I was trying to remember how I first got interested in jewellery making. It actually goes back many years to when I was at Sixth Form College and we had to choose a subject to fill in some time when we weren't doing A Level studies. I chose metalwork and made a hammered copper bangle, it wasn't very good, but I enjoyed making and wearing it. I later went to college and did a B.Ed (teaching degree) and forgot about the metalwork, although it was at this time in my life that I really started buying and wearing handmade jewellery. A few years further on and I was teaching in a London primary school and one of my colleagues took me to visit a friend of hers who was a jeweller at her studio. I was in awe of the beautiful work I saw there, not to mention the tools and equipment which fascinated me.
I enrolled myself onto an adult education course in Hackney, East London and spent every Thursday evening for about three years learning as many basic techniques as I could.
After a move to Derbyshire in 2000 I was lucky enough to find another fantastic jewellery course on my doorstep taught by Adele Kime. Adele is an inspiring teacher and I am grateful to her for helping me confirm that making jewellery is what I want to do.
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