In the studio

My studio is nestled in West Sussex. In spring and summer I enjoy watching the country side come to life.

I take a lot of inspiration from the burst of spring growth followed by the lush green of summer. All the bright floral colours are very inspiring.

But mostly I love the glorious sun light & warmth that floods in with summer!

Jeweller’s Bench

The studio is divided into two sections.

I have a traditional jewellery workbench area. This is where all the silver metal work is done. I carry out forming, shaping, casting, milling, texturing, soldering and any other traditional metal work. It can get a bit dirty and messy with the various processes.

Part of my life as a jeweller is that I’m constantly on the look out for unusual old tools. A well made and well maintained tool can out last its owner by many years. Many of my jewellery tools are old engineer’s tools, or treasures I have found discarded in an old tool box. One of my favourite tools comes from an old Antique Tool Shop in Harrogate.

The second area of the studio is set up for finishing the jewellery.

Finishing Area

This area needs to be kept clean and clear of any metal fillings or other wastes from the Silver Jewellery bench. Stringing, beading or assembly of finished components is all done here. I also keep all the pearls, beads, gem stones, threads and other treasures in this area.

I usually have 4 or 5 projects on the go at the same time. I like to move from one project to another as my mood suits or the processes require. For example if I need to wait for something to dry I can always move onto another waiting piece.

The old printers’ drawers I have were a wonderful addition to my studio. It makes storage of my large bead collection compact and easy to access. As much as possible all the beads, pearls and gems are stored by colour. My bead collection started over 30 years ago so there is a lot to store.