This month we introduce Ella Fearon-Low’s collection to Lovedazzle.
Artist Jeweller Ella works with strong shapes and diverse materials to create playful sophisticated contemporary jewellery that references historical forms.
Drawing on multiple visual and cultural sources she develops shapes that are both fresh and familiar, whose identities are at the heart of her decorative collections. The conversation between materials is central to Ella’s work. Often pairing precious and non-precious, like oxidised silver with Lucite and gold with brass. Ella enjoys and draws out the unique qualities of the materials she works with to create balance and energy in her finished pieces.
Ella hand produces her collections in her London studio.
Read on for our Lovedazzle Q&A with Ella…
Describe your work in 3 words?
Sophisticated. Playful. Decorative.
What made you decide to be a jewellery designer?
I knew I wanted to create ‘things’ that could also be art and I loved the idea that the thing I made could adorn others, bring pleasure and create narratives.
Image: Flying Cloud Necklet – £225
Who or what has been the biggest influence on your work?
I think this would have to be the bank of images I carry with me, formed over a lifetime and especially during a childhood punctuated by Italian churches and windswept Scottish landscapes. Later added too during extensive travels in Asia, as well as by the urban and cultural backdrop of London. I draw on these images all the time in my designs, they inform the shapes, details and forms that make my work unique.
Image: Ella’s sketches from her design process
If you weren’t a jewellery designer what do you think you would be?
I love this question, I think I would be a curator. I love bringing together objects and people around shared themes creating and new energy out of pre-existing elements.
What’s the most exciting piece you have ever made?
I hope it is the piece I am starting tomorrow. I don’t think there is one I could single out but there have been a small number of brooches that I have particularly enjoyed making. Each a one off piece with complex technical challenges that were both exciting and slightly daunting to bring together.
What tool can you not live without?
My lightweight saw frame for piercing metal. All of my pieces are pierced by me, even the Lucite which people often assume I have laser cut, and my saw frame makes it a much easier and more pleasurable task.
How do you relax after a day in the studio?
I love to cook something delicious and then curl up on the sofa with Netflix.
Image: Cumulus Nimbus Earrings – £180
If you could choose anyone to wear your jewellery, who would it be?
Ooooh, this one is tricky. I may have to pick two – Valery Demure and Vivienne Westwood. They are both feisty, true to themselves women with an iconic personal style.
Image from Vanity Fair
If you could own a piece by another maker in any discipline, no price limit, what would it be?
This is easy to answer – I would own a Barbara Hepworth without a doubt. She is my life long hero and I would love to own any of her work. I would especially like one of her groupings such as ‘Three Forms’ 1935.
Image from www.barbarahepworth.org/uk
