ARTISTIC STATEMENT

In the background, behind the scenes of the shops and galleries lies gifted and talented artists of the jewellery world bringing their expertise and knowledge, beauty would not happen if it weren't for them.

But there are so many different styles and ideas, how does one stand out, be truly unique and original in a saturated market?

It has been a lifelong passion with the natural world of rocks and gems from the beginnings of childhood sifting through the beach shingle and pebbles, borrowing my Dad's chisel and hammer unawares to him so I could crack open those rocks and feed my inquisitiveness of what treasures inside, a geode or fossil but a lot of the time nothing! To this day I still have that perfectly rounded pebble with naturally bored hole eroded by the sands of time makes a primitive pendant echoing that very first form of human expression and identity. Even the first gemstones were created by rubbing coloured stones onto rocks to polish them, this intrigued me for the rest of my life.

It wasn't until recently I could finally afford the equipment I needed and quench my lifelong dream to get where I wanted to be with creating gems, it was not a career change but a new avenue to my work which makes me very niche in that it is very unusual for a goldsmith and silversmith to create their own stones.

It was not a quick process as I am self-taught with many frustrations of trial and error along the way, it takes time and perseverance. Its not just a case of following a diagram but of experience and judgment, knowing what hand pressure, lap speed, way to hold the stone, the 'Midas Touch', this technical intuition itself is an art form, a good cutter should also be able to bring out that natural beauty hidden within its uniqueness, to achieve as much light as possible, bouncing back up to the viewer which can only be accomplished with careful study of the rough material, its colour and direction, as in its axis, its fracture, and perfect polish and angles cut for full optimisation. One needs to be capable at numerous patterns of varied difficulty and know how each material responds with different polishing wheels and compounds, it's quite complex!

I don't often repeat designs as there are endless possibilities to explore, I want my designs to have an 'edge' and be striking, I create one-offs, crisp and modern precision cut to the highest quality staying away from the conventional mass-produced designs, people can distinguish between my style to other cutters. By pushing the boundaries and exploring the creativity of cutting whilst simultaneously showing good colour, brilliance and optimal scintillation, I feel I'm set apart from the rest.

My passion for geometry, patterns and shapes in my stones are also reflected in my jewellery, they drive me and my ideas by taking inspiration from the nature and the manmade, for example, architectural elements translated into smaller proportions, my pieces are not decorative but sculptural, showing off the importance of how light creates the engineered reflections to view the piece as I intended.

I feel consumers are becoming increasingly aware that fast fashion has no sentiment and that they want something made to last forever, that a connection with a piece is the true value. The process of making something bespoke is uniquely personal and intimate bringing their vision to life. I want people to have a part of my legacy knowing that my ethos of using responsibly sourced, sustainable and traceable materials has made a positive impact on this world and they can feel proud to own my work. My passion for making and creating a piece is ultimately worn with love and trust, this is what fulfils me, only then do i consider it a success.