As I am sure you know by now, we love to showcase the work of other independent jewellers here at Varoshe. Each designer has their own story of how they started their career, what they love to design and how they work. Each journey is unique and is poured in to every piece that they make. This month I would like to share one of these stories with you...
ALICE BARNES
How did you first ‘get in to’ jewellery?
I always knew I wanted to do some sort of 3D design but was really stuck on what exactly that might be until my foundation diploma tutor at Chelsea asked what my hobbies were. I'd been making beaded jewellery for years for friends and family and thought nothing of it, but Derek suggested I think about taking it further and that if I did, Birmingham School of Jewellery was the place to go. I signed up for a part-time jewellery making class to get a taste for working with metal and was smitten fairly quickly. I then worked on building up enough of a portfolio to get me to Birmingham. Once I'd finished I really wanted to get a job in a workshop but as I didn't have any work experience it proved tricky, so I fell into jewellery retail. I enjoyed this for a while and occasionally got to design and make some pieces, but eventually I decided to try and go it alone and I'm so glad I did.
What is your work space like?
Tiny! For the most part jewellers don't actually need much space though, so I've managed to squeeze my work bench and all its accoutrements into the space under the stairs at home. It's not quite Harry Potteresque, but it's not far off! I'd love to have a separate studio space at some point but for now it's convenient and it helps save on expenses.
What is your favourite thing to make/design?
Earrings are the one item of jewellery I feel totally naked without, so a lot of my time is spent on fantasising about new earring designs. My favourite thing to actually do at the bench though is to carve wax for any new design. The act of carving and sculpting something from a block of jewellers wax is so therapeutic to me - the more fiddly the better!
Which three words best describe your work?
Precise, geometric, pleats.
My shapes are carved rather than folded and pleated from sheet because I wanted them to have weight and depth to them, but paper folding is certainly where my inspiration comes from. Obviously they are also not as precise as they would be if I used CAD instead of hand carving, but I take pride in getting them as neat as possible and I like the warmth and the human touch that this gives my pieces. CAD certainly has its uses but it can leave me feeling a little cold towards designs sometimes.
What jewellery are you wearing right now?
A pair of my Pleated Studs and a Single Shard Necklace, both in oxidised black silver. I wear these most days as they are such easy everyday pieces (and I wear a lot of black!), along with a stack of three colour sand cast rings by Justin Duance which I treated myself to a few years ago. Oh, and a nose ring and some little pyramid studs I made for my extra ear piercings!
What is the proudest moment in your jewellery career so far?
I've had some great moments over the last five years so it's hard to choose. I've been lucky enough to win a couple of awards, and recently my jewellery went on sale in the British Museum gift shop which was a dream, but I honestly think just making it through those first five years has to be my biggest achievement. Being self-employed can be very rewarding but it can be really tough sometimes, both mentally and physically as a maker.
What’s one thing you’d like to accomplish in the next 12 months? (Can be work or personal.)
I'm working on a few new pieces at the moment and will be launching them soon. It's been a roller coaster of emotions and stress as I've been lucky enough to have lots of orders coming in from customers and stockists at the same time, so it will be wonderful to finish them and finally get them out there!
If you weren’t a jeweller which other job would you have loved just as much?
When I was a student I quite fancied architecture and I've since come across quite a few architects who like to design jewellery, so there is a definite cross over in these disciplines. I actually did a work placement at an architect’s office when I was 17 and spent days rendering a drawing of an interior wall; matching the grey of the bricks, pink grout and wood effect beams as best I could with coloured pencils. That was quite enough to put me off, but it may have been very a different story if today's tech was available back then!
Name one fact that people may not know about you.
As well as running my own business I have a part time job as a workshop assistant to jeweller Jenifer Wall. I think I used to be quite embarrassed that I didn't work for myself full-time yet so not many people know I work for Jen, but I now realise that many of the established makers I admire supplement their income in one way or another, be it through assisting, teaching or general commission work. Jen has her own range which uses totally different techniques to my own so I'm learning as I work which is ideal. She's based at her own shop, Brass Monkeys in Hove, along with several other jewellers who rent benches there. After spending days working alone at home it's lovely to go in and catch up with everyone, and if I ever need to talk through anything jewellery related there is always someone there with advice.
You can find Alice’s ‘Pleated’ collection on display at Varoshe, so if you love her work as much as we do then head over to 2 West Street to see the full display in all its glory! Looking for a specific piece? We recommend that you phone ahead to check availability and avoid disappointment. You can find out how to contact us here.
As always, if you have any jewellery questions, or would like to know more about the people behind the jewellery, then please do get in touch, we are only too happy to try and help.
Clare X