The path to making Jewellery

A mini-series of short stories by Designers and Makers.

~Part 1~ Lizzie Armour

It’s National Storytelling Week here in the U.K! To celebrate, Anarkik Creations are hosting short stories by our Designers and Makers to share with you. You will find out about their inspiration, how they make their work, and the paths to making jewellery.

Part 1: The path to making jewellery is told by Scottish Jeweller and Printmaker Lizzie Armour:

“Before I can remember, I would go out in the boat with my dad. He had an oyster farm on the West coast of Scotland at Loch Sween.

Finding inspiration in the small details

We lived in Inveraray, which is at the mouth of Scotland’s longest sea loch. I collected shells, broken pottery, crab claws, brackish seaweed, even washed-up jellyfish (lovely!).

I’d take my treasures home to look under a microscope. My dad’s micrscope, passed down to him by his Grampa. Made of brass, the microscope is stored in a dark wooden box, lined with red velvet. It’s of an age that the microscope has no lightbulb, only a mirror, which can be angled towards natural light that will travel up through the plate towards the lens. To record what I saw I sketched the shapes on paper, and took photos down the eyepiece.

The woods near our house led me to look at plants, moss, and vegetables (I remember vividly that onion cells could be seen well!) More recently, my jewellery work is themed around mushroom spore prints, and coral forms which I recreate in 3D printed polyamide and silver.

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Perhaps it’s strange that I didn’t follow a more scientific career path? My favourite part of making something is observing the objects and forms that I take inspiration from, and the making process. There are endless possibilities of how I could use materials to make jewellery.”

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Links:

To see more of Lizzie’s jewellery, prints and to get in touch, visit her website here: http://www.elizabetharmour.com/

When we are able to, Lizzie recommends exploring the beautiful coastlines of Argyll and the Isles:

https://www.visitscotland.com/destinations-maps/argyll-isles/

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment below 🙂

~ Anarkik Creations~