Jessica Briggs

Jessica is a jeweller we've had the pleasure of working with many times and her beautiful jewellery has featured in lots of our exciting shows starting with Jewellery 8 in 1994 and then celebrating our 20th anniversary in 2002, Alchemy 8 in 2007, Collections 2010. The Jewellery Show in 2014 and in 2017 when we celebrated 35 years.  Originally a textile designer, Jessica uses her print background to inform her distinctive jewellery through a series of well-honed techniques.  Combinations of patterned and textured silver, selectively fusing it with gold whilst often adding depth through part oxidisation.  There is an inherent simplicity of both form and function in Jessica's work.  All designs, whatever the inspiration are translated into elegant pieces with subtle textures or more complex and layered finishes.  Each item is handcrafted by Jessica and thus the characteristics of all aspects of her work are under constant review.  The result is an ever-changing range of very wearable jewellery.

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“I have had a long and happy relationship with The Craft Centre and its wonderful staff over the past 28 years.  I was invited to exhibit during my first year as a maker and was thrilled to be a part of this wonderful, exciting gallery.  Their support has been invaluable, especially in the early years, and it gives me such pleasure to be included in this 40th Celebration Year.  Here's to the next 40 years!”

 

Jane Moore

Jane last exhibited with us in 2015 in a show called Manifest and prior to this her inspiring jewellery was showcased in Alchemy 7 in 2006 and The Jewellery Show in 2012 which celebrated our 30th anniversary.  Established and respected for her distinctive work, Jane has been a strong presence in British jewellery and craft for more decades than she cares to admit.  With its whimsical charm and attention to detail, her jewellery is an authentic expression of a warm, outgoing personality and instantly recognisable to fans of contemporary jewellery.  She is prolific in developing her unique aesthetic to create new designs that are sensitive, considered and beautifully made.  Her energy and enthusiasm are unwavering.  Jane’s inspiration comes from the simple silhouettes of traditional Japanese artefacts and textiles embellished with tiny, floral motifs.  She also recalls vivid memories of her Mother’s intricate embroidery.  Ideas begin as drawings in her sketch book, where they can evolve unconstrained by the limitations of the process.  Only when she arrives at a pleasing image does she begin to consider whether it is technically possible.  While enamelling is rooted in traditional techniques Jane also embraces more modern, industrial methods, such as photo etching, laser cutting, or the application of fine enamel transfers.

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"Years ago, I first exhibited my enamelled silver jewellery at the British Craft Trade Fair where the Leeds Craft Centre first offered me an opportunity to show my work.  It was so important to me at the time to have the support, commitment and belief they showed in me.”

 

Misun Won

Misun last exhibited with us in 2009 in a show called Alchemy, and we're delighted to be working with her again and her stunning jewellery for our anniversary year.  South Korea born jewellery designer and maker, Misun moved to the UK and enrolled on an MA programme at the Edinburgh College of Art in 2006.  She is a residence artist at Coburg House Art Studio in Edinburgh.  Misun’s jewellery is inspired by Korean traditional wrapping cloth ‘Jogakbo’ and its scientific interpretation with fractal geometry.  She hand pierces out patterns from a single sheet of silver and folds to make its unique structure in order to celebrate the meaningful ritual of the patchwork making process.  She mainly use silver, gold and Keumboo (24ct gold) and also colourful precious and semi-precious stones for highlighting her Korean influences to make modern contemporary jewellery. She is specialised in the ancient Korean gilding technique called Keumboo which emphasises the dynamic rhythmical structures in her jewellery.

 

Barbora Rybarova

Barbara is a new maker to the gallery, one we are very excited to introduce to you in our 40th year here in Leeds.  After graduating in Fine Art in 2009 at Central Saint Martins College in London, Barbora moved to South America where she studied and worked alongside skilled jewellers.  Here started her love for gems and jewellery making.  After her return to London in 2012, she continued her creative journey into the jewellery world through self-education, often exploring and pushing the boundaries of traditional jewellery.  “I am also a passionate outdoor enthusiast and I am happiest being surrounded by rocky mountains, forest and sea.  This connection with nature transfers into my work.  The natural beauty of rough gemstones never fails to inspire and excite me.  Colours, textures and crystal formations of unique gems are a starting point for each of my designs.  Selecting and finding a source of these exquisite stones is an important part of my creative process and each one is carefully handpicked and considered.  I often find an exciting gems on my travels.”

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“I am very excited to be showing my work in beautiful and supportive space of The Craft Centre and Design Gallery. This is a great opportunity to introduce my jewellery far north from Margate, where I live and create.  I hope it will be well received.”

 

Pamela Dickinson

Pamela started working with us back in 1987 and in 1993 showcased her rings in our exhibition of Rings.  Since then we've showcased her jewellery in a show called Jewellery 9 in 1995, Jewellery 10 in 1996 and another exhibition of Rings in 2011.  We can't wait to work with her again and celebrate her beautiful jewellery once more.  Since her student days in 1968, Pamela has been accumulating skills and developing ideas to create a distinctive range of jewellery and silverware.  In the early days she employed assistants and her work was sold through Liberty's, Aspreys & Boodles, as well as leading galleries, but now she prefers to work alone, making each piece herself in order to allow greater opportunity for creativity.  Pamela specialises in lapidary, granulation, model making and carving but they are all subsidiary to the main aim of communicating through creating objects using original ideas and fine workmanship.

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“I have enjoyed looking back through my invoice books and seeing so many entries for The Craft Centre and Design Gallery over the years.  They bring back a lot of happy memories, with different times of my life associated with designs that were experiments made over shorter periods, alongside other designs that I have never tired of, and that I have made consistently throughout my working life.  There is the first entry on 19th June 1987.  I had forgotten that it included a silver spoon.  For the Christmas exhibition of 1990 I particularly remember a collection of necklaces that I made including stones with iridescent or unusual qualities; sunstone, covellite, silver in its matrix, and more, that I had cut to set into softly triangular shapes.  Time and ideas move on, and it is as interesting to remember them as it is to look back at photos of my younger self.  It allows for an objective view never available at the current time, and gives me the satisfaction of knowing I have been fortunate to have such experiences, and the support to earn my living in such a rewarding way.  I am looking forward to sending you a range of work to reflect designs from over all those years, from the earliest designs that formed the core of my business to some of my newest pieces, and to be part of such an exciting exhibition.”

 

Chris Boland

You may have marvelled at Chris's fantastic jewellery in our exhibition of Rings in 2013 when Chris exhibited with us for the first time or in a show called In the Spotlight in 2015.  Chris’s fascination of inorganic structure is used to inform his bespoke jewellery pieces.  Strong, bold shapes stress the unique qualities of the inclusions of the gemstones.  Chris draws inspiration from surface treatment of architectural metalwork and sculpture, where marks made during the construction of the work are allowed to remain or are emphasized.  “For Me, the authorship lies very much in the making on the object.  I work in metal, directly exploring the physical properties of the material.  What is presented is not a facsimile of works in wax or additive manufacture but a primary reaction of tools on metal.   From conception, the jewellery is minimal and fundamental.  However, through the construction process: complexity is built into the piece from inaccuracies and layering.  Always by design, the stone is offered up to the viewer, always in a pleasing and unusual way.  The story of the gemstone is of fundamental importance in my work and so all the stones used are natural and not overly treated.   My belief is that it is important to tell the story of the stones using unique designs in metal.”

 

Jacqueline Cullen

Jacqueline's stunning jewellery was last here with us in a show called Without Colour in 2009 and then again in 2011 in an exhibition of Rings.  Jacqueline conjures a realm where the forces of nature unleash a luxurious cascade of bubbling gold, and glittering diamonds burst forth with a darkly seductive and elemental energy.  A world of exuberantly dramatic, rebellious jewellery with a classic but edgy glamour: “Imagine a placid sky ripped open by a slash of lightning.  A volcano erupting.  A cliff edge left jagged from erosion.  Take an intergalactic flight through colliding asteroids, comets tails and neon dust.”  Hand crafted in sensuous dark Whitby jet, ethereal and luminous grey agate and textured gold all set with tiny black, blue and champagne diamonds.  “All our collections are entirely handmade ethically and responsibly in our ateliers based in Central London and Whitby.  Jet is a 180 million years old fossilised wood and in the UK only comes from the coastal area around Whitby in the NE of England - it’s the town where Dracula landed.  Known for mourning jewellery, Whitby jet was made famous by Queen Victoria but it is now rare - our supplier abseils/rappels down the cliffs to access the ancient caves and Victorian crawl holes to find the raw material.”

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"I will always be grateful to the Craft Centre Leeds for being an early champion of my work when I was just starting out.  As a new designer, trying to navigate the world of exhibitions and shows for the first time, it was incredible to have this interest and support so early on.  It gave me the confidence to develop and continue my collections!"

 

Becky Crow

Another prolific exhibitor with the gallery, Becky has showcased her beautiful jewellery with us in lots of exhibitions including Alchemy 8 in 2007, Parklife in 2010, Remember When in 2011, The Birds and the Bees in 2012, The Jewellery Show in 2013, Simply Silver in 2015 and Tweet in 2019.  Becky is based at the Rosehill workshop in Brighton where she has been working since graduating in 1999.  “It is a co-operative of designer crafts people and is a happy place, if a little cold in winter.  Having fallen for the 4 o'clock teatime tradition and the first floor double doors there has been no looking back.”  Becky studied Three Dimensional Crafts at The University of Brighton in 1996.  A mixture of jewellery and three-dimensional illustration, Becky’s work is designed to be both worn and displayed.  With drawing as a starting point and the great outdoors as a source of wonder and constant inspiration, elements of narrative are captured in silver and transformed into miniature scenes telling out across the surface of a brooch or hanging as a pendant.  The pieces are individually made by hand from sheet silver and copper with 9ct gold and 22ct gold leaf for detailing.  The metal is pierced out, then textures or patterns are applied to the surface using a rolling mill.  These components are then layered together, soldered, and finished with matt, oxidised and polished surfaces to add depth and tone.

 

Alison Macleod

Alison's stunning jewellery has been featured in Ring shows from 2009 and 2014, a wedding show we called Wedding Belles in 2005 and a show called Bloom in 2014.  She set up her studio in 2003 after graduating from Edinburgh College of Art.  Following 10 years in Glasgow she is now back in the Dumfriesshire countryside where she grew up.  “I make jewellery inspired by antique treasures and the stories they tell.  Heirlooms passed through generations building significance.  I have strong memories of secretly discovering my Mum’s jewellery box as a child, trying on each piece and wondering at their hidden histories.”  Alison has surrounded herself with a small team each highly skilled in their field.  It is important to Alison to have a hand in designing and making every jewellery piece giving it her own unique style and never compromising on quality of craftsmanship. 

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"I am delighted to be back exhibiting with The Craft Centre and Design Gallery after so many years.  As one of the first galleries I worked with at the start of my career almost 20 years ago your support has been invaluable to the development of both my business and creative practice.  Happy 40th to you!!!”

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Hannah Souter

Hannah has worked with us many times over our 40 years including a show calle Alchemy in 2009 and The Jewellery Show in 2013, we are delighted to welcome her back with her beautiful jewellery.  Inspired by the beauty and delicate structures found in the natural world Hannah creates sculptural jewellery and silversmithing.  Working in precious metals such as Silver and 18ct Gold her jewellery comprises of hand press formed and individually fabricated units combining subtle surface textures and contrasting finishes.  In one of her most recent ranges 18ct yellow and red gold wire is fused to the surface of the silver to create unique pieces of fine jewellery.  “My silversmithing work focuses on creating functional and aesthetic pieces that are designed for contemporary living.  Using Sterling and fine Silver each piece is created using traditional Silversmithing techniques.  In hand raised pieces the marks from the process of making are left in to create a natural tactile quality, in other pieces the marks are worked out to leave a sleek modern finish."

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“After a break from exhibiting jewellery I was delighted to kick start my return back in 2009 by taking part in Alchemy at The Craft Centre and Design Gallery.  To have my jewellery exhibited alongside so many talented makers was, and still is, really exciting.  Having worked with the friendly and encouraging staff on a number of occasions since then I can say that The Craft Centre and Design Gallery is one of my favourite galleries to work with!”

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Please note that the images below may not be the work arriving for our show.  You can see what did arrive for the show below in our gallery photos and Virtual Gallery Tour.  If you'd like more info on anything you see, just get in touch!  We're always happy to help!