I really enjoy meeting customers at events and one of the most asked questions is where do I get my ideas from. so, I thought I would write a blog post or two about two different collections and how they come together…
Spiro
First, is the development of my Spiro collection. This then was the initial starting point for my Vortex and Orbit collection.
I am not a jeweller who sketches everything I plan to make in a beautiful sketchbook. I have sketchbooks but they also contain lists and scribbled notes. I find that often the work develops when I start to make sketches with the materials I use.
Playing with a spirograph toy was the beginning of the idea for how to create my Spiro collection—looking at those swirling repeating curves that seems to describe a three-dimensional space. I started playing around with some lengths of wire and came up with the following models.
Trying different scales and sizes and seeing what worked best in which format. With a little refinement, adjusting scales and wire sizes resulted in this collection. The large cocktail ring is still one of my favourites, it's a brilliant statement piece.
Vortex and Orbit
Early in my business, I was at a small craft fair and felt dissatisfied in two different ways. The first way, I felt that my work was overlooked, being all silver on a white display cloth and was getting lost. I really wanted to incorporate colour into my work but had not found a way yet with the designs I currently had.
The second dissatisfaction was, I wanted to develop the Spiro idea, creating a more complicated form. But the idea of what it looked like, felt out of reach. it was like the idea was on the tip of my tongue but not fully formed. I knew I needed CAD Computer Aided Design to help tease it out and make it real. I approached my brother who is an aeronautical engineer, gave him drawings and models and asked if he could help.
After a few models it definitely felt like we were getting somewhere. We ordered a nylon print to see what it was like in real life rather than on a screen. It blew me away. It opened up so many possibilities. Once I tried dyeing it and an impromptu chat with Sarah James who was so encouraging and supportive I developed a whole collection. 
I still love the process of dying the individual pieces. Seeing how the colours interact with each other, or against the customers outfit is brilliant.
#spirograph #sculptrualjewellery #cocktailring #silverjewellery #contemporaryjewellery #geometricjewellery #hypotrochoids #epitrochoids