I always wanted to be an artist ... I never thought I'd be anything else.
When have you started creating jewelry? How did this passion come about?
Originally I was a painter. After completing a MA in 2007 I was particularly concerned about the environment and subsequently followed lots of creative paths that all touched upon or were directly linked to this concern. Finally in 2017 I decided to concentrate on making jewellery ... working with up-cycled and found objects in a very sculptural poetic way. It then snowballed as a result of creating @Precious.Collective in 2017.
What was your first project or significant piece for you and from what point of view? story + photo
'Exhaust & Ceramic' ... This was the first piece I made after discarding working with doll heads, dog toys and things from thrift stores .... It was the first piece where I felt that my fine art background and my newer practice of art jewellery came together into a serious body of work. My paintings had always been influenced by erosion, texture, shape and form and now my jewellery practice also embraced this.
The story: I found the squashed exhaust on the side of the road when I broke down in my beloved van (that worked for 4 months and then was sick for 18months and nearly bankrupted us before we finally said a sad farewell) It was also the first time I made use of my own hand formed ceramic works ... This piece was selected as a design for our first Precious.Collective exhibition in Alliages ... something that I am still proud of today.
How do you charge your batteries? What other passions and creative interests do you have?
I have 2 very bonkers rescue collies that I walk in the woods with ... they help me to find things that I use in my making ... Sitting in nature whether it is the forest or my fairly recent first ever garden helps me to connect with the elements around me ... the elements that shape the things that come to me whether it is in a forest, a beach, a boatyard or just an urban place.
Is there a self-portrait piece that speaks most about you?
I think it is one of my favourite pieces and is actually the one that is sitting in Romania now ready for ROJW ... the brooch 'Spotty Geode' .... Probably the smallest thing I've created and so a challenge in itself (though large by many jewellers standards at 10cm X 14cm !! ) ... it incorporates 2 of my favourite things ... eroded painted wood from my former home ... a 100yr old Cornish Lugger (Fishing boat) and a beautiful Spotty Geode .... it has also travelled widely to various exhibitions so signifies my love of exhibiting and putting on exhibitions ...
'Things find their way to me
I ask and and they get found
These things come from and are shaped by ...
the earth ...
the wind ...
the fire ...
and the light.
Often they are also shaped by man ...
But they have been discarded along the way.
Things that may, could and will affect the living things born already ...
and the living things yet to be born ...
possibly today or in thousands of years of time
These things that find a way to come to me have ...
a story ...
a history ...
a power.
They are things that have ...
memories ...
adventures ...
journeys ...
And maybe to ultimately help man to think about what he has done ... and what he could do ... and even what he shouldn't.
Which material have you not yet used is a temptation and a challenge for you?
I have been invited to take part in an exhibition in 2024 and for this I need to use discarded NOS canisters ... at this moment I'm feeling very lost with this material but I just need to do some thinking and get brave.
How was the pandemic period for you as a jewelry designer?
It was great ... I was stuck in a beautiful boatyard in a beautiful part of Cornwall ... and could spend lots of time both in the nearby woods collecting stuff, developing the ceramic side of my practice and connecting with people on zoom .... Zoom was the best thing to come out of the pandemic as this is how I work with Precious.Collective
Covid 19
Stuck in a boat, Stuck in a boatyard, Stuck in Gweek, Stuck in Cornwall.
We were the lucky ones ... locking down in what (we think) is the most beautiful place in the world. Living in a bubble. Living to avoid the lurgy (and the sun shone)
This locking down, This new normal, to me, was really no different than my previous normal solitary normal.
I do talk to people ... I do see people ... but those I normally talk to are not normally around me.
I normally socialised through social media or on the phone, or by text.
Lock down actually made me talk to more actual physical people ...
The physical people who, like us were .... Stuck in their boats, Stuck in this boatyard, Stuck in Cornwall.
This boatyard of people ... who all guiltily confessed ... in hushed tones ... that we were actually rather enjoying this new locked down world of staying at home !!
I am happy in my normal socially antisocial narrow world.
I live in my boat, I go to my studio, I walk my dogs, I socialise with people in a safe cyber world of artists and makers (and my mum on the phone)
And my work ?? Well it's still being made from discarded objects found in the same boatyard as before lockdown ....
And ...
that's ...
OK.
How do you see the future of contemporary jewelry?
So I can only answer that in terms of Precious.Collective and my own practice as I am not formally trained within Jewellery and so do not have a wealth of knowledge to draw from ... in terms of Precious and myself .. just lots of collaboration ... lots of exhibiting ... and lots of fun.
