NAOMI JAMES Jewellery
"I have always loved making things and have been making jewellery since I was 14, when a jewellery workshop opened in Lewes and I started evening classes. I knew it was what I wanted to do straight away and I still can't imagine doing anything else! I studied jewellery at Middlesex Polytechnic from where I had work experience with Sarah Jordan and at the Royal College of Art. After college I worked at Jess James just off Carnaby Street before 18 months spent travelling gathering stones and inspiration for starting my own business.
Since then I have enjoyed working in several shared workshops and have been at Rose Hill in Brighton for the last 13 years, it is fantastic to be surrounded by a group of creative people producing a wide range of different work and we are there to help and inspire each other. I have also been a regular exhibitor at Dazzle exhibitions since I graduated college and very much enjoyed my time managing the London exhibition when it was at the Royal National Theatre in London.
I have always designed as I work, allowing the making process to inspire the final design. Many of my designs use real leaves, plant structures and feathers to create natural textures on silver giving my work a 'found' quality- almost as if the pieces were produced by a natural process. I particularly like the contrasting textures of different plants which I combine in one piece of jewellery and complement with touches of 18 carat gold.
I also make unique hand pierced colourful semi- precious stone rings. My pieces are all made by hand, by me, in my studio".
