I was born in Jersey however I went to school and lived away for many years studying, exhibiting and working as a Jewellery Designer, until finally returning to the island in 2003.

I started my training in 1994 on a 2 year National Diploma course at Berkshire College of Art and Design, then gained a BA(Hons) in Applied Arts at Plymouth College of Art and Design in 2000, specialising in Repouse, Acid-Etching and Rolled Textures. I completed my training by attending Bishopsland Educational Trust Residency in South Oxfordshire in 2001-2002.

During that time I had various prestigious exhibition opportunities including New Designers Exhibition, Islington; Goldsmiths Hall; Candid Arts Trust, Islington and I exhibited for 3 consecutive years with the Society of Designer Craftsmen at Mall Galleries in London as well as attending some Masterclasses in Repousse, Raising and Photo-Etching.

I had done really well at my graduation show ‘New Designers’ in Islington and a couple of gallery owners had asked to show my work and I have been supplying them with my work regularly ever since. I decided to approach the first Galleries to stock my jewellery by simply knocking on their door with a few samples and I was very lucky they liked what they saw!

I used a Princes Trust Loan to buy my first bits of equipment when I first set up and took up residence in the shed at the bottom of my mums garden. It was a wonderful quiet sanctuary where I was able to concentrate on my very first independent collections. I was invited to show my work at ‘British Crafts’, Chisick and I took myself along to Harrogate with Design Gap in 2003 at the British Craft Trade Fair where I met a few gallery owners that showed interest in stocking my work.

Also during this time I kept popping back and forth to Jersey to visit my family and began showing my work in a local gallery and exhibitions.  I knew I could hide in the shed forever and needed to decide where I was going to make myself a base to work from. Luckily jewellery is very postable, so the choice of where to live is fairly flexible. I am not a city girl and visited a few studios in the south of England, but the pull back to jersey got the better of me and I found myself packing up my bench to cross the water in 2003.

I continue to supply the galleries with my jewellery and regularly receive interesting commissions to work on.  I also run Jewellery Making Classes for the adult education dept here in jersey, which brings me full circle as that is how I began my own career as a maker.