Shirley Smith, Disc Bracelet
Shirley Smith, Erosion Bangles
Shirley Smith, Square Rings
Shirley Smith
Shirley has been designing and making jewellery since gaining a HND in Design Crafts at Herefordshire College of Art and Design in 2002. She was one of the first jewellers we showed at Galanthus; other previous exhibitions include the British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate, Hay Makers in Hay-on-Wye, Pyramid Gallery in York, View From The Top in Manchester, and as part of Birmingham’s jewellery festival, ‘Brilliantly Birmingham’, at the MAC in Birmingham.
Shirley works mostly with silver, occasionally using red or yellow 9ct gold to add decorative detail. Texture is created through reticulation (heat texturing) and hammered marks, with additional details fused or soldered into place. The pieces are then oxidised with liver of sulphur and polished to highlight the surface.
My work has always been inspired by the textures and patterns of time-worn surfaces. A beachcombing ’addict’, my recent pieces reflect my fascination with the eclectic detritus found on the shoreline. Strands of seaweed, fragments of rusted wire, nuggets of sea-glass and eroded stones are translated into a range of jewellery that includes rings, pendants, bracelets and earrings.
Shirley Smith, 2009