MEET OUR MAKERS

ELLEN THORPE

Jeweller / Gemydd

Ellen is a Hereford College of Arts graduate, living and working in Caernarfon, North Wales. She has been making formed silver and glass jewellery for two years, developing and improving her skills and designs.

'I am fascinated by organic shapes and forms such as seed heads and pods, and the simultaneous strength and fragility that they convey. Having been brought up with an understanding of local flora and fauna, collecting, examining and drawing plants has always been a natural process for me. I enjoy drawing from the delicate forms of nature and reinterpreting them into durable materials such as silver. My current work is a stylized expression of these organic aesthetics that occur throughout nature.

I hand-make all of the glass beads in my work so that I have fine control over the colour and the contours, creating unique and individual pieces due to the process. The bright and vibrant colours that I typically use are only enhanced by the translucency of the glass, that catches the light to produce a glow which is reminiscent of the vivid assault of colours in nature. These glass elements add a depth to my pieces as well as a brightness and contrast that has opened up new opportunities for the development of my work.'