Silversmith’s stories from the woods
At her workshop among the trees, jewellery maker Laura Brown crafts intricate layers of precious metal to create scenes from nature
COMING UPON LAURA Brown’s workshop is a delightful surprise. A little path, carpeted in dappled sunlight, winds its way through trees, and suddenly, in a quiet glade, there it is: a small, green-painted wooden building; an organic part of this Cornish woodland.
Inside this sequestered sylvan place, Laura, affectionately known as Elby, sits on a stool surrounded by the tools of her trade. She is working on one of her signature three-dimensional pendants. It is exquisite: the tracery of branches outside the window opposite her workbench captured in miniature within the piece. They will form a backdrop to the tiny woodland scene she is creating in precious metal.
“I’ve always been drawn to small things,” explains Laura. “I like small details that might be missed at first. Patience is vital. It’s so important not to rush or cut corners, otherwise it can go wrong. When working with these tiny pieces, you have to take a deep breath and not be afraid of trying.”
Laura came to professional jewellery making in 2013, following a variety of jobs. “I was always given those tasks deemed to be creative, but I never saw it as anything other than a sideline; not to be taken seriously,” she says.
“Then, one day, instead of walking past the local art college, I went in and signed up for an adult evening class in jewellery making, once a week for 10 weeks. This was the start, and from there, I used libraries, the internet and just trial and error to develop my technique.
“I love learning new skills, and I had a deep desire to explore something; anything, creative. With jewellery making, the idea of building the pieces, the solidity of the metal and the mystery of all those unknown tools really appealed to me.”
In the intervening years, Laura has honed those skills and, inspired by her surroundings, manages to recreate the essence of the natural world in her pieces. In so doing, she also treads very lightly on that world: her workshop is powered by a reconditioned solar panel, and captured rain is her only source of water. All her materials are ethically and environmentally sourced very thoroughly, her gold and silver is recycled, and her packaging is from recycled materials.
“All the silver offcuts are sent off for recycling; even the dust on the floor or in my catchment. The dust is called ‘lemel’, which means ‘uncountable’.”
Laura usually works on three or four pieces at a time. On her workbench stands a collection of pendants; each piece a multi-layered tableau casting shadows from the slanting sun.
Setting the scene
“Whenever I make a piece, there often tends to be layering,” she explains. “I am drawn to theatrical narrative pieces. I like trying to tell a story or allowing the person looking at the piece to see a story. Many of my pieces could be described as illustrative.”
She undoubtedly achieves this. At a recent show which Laura attended, she was delighted when a man examined her jewellery
“Thy loving smile will surely hail The love-gift of a fairy tale”
Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There
for a long time and said: “These remind me of reading to my daughter when she was little.”
Each pendant is a tiny rectangular rural scene, slightly smaller than a postage stamp. One has a backdrop of birch trees, symbolic of growth and renewal, on a low hill. In front of these is another smaller tree, a fox looking at a star and minute foxgloves engraved on silver. The fox’s tail curves protectively round its body at the front of the tableau, and tiny circular holes in the ‘frame’ represent the dappled light of a woodland glade: the ‘sun pennies’ of nature. There are six layers in all, front to back, and the whole is less than 1cm in depth.
The star is a precious or semi-precious stone. Laura buys in the stones ready-cut, using different types to represent the changing seasons: diamond for winter, blue topaz for summer, green sapphire for spring and an orange garnet for autumn.
Vital ingredients
Among the tools on her workbench lies what Laura calls her ‘recipe book’. “I write down everything; refining as I go. My recipe book has drawings, measurements; everything I need to remind me of the construction of each piece: the shapes, the tools I’ve used, all the ingredients I need to make it and the process that I worked through,” she says.
The most important tool in the creation of her jewellery is a saw: a lightweight precision instrument used to cut required shapes from, for instance, a virgin sheet of silver.
“I hand-cut everything,” she says. “The idea that the marks of my saw blade; each movement I make on each piece is just a little bit different, even with the same ‘recipe’, appeals to me.”
Before starting, Laura will draw the component parts of the item of jewellery she is about to make: the fox and his foxgloves or perhaps a hare and brambles. She has her own tradition of associating certain plants with particular animals.
“If I can draw it, I can cut it.” she says. “The saw is the first tool I started with, and it is the start point for everything I make. I cut a strip of silver from the sheet; form that into the external shape of the pendant, then gradually build up the layers within it. I cut each component part to build up the piece.”
Another vital tool is her neat soldering torch that directs a tiny and very controllable flame to the point where a join is needed. Laura buys strips of solder, which are then used to join constituent parts; attaching, for instance, the fox into the pendant, with tweezers being used for handling the pieces.
She also uses a pendant motor. “This is a great tool; much like a dentist’s tool. It does a variety of jobs, with attachments, which I used to do by hand: sanding, grinding, burring, stone-setting, making holes. It’s powered by a foot pedal.”
Finishing process
Some of Laura’s work includes enamelled detail on the metal; setting, for instance, enamelled trees into a landscape on a
background of silver. Any stone embellishment is flush set into the silver, by first drilling a tiny hole to take the stone.
“This is the last job,” she says. “Any soldering must be done prior to adding a stone, because heat would change its colour.” Once it is flush, Laura burnishes the stone, which sets it in place.
No joins are visible in the finished piece; a testament to the skill of the maker, and many people ask Laura if the pendants have been carved.
Her joy of creating is palpable. “I absolutely love the finishing process of each piece,” she says. “At the start of making, it is like looking at something far off in the distance that you can’t quite make out. It feels like a long way away. This is because the jewellery goes through a process where it looks so different at every stage; from the first moment of flat sheet to forming the end piece.
“Several times during the process, it is black with oxide from soldering, and throughout the making, there is roughness that needs to be softened, solder which needs to be stripped back and sanding to be done. At the finish, you are bringing up the best of each element. It’s where your hard work pays off as you watch a piece emerge; burnishing elements to make them sparkle; making the light bounce. It’s really pleasing to see the end result in your hands, as though the piece has just come into focus.”
Once finished, these enchanting pieces are destined for new homes, where their many facets will be appreciated by their new owners.
Emotional connection
“I like the thought that when these pieces are not being worn, they can be put on a shelf and will stand alone as something lovely to look at,” says Laura. “Some pieces cast long shadows in sunlight, and the idea that someone takes a piece off and notices that aspect of it, perhaps by accident, is a thought that makes me happy. Shadows are part of the story: an extra dimension. I want a person who has bought something I have made to know that I put my heart into each and every
moment of making it. I want people to have an emotional connection to my pieces.”
The day Laura walked into that art college was one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions that shapes lives. From this has developed a supremely exquisite skill. In the purity of her pieces, Laura creates a magic that people can acquire to mark significant moments in their own lives: births, weddings, anniversaries. Laura is forging the family heirlooms of the future.
CONTACT
https://elbybrown.co.uk
In addition to her three-dimensional pieces Laura also makes rings, nose studs and earrings. Prices for her smallest pieces, such as a star-shaped nose stud, start at £25; her complex pieces may be up to £430.
“Among the taller wood with ivy hung, The old fox plays and dances round her young”
John Clare, ‘The Vixen’