Biography

I am primarily known for my soft, layered jewellery that mixes cast resin with silver, gold, pearls and semi- precious stones. The resin pieces are subtle, blurred and irregular, with fragments of poetry, collage, petals and other encapsulations only just discernable. Each cast piece is hand sanded down to a contoured finish and the jewellery is smooth, curved and gentle to wear. I emphasize the potential for containing light, creating luminous pieces that seem to gleam, change and glow against skin.

I began working with cast resin in New York in 1996 whilst working as a sculptors assist. I was fascinated by the material's versatility and produced and sold a range of lights for two years. I turned to jewellery in 1998, and spent 4 years immersing myself in work practice and design theory developing my technique. During this time I took classes in jewellery design, mould making, neon, silverwork and gemmology, eventually basing myself in Miami and working for two years for Les Must De Cartier Intl throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. With a fully realized first range of designs I resigned from Cartier in 2002, returning to the U.K. and launching my business the following year.

I gained a place on the New Entrepreneur Scholarship, closely followed by two further awards, which significantly helped me to establish myself. For the past several years I have sold work and exhibited nationally and internationally, all the while changing and developing as a designer/maker. I am increasingly interested in interpretive projects, as these seem to fully utilize both the versatility of my materials and my years of experience working with them (please see the 'projects' page for details). Recently I have also acted as a mentor for developing designers, a visiting lecturer on degree programmes and a keynote speaker for Arts matrix, NESTA and other such organisations.

I see reflections of all my various experiences within my design process and I actively research and develop work on a continual and varied basis. The intermixing of plastics, precious metals and semi precious stones, as well as the layering of colours, text, images and objects within the cast components is central to my understanding of jewellery. I am fascinated by the endless possibility offered by this medium and my technique continues to grow and develop. I work from my studio in Cornwall, creating limited edition collections as well as one off pieces, commissions and interpretive exhibitions.

Experience

2008: Speaker for Arts Matrix in conjunction with crafts council
2008: Speaker for Nesta in conjunction with Falmouth College
2008: Speaker for Devon guild of Craftsmen
2007: Mentor, Cornwall Crafts association mentoring scheme
2007: Mentor, Xport, makers from Cornwall
2002/4 Gallery assistant, Badcocks gallery, Newlyn
2001/2: Visual Coordinator, Les Must de Cartier International, Miami

Selected Exhibitions

2009:Leach pottery: Interpretive jewellery collection
2008: Royal Academy of Arts, Hammershoi exhibition Yew tree gallery, 'Full fathom five'
2007: The Architecture centre, Bristol Tresco Collection, Tresco gallery, The Isles of Scilly Platform Gallery, Lancashire Yew tree gallery,Morvah Lemon street gallery,Truro
2006: Leeds City Art Gallery Collins Gallery, Glasgow
2005: 'Freeze' RBSA, Birmingham Yorkshire sculpture Park, Yorkshire 'Three Islands' project, Cornwall Courses,

Qualifications, Commissions and Grants

2009: Museums,Libraries and Archives commission in conjunction with Leach Pottery
2008: 'Making it digital' Arts council project recipient
2007: Research trip to Central America
2007: Creative Skills: Skills development funding
2006: Reliquaries, Shrines and Milagros: research trip, Mexico City
2005: 'Made to Trade' Scholarship award
2004: 'Made to Trade' Scholarship award
2002: NES Scholarship award
2002: 'Build a Business' funding and training award
2002: 'Silversmithing', Penwith College
2001: 'Introduction to Gemmology' Coral Gables Institute of Jewellery, Miami
1999: 'Mould making', The Educational Alliance, NY
1998: 'Polyester and Epoxy Resins' Waterfront Artist's Coalition, NY
1998: 'Jewellery Design', the Art Students League, NY
1997: 'Neon', Urban Glass, NY
1993: Literature B.A. Hons, Queens University, Belfast