to try. In the ceramic world I'm a huge fan of the work of Karen Totten because the textures and colours within her designs are so appealing to me and her inspiration is always fascinating. Karen also helped and encouraged me enormously with my own ceramic efforts which I am hugely grateful for.
For jewellery there are so many people I admire but one of the first I came across, and who fueled my desire to take up metal working was Stacey Perry of Hodgepodgerie. I never got as proficient as I'd have liked to in this area as other things took over but I want to do do more this year and I regularly go back to Stacey's work and continue to be inspired.
Q: You have achieved a lot in the bead and jewelry world. Is there a next goal you want to accomplish?
My goal for this year is really to consolidate and improve on what I'm already doing. Ceramic and metal clay are the areas I will be concentrating on for components but I would also like to spend more time on improving my etching, enameling and metal work skills.
My jewellery design has taken a bit of a back seat of late and I do think I need to reassess this area. I feel a change or development of style may be imminent...a kind of natural progression but I'm not exactly sure to what or how at the moment so that is another area I would like to focus on.
Q: If you were not a bead and a jewelry artist, what would you be doing?
That's a difficult one as I have a tendency to fall into things rather than plan or have a vision of what I want to do. I might well still be working in marketing if I needed to make a decent living but
if I could do something for the sheer pleasure I would probably run an independent or antiquarian book shop. I doubt I would make any money as I'd be sat in a huge comfy armchair reading, drinking good coffee and ignoring customers, but then I guess I could have staff...
I would also like to finish the Open University Humanities degree I started six years ago... education is so much more fulfilling when it's undertaken for pleasure. I haven't had time to continue with this in recent years but I will finish it even if I have to wait until my hands are too old and battered to make jewellery!