What's your background and what inspired you to become a jewellery designer?
At Art College I started making sculptures from materials and objects I found whilst walking around my family’s farm. I used to find obscure bits of rusty metal lying in old barns and cover them in colourful fabric. I liked the idea of transforming old scrap into something beautiful. I’ve always been fascinated with colour and collected an array of different shaped and coloured stones. Not only did I love collecting and transforming objects, I loved to wear extravagant beaded earrings and neck-laces and wanted to share this passion with others.
The natural progression was for me to combine my love of sculpture with making jewellery. At first I used seeds, leaves and other found materials to create organic and natural forms. It was at this point I knew I wanted to be a jeweller and decided to study a jewellery degree in London.
The course was contemporary and pushed me to make unusual, eccentric jewellery but also taught me the techniques I needed to learn to make traditional pieces. I still used a lot of colour in my work including ribbon, buttons and bottle tops. Towards the end of the course I discovered the lost wax casting technique, which was a perfect way of combining my interest in metal, organic forms and colorful gems.
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