Searching for, and finding, objects to use in my playful, one-of-a-kind jewellery is as exciting and as pleasurable as a hunt for buried gold. I’ll see something and I’ll just know, it’s a tremendous feeling, a lightning bolt. It’s totally addictive.
I found this pair of wooden dolls in a charity shop. I loved their gorgeous colours and whimsical faces.
What to do with them?
It can sometimes be months before inspiration strikes, every project is different. I’ll stare at them for a while, go away, revisit, ponder, eventually a plan takes shape.
Handmade beads
For this piece, using complementary colours, I crafted a set of hand-woven beads. Each bead was woven in two halves and then zipped up to form a whole (triangular-based pyramid). It’s fiddly and time-consuming but also meditative and incredibly satisfying.
People often ask me how I have the patience to make each bead by hand, people who know me well are astonished that I can sit still long enough to get the job done.
But it’s funny, with the radio on, in my studio, time seems to slow, and I get lost in the process. It’s calming, therapeutic, requires me absolutely to be in the moment. I’m never bored. Quite the reverse.
Finishing touches
Once I’d finished the beadwork, I gave my little figures a tiny touch up, drilled holes for the wire and added the beads.
Ideal home
These little figures are looking for someone who loves fun, brightly coloured, outrageously outsized jewellery, enjoys the texture that wood and weave provide and wants to make a bit of a splash.
And make people smile…
