Charlotte Smith
From her 200-year-old nail-makers cottage in the West Midlands, Charlotte carries on a long-standing local tradition of women making from home, except rather than forging iron, Charlotte transforms precious metal into her unique, award-winning, enamelled jewels.
Each richly textured piece comes together slowly, every element hand crafted using traditional and ancient techniques. The silver surfaces are engraved by hand by Charlotte, to catch the light, before firing them multiple times in a kiln at up to one thousand degrees centigrade to produce a shimmering transparent colour.
Charlotte completed her BA in Metalwork and Jewellery at Sheffield Hallam University in 2010 and then her MA at the School of Jewellery in Birmingham in 2016.
Making, for Charlotte, is a revolutionary act in a fast-paced world, forcing her to slow down to carefully consider every mark made on the metal and grain of enamel laid. Her making process is deliberately labour intensive and detailed. It is important to Charlotte to let things take the time they take, to get them right and to really appreciate each stage of her making process.