My jewellery making started at college in 1966 continuing  as a hobby until 1979 when I made the leap of faith into going full time. This happened to coincide with a huge rise in silver prices – not a good time to choose and I had to change career after a few years. Four years ago I returned to working in precious metal after 35 years as a Professional Photographer.

All my work is hand crafted. I pay close attention to soldering every joint possible, particularly with my handmade chains, so that they should last a lifetime. Some of my chains and Tree pendants have well over 150 soldered joints. Since returning to my bench I’ve been delighted to have several people mention that they still wear my jewellery which they bought 40 years ago.  The current high cost of materials, especially gold, means that most of my jewellery work is in silver but I do take commissions to work in gold. Hand crafted work is, by definition, not machine made and therefore each piece is individual and unique.

My work can be seen throughout the year by appointment at any time in my workshop in Lochgoilhead or at the Tighnabruaich Gallery, The Barony Centre West Kilbride, Pinetrees gallery in Lochgoilhead, and Turadh in Taynuilt .

I am very excited by some of new techniques which have evolved since I last worked in metal and I have been producing some sculptural work in copper for some time, mainly framed wall panels. It would be impossible for me to reproduce an identical copy, so every piece is a one off. The copper panels and sculptures are produced using various hammering processes combined with folding and unfolding of the copper. Some pieces are polished, some are deliberately patinated and some are coloured using a process called flame painting, which is exactly as it states – colouring using the flame as a painter would use a brush.

This is a link to a youtube video I made showing how I make my chains – but be warned, it lasts just over 23 minutes.