The Jewellery Story
introduction.
It’s fairly common to read a jeweller’s blog and see something about there being a story behind every piece.
Surely sometimes though there are pieces you make to see if you can, just to get the stuff out of your head and into 3D?
No… apparently there are stories. Lots of stories.
“My work contains buttons. When I was growing up, my grandmother taught me to appreciate buttons.”
I was in a room when a jewellery designer said this.
Please. What? Really? No irony? No…well, that’s one weird grandmother. W E i R D.
I have nothing like that. I draw and I engineer. I think about what things will look like on and off the body. I worry about getting the back of the piece right and I take pride in having my own signature clasp. I’m the type of designer who gets cross with people who don’t draw enough. I also possess an intimidating display of pens.
And then I thought about my grandmother and the time she made me stand at the top of Whiteladies Road in Bristol while she crouched beside me and made me look at the city skyline. The buildings, towers and chimneys.
She didn’t care that I was embarrassed. She wanted me to appreciate the work that had gone into the environment and how beautiful a thing as mundane and everyday as the view from a pavement could be.
That switch from mundanity or simplicity to complex beauty, something you are glad you noticed has grown into a key part of my work.
And then I thought more about my collections. Reluctantly – very reluctantly, I had to admit that they all have at least one cool fact about them. Some have loads.
And if you have bought one of my pieces, or are thinking about it, or have received one or have owned one for ages, you might want to know what you have there.
It’s a part of me and (I feel like such an idiot saying this) there is a story behind every piece.
the stories will appear here.
hb x
