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So where did this love of bashing metal come from?
I have always loved crafting things with my hands - I remember as a child watching my granny as she painted patterns on white porcelain or stitched together a felt doll. Originally I started out on the textiles and embroidery path but it was while studying for an HNC in Design and Craft at Banbury Art College that I discovered the contrasting world of silversmithing and jewellery. So the textile side has been slightly nudged to the side for the moment, while the challenge of manipulating metal has grasped my attention, but I’m hoping I will have time to let the softer materials creep back in at some point.
What inspires me?
Having a keen interest in the natural world, I am constantly delighted by the simplicity as well as the complexity of nature’s design. I love the forms, textures and patterns of our natural environment.
Most of my silver jewellery designs have followed three distinct threads – the beautiful shapes of leaves and flowers in the botanical world, a very easily accessible world all around me, the fascinating forms of insects particularly beetles, moths and butterflies and the curious world of fossils, which was first introduced to me in my childhood by my father at Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset. Since he cracked open the first piece of slate to reveal an ammonite the intrigue has never left. Now, living far from the coast in Oxford, I have taken much inspiration from the fossils in the Oxford University Natural History Museum and if you have an interest in palaeontology you might recognise the shapes of an Oxytoma shell, an ammonite or a nautilus, as well as my favourite, the trilobite. These articulated creatures which began scuttling about the sea bed as early as 500 million years ago have constantly fascinated me. They have evolved an amazing variety of sizes and shapes – giving me plenty of options to play with.
Since that introductory course at Banbury I have progressed slowly, on my own. I prefer the traditional methods of silversmithing, starting with the flat silver sheets, which I then forge, form, mill or hammer into more organic shapes of leaves, wings or shells. All the pieces I create use sterling silver often combined with other metals such as copper or gold or materials such as slate pebbles or semi precious beads, sometimes even textiles will creep back in and I will add a bit of felt into the design. As recycled silver and gold are now easier to source I use this almost exclusively.
If you want to come and see my jewellery do please check the events page on this website for my next exhibition or show.
Jo Malden
So where did this love of bashing metal come from?
I have always loved crafting things with my hands - I remember as a child watching my granny as she painted patterns on white porcelain or stitched together a felt doll. Originally I started out on the textiles and embroidery path but it was while studying for an HNC in Design and Craft at Banbury Art College that I discovered the contrasting world of silversmithing and jewellery. So the textile side has been slightly nudged to the side for the moment, while the challenge of manipulating metal has grasped my attention, but I’m hoping I will have time to let the softer materials creep back in at some point.
What inspires me?
Having a keen interest in the natural world, I am constantly delighted by the simplicity as well as the complexity of nature’s design. I love the forms, textures and patterns of our natural environment.
Most of my silver jewellery designs have followed three distinct threads – the beautiful shapes of leaves and flowers in the botanical world, a very easily accessible world all around me, the fascinating forms of insects particularly beetles, moths and butterflies and the curious world of fossils, which was first introduced to me in my childhood by my father at Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset. Since he cracked open the first piece of slate to reveal an ammonite the intrigue has never left. Now, living far from the coast in Oxford, I have taken much inspiration from the fossils in the Oxford University Natural History Museum and if you have an interest in palaeontology you might recognise the shapes of an Oxytoma shell, an ammonite or a nautilus, as well as my favourite, the trilobite. These articulated creatures which began scuttling about the sea bed as early as 500 million years ago have constantly fascinated me. They have evolved an amazing variety of sizes and shapes – giving me plenty of options to play with.
Since that introductory course at Banbury I have progressed slowly, on my own. I prefer the traditional methods of silversmithing, starting with the flat silver sheets, which I then forge, form, mill or hammer into more organic shapes of leaves, wings or shells. All the pieces I create use sterling silver often combined with other metals such as copper or gold or materials such as slate pebbles or semi precious beads, sometimes even textiles will creep back in and I will add a bit of felt into the design. As recycled silver and gold are now easier to source I use this almost exclusively.
If you want to come and see my jewellery do please check the events page on this website for my next exhibition or show.
Jo Malden