Diana has been successfully making and designing silversmithing and jewellery since she graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1993. Her fascination with the garden and the process of gardening feeds her passion of working with metal. Read on to find out a bit more about Diana and her jewellery…
Describe your work in 3 words
Flowery, leafy, graphic.
What inspires you?
Plants and flowers and the physical process of gardening and getting my hands dirty! Old botanical prints and technical drawings, gardening tools, humour and the ability to not take life too seriously!
What made you decide to be a jewellery designer?
I originally trained as a silversmith and would still describe myself as one. I enjoyed making ‘stuff’ as a child; I got given a simple jewellery making kit one Christmas, exhausted the idea and exhausted this kit very quickly and then started using anything I could lay my hands on. My Dad was an engineer, always fiddling with things in the garage, making model aeroplanes, so there was always things to ‘borrow’ to make with. I loved jigsaws and problem solving and being good at drawing and making, I followed this path to Art college and then on to a Three-Dimensional Design Degree and finally a masters at the RCA in Goldsmithing and silversmithing
What tool can’t you live without?
A pencil.
If you could choose anyone to wear your jewellery, who would it be?
Probably a garden designer: Vita Sackville-West or Gertrude Jekyll. They were incredible designers and women! Failing that, my husband! He has a fantastic collection of my cufflinks and wears them all the time!
What’s the most exciting piece you have ever made?
Being invited to make a piece for COLLECT at the Saatchi Gallery in 2013 by Bishopsland Educational Trust, for whom I had made a piece for in 1995 for the Crafts Council’s silver collection. After not making a piece of silversmithing for 10 years, I embarked on my largest piece to date, a pierced silver vessel based on a papercutting I made called ‘Hogs Back’ – Inspired by a place I see everyday on my way to the studio.
What’s your favourite piece on lovedazzle?
That’s really hard! I have quite a collection of jewellery from lovedazzle makers already. I love Jenny Llewellyn’s Plume necklace, just fabulous!
lovedazzle jewellery blog 