6th November 2021 - 29th January 2022

Daisy Lee

Independent maker Daisy Lee Jewels is based in the heart of Sheffield City Centre at Yorkshire Artspace.  Here she works to create both precious jewellery pieces and elegant silverware inspired by nature, made by hand.  Working predominantly with Silver Daisy creates beautifully fluid contemporary jewellery pieces introducing elements of oxidization and 18ct gold plate to draw the eye to details within the jewellery.  Initially these forms are created using various metal working techniques such as fold forming, etching, hammering and casting to create her repeating signature style within the work.

Amanda Coleman

Lincoln based jeweller Amanda established her jewellery business in 1998 shortly after she graduated from the Royal College of Art.  Craftsmanship and detail have always been at the heart and soul of the designs; it gives the jewellery its distinctive and unique style, transforming the jewellery into miniature works of art.  Her jewellery celebrates the joys of life, a wonder of the extraordinary and a homage to the skill of making.  She recently won the Eponymous Designer Jewellery Brand of the Year at the The UK Jewellery Awards, organised by leading jewellery and watch industry title Retail Jeweller.  This is the country’s longest running and most prestigious trade awards event, established in 1993 to recognise the achievements of those working in the jewellery and watch sectors.  Amanda studied 3D Design at The Surrey Institute of Art & Design in Farnham: “I became completely enthralled by the sight, sound, smells and pure power of the forge but fortunately they also did jewellery on the same course as I soon discovered it was far too much hard work banging away at iron all day long.  I was much more suited to sitting down at the jewellery bench, working on tiny, intricate pieces of precious metals.”  After graduating Amanda opted for a further one year’s residency at the Bishopsland Workshops in Reading and then was fortunate to gain a place at the prestigious Royal College of Art in London to undertake a Masters in Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewellery.  With the help from The Crafts Council and the Prince’s Youth Business Trust Amanda set up a workshop in Clerkenwell, London.  Now living in Lincoln with her husband and two children, Amanda has found that since becoming a mother it has helped her to get a fresh perspective on her designing: “Seeing the world through the eyes of my children has ignited an interest in fairytales, mystery and magic and developed a fascination of bugs and flowers that might have previously gone unnoticed, all of which have found their way into my designs over the recent years.”

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Heather McDermott

Heather specialises in contemporary jewellery made from precious metals and stainless steel.  She completed a BA Hons in Design and Applied Art at Edinburgh College of Art followed by an MA in Jewellery at the same location.  She takes her inspiration from her island home, the Isle of Skye, where fishermen's nets, stacked creels and weathered buoys scatter the ever-changing shoreline.  The tideline of Skye is a treasure trove of unique objects discarded from the urban environment and deposited by the power of the Hebridean swell.  Here rope, wood and plastic take on a subtle identity as wind and wave shape, and re-shape form and colour.  “These inspirational island scenes are developed and translated in my work by utilising shapes and colours.  Unconventional in size and structure, each piece is an expression of sculptural form and is designed to create a statement.”   The industrial nature of the stainless steel is hand formed into soft geometric shapes mimicking fishing nets and lobster pots and the repetition creates chaotic chains.

Rachel Brown

Rachel is a jeweller specialising in enamel and graphite drawn jewellery; “I work from my lovely studio at home in South Yorkshire, combining making with kids and dogs and general family life.”  Rachel studied jewellery and silversmithing at Loughborough College of Art and Design, graduating in 1993.  She initially went into teaching and kept jewellery making as a hobby but in 2014 Rachel decided to make her passion for making her full time job.  She fell in love with a lesser-known enamelling technique when she was researching different ways to enamel.  As she has always loved sketching and doodling (pencil being her favourite medium) this type of enamelling was the perfect way to explore her drawing.

Mim Best

Mim is a Bristol based contemporary jewellery designer whose style combines fashion-forward statement pieces and delicate timeless classics, appealing to a wide audience.  With over 20 years bench experience Mim has become a highly skilled jewellery designer, undertaking private commissions from her Bristol studio and developing her own Silver and fine jewellery collections.  Her inspiration comes from simple shapes, pattern, print and surface textures; always seeking to find and create interesting details.  From a very young age she developed a fascination for jewellery, in particular ancient, ethnic and tribal jewellery from all over the world.  She was captivated by the stories and the symbolism behind the pieces, the intricate details and the meticulous level of craftsmanship often involved.  Working primarily with recycled Silver and Gold, she uses traditional making techniques and often stamps the metal to create unique surface textures.   Much of her work is then embellished with precious gemstones and intricate wire-wrapped beads. 

Caroline Draper

Caroline draws on her extensive travel and life experiences in India to explore a fascination with geometry, symmetry and repetition.  From her studio in Lincolnshire, Caroline continues to explore the influences from India that have now become integral to her designs.  Sensitive use of colour and traditional materials wedded to modern technology and techniques enable her to create individual designs and tactile pieces of jewellery that are both evocative and sensory. 

Olivia Taylor

Olivia is a designer and jewellery-maker based in Scotland.  In 2019, after graduating from The Glasgow School of Art, she created a brand of timeless, contemporary jewellery, translating her love for design and fine jewellery into a new form of statement pieces.  Inspired by stories of travel and architecture, her work reinterprets hard concrete shapes into soft plays of light, landscape and sky.  Using traditional techniques, she brings geometric shapes and striking line intersections together into organic, wearable pieces.  Vivid treatment of texture and colour contrasts with refined, linear structures; further exploring the harmony between nature and architecture in Olivia`s work.  Each piece of jewellery created by Olivia is handmade using ethically sourced precious metals and recycled Silver.  She is interested in the metamorphose of materials, the transient nature of formed metal; how an old Silver brooch can be transformed into a molten ingot and further reshaped into a new pair of earrings.  Olivia is environmentally conscious in her design process and recycles every piece of offcut.  She transforms them into new pieces, giving the piece new purpose, creating very little waste. 

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Ananda Ungphakorn

With an industrial and Jewellery Design background, Ananda is strongly attracted to the aesthetic of industrial materials and the raw finishing of metals.  She observes nature around her; flowers, leaves or trees, and sketches them to explore the combination of forms and materials.  Handcrafted in a minimalist style with a blend of different materials, Ananda’s combination of both precious materials and industrial metals, enhances the pure aesthetic found in her jewellery; “I love art jewellery.  Creating art objects is like experimenting with the possibility of new design and also a step towards Avant-Garde.”

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Pikaya Jewellery

Pinar Kaya De Biasio designs and makes handmade contemporary jewellery from her studio in central London.  She comes from a family where almost all the males of her family are traditional jewellers, who considered this occupation as a man’s job; through her own work she is now challenging that belief.   After a Degree and Masters in Psychology and the first part of her career in this field, Pinar decided to go back to her roots and explore her family passion.  Her jewellery making started at Kensington and Chelsea College in London with her first collection ‘Positano’ making its launch at Milan Design Week.  She has a passion for metal work and simple geometric forms and her pieces are characterised by clean lines and unique textures.  Pinar is determined to build a conscious brand which she can be proud of and she thinks that in today’s world it is possible to produce jewellery while respecting people and the environment.  She is focused on reducing the impact of her activity by producing small batches of jewellery, through the usage of recycled materials and packaging to the extent possible and by cooperating with small family businesses whenever she needs to outsource a service, such as gold plating, which cannot be performed at her studio.  She is a proud advocate for the slow fashion movement and aims to design and produce timeless, good quality pieces which will stay for generations in the family and become their new modern heirlooms. 

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