It is after I've completed something that I can begin to understand it. Writing, art, jewellery, it's all the same. It's in the creation of it that I learn what it is, and if I'm lucky, why it is. Perhaps this is why I am only beginning to understand my new body of work, The Ocean Collection.
Recently, I’ve been reflecting on the past and making changes to the now. I've been spending my time thinking about and exploring the space between what could be and what is. My discoveries have uncovered a sort of magic in the in-between. They have also led me to the ocean. Are you confused yet? Let me try and explain.
In late summer, I bought and moved onto a houseboat, just like that. A few weeks later, I relocated my creative work into a seaside studio. In this short space of time, I have become inextricably linked to the sea, and the sea has inevitably become tangled up in my creativity.
My ears have been full of sloshes and waves as my eyes marvel over blobby garlands of seaweed. My hands—my hands have been carving oceanic shapes out of silver, playing with sea glass whenever they can.
My downtime has also been dreamy. I can't stop reading books about magical realism and listening to podcasts about folklore and fairy tales. No wonder my dreams have been full of mermaids as I rock to sleep on my boat.
I'd be lying if I didn't acknowledge the difficulties I've experienced over the past few months. The cracks and leaks, both metaphorical and real, have been ever-present, but this body of work has helped me to remember the good. Holding a piece of jewellery in my hand, I remember the beauty, the dreams, the magical realism in daily life. I remember that I am, we all are, capable of stretching the space between reality and fantasy.
This journey, this extended daydream, has evolved into a new body of work. The Ocean Collection explores everyday magic—like moonlight dancing on the water—as well as magic that resides in the imagination; the kind of magic that is present in the peripheral glimpse of a mermaid.
For this body of work, I have used recycled silver—silver that has lived many lives before —and sea glass sculpted by the sea. Taking inspiration from organic shapes and glass changed by the ocean, I have created jewellery that flows—jewellery that moves with the body and dances with light, calling the wearer back to the sea.
I hope that my jewellery can be a source of comfort, beauty and a brief escape to those who seek solace. I hope it reminds you to play in the waves between reality and possibility every once in a while.