I was born in Kenya in 1952 where my father was the Government architect.
I returned to England with the family after Independence to finish my education, which concluded after school with an Art Foundation followed by three years studying jewellery design at the London Central School of Art and Design in Holborn.
During my second year at Central I had doubts about the narrowness of jewellery and tried to transfer to sculpture….which was not possible. I have remained committed to jewellery ever since, but that inclination to the sculptural remains with me, and perhaps helps to explain my work
“Form” is absolutely all important with little or no need for embellishment or decoration. Despite winning a Diamond Design competition, and various commissions undertaken in gold and precious stones, these days I rarely use precious materials for their own sake, preferring the form to speak for itself
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A chance commission in 1976 for the “Pink Floyd” with their “Animals” tour introduced me to the techniques of sculptured wax carving and lost wax casting. Other commissions followed, including a collaboration with “Tusk”, the leading charity for endangered species in Africa.
To this day casting still fascinates me, and I now do a lot of my own casting. As a technique it is an escape from the limitations of the usual “constructed” jewellery design. I have developed away from the figurative representations (as the Pink Floyd “pig”) into more of the abstract. A Henry Moore drawing of people sleeping on underground platforms during the blitz instigated the `Human form` collection. It inspired the idea of laying sheet wax over a form like a blanket. This technique has endless possibilities and each piece is unique.
The knitted necklaces were originally motivated to achieve flexibility and lightness into a substantial form of jewellery. I love the idea that these hollow tactile structures can contain precious materials as gold, or as validly, shells, pebbles, or anything of a sentimental reflection. My own one contains pebbles from Cornwall, a favourite family haunt.
Whilst the knitted technique is almost the opposite of casting, I have found managing the elements of both together (the clasps are individually cast) works well to the total form.
To me the finished item is “almost” as important in its completeness on its own, unworn, as it is as a fashion accessory.
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