Southwest France is where I make my home with my husband and dog. After 25 years living and working in Camden, north London, we decided it was time to make a change; life there was becoming more expensive and stressful, and less enjoyable. We were looking for a better life/work balance and a way we could both have time to do the things we thought were important. So we moved from an apartment there to a house in a village in France. I have always loved France; we made a few trips here before choosing the southwest, and the Charente area in particular. It is beautiful and relatively unknown. We have been settled in a little village of twelve houses for 14 years and we love it! I love the landscape with the lines of the vines going off in all directions. I take the dog for a walk every day and never tire of the scenery. Walking her gets me out of the studio and if I’m stuck on a piece, or frustrated with how a collection is going, it clears my mind wonderfully.
I grew up in a small town near London, with my parents and one younger sister. My mother was interested in art, she had wanted to go to art college when she left school, but couldn’t afford it so she had to work as a secretary instead. In her late 40’s she went to the local college to study sculpture as a mature student. I went to the same college to do a two year foundation course, after which I spent three years at Winchester School of Art, obtaining a First-class honours degree in Textile Design.
After leaving college I got a job as a textile designer in Hampstead and moved to London. After working there for a few years I got a job teaching one day a week at a college. This gave me the opportunity to leave the full time job and start creating for myself. I was inspired initially by sculptures in the V&A Museum and decided to make a bust to put on my mantelpiece. It seemed obvious to make it in papier mâché, as I could then decorate it with colour and pattern easily. I made a chicken wire frame and pasted paper on in layers. Papier mâché is used to describe anything made from paper, whatever the method used. I started with life-size busts and then life-size figures. Don’t ask me why, it was just what I did–follow my instincts and go with the flow.
My style is instinctive, accidental, happenstance.
After having an exhibition in west London in the mid 1980’s, I was approached by a Notting Hill gallery called Crucial who exhibited early work by the likes of Ron Arad and Danny Lane. They encouraged me to think about decorative pieces for interiors. I started to make pieces with the chicken wire and paper draped round mirror frames and painted to look like fabric. So I was off; combining pattern, 3D and trompe l’oeil. This continued until the recession in the early 90’s, when sales fell.
I then started working with my husband in his painting and decorating business, doing my work when I had time. Working together meant that after a few years we were able to buy an apartment in Camden, north London, and sell it a few years later, with enough to buy a house here in France mortgage-free.
For the last few years I have been making jewellery from paper. I got back into my work slowly and, with the rise of internet shopping, moved towards smaller pieces, then jewellery–and off again, no stopping the creative flow now! Let mistakes happen, you never know where they might lead. Persistence pays off. Don’t give up. Enjoy!
I love to draw from inspiration everywhere–Renaissance art, fashion, contemporary art, Elvis, architecture and interiors, kitsch, vintage postcards, fabrics, religious art. Belief in my instincts and the support of my husband and friends have served me well!
I think that being an artist covers so many creative areas. Someone like Banksy can amuse and make people think, other art is purely for pleasure. It is so varied; hopefully there is something for most people to like and/or engage with. I don’t believe there is a single artistic outlook. It’s personal to everyone creative, whatever type of art they do.
When making jewelry, my process begins with designing the shapes and making templates. Then I hand paint the background papers, adding texture or gold, silver or copper leaf patterns on top. Next comes cutting and gluing, then decorating fronts and backs with various types of paints and/or more leaf. If it doesn’t move, gold leaf it. More is more. The last step is to add waterproof varnish, after which I make the shapes into the jewelry.
I am working on a new collection with letters, although this is still at the development stage. I am thrilled to say that I have been invited to participate in LOOT 2019: MAD About Jewelry, the annual sale and exhibition of studio and art jewelry at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York, in April. So I am now very busy putting together a collection of Atelier Jen classics and smaller pieces for that.
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
— Dolly Parton
My advice would be to go for it! I have always found it very difficult to promote myself and my work; I’m just not one of those people who can talk to anyone–I have the very English embarrassment at self promotion. So Instagram has been brilliant. Through Instagram I connected with the designer Naeem Anthony of Helen Anthony by messaging him that I loved his work and thought it would go great with my jewelry. That led very quickly to an editorial fashion shoot, then an invitation to create pieces to feature on the catwalk at his F/W 2018 catwalk show at New York Fashion Week. That was an amazing experience, and a great learning curve.
I don’t really have a specific dream, just to keep working, to collaborate with more fashion designers, possibly work in theatre and film! All of my projects present a challenge to keep going financially, having sometimes to put work aside to earn money, but then always coming back to it and being stronger. I’ve learned that I must carry on and to keep doing and learning new things!
Southwest France is where I make my home with my husband and dog. After 25 years living and working in Camden, north London, we decided it was time to make a change; life there was becoming more expensive and stressful, and less enjoyable. We were looking for a better life/work balance and a way we could both have time to do the things we thought were important. So we moved from an apartment there to a house in a village in France. I have always loved France; we made a few trips here before choosing the southwest, and the Charente area in particular. It is beautiful and relatively unknown. We have been settled in a little village of twelve houses for 14 years and we love it! I love the landscape with the lines of the vines going off in all directions. I take the dog for a walk every day and never tire of the scenery. Walking her gets me out of the studio and if I’m stuck on a piece, or frustrated with how a collection is going, it clears my mind wonderfully.
I grew up in a small town near London, with my parents and one younger sister. My mother was interested in art, she had wanted to go to art college when she left school, but couldn’t afford it so she had to work as a secretary instead. In her late 40’s she went to the local college to study sculpture as a mature student. I went to the same college to do a two year foundation course, after which I spent three years at Winchester School of Art, obtaining a First-class honours degree in Textile Design.
After leaving college I got a job as a textile designer in Hampstead and moved to London. After working there for a few years I got a job teaching one day a week at a college. This gave me the opportunity to leave the full time job and start creating for myself. I was inspired initially by sculptures in the V&A Museum and decided to make a bust to put on my mantelpiece. It seemed obvious to make it in papier mâché, as I could then decorate it with colour and pattern easily. I made a chicken wire frame and pasted paper on in layers. Papier mâché is used to describe anything made from paper, whatever the method used. I started with life-size busts and then life-size figures. Don’t ask me why, it was just what I did–follow my instincts and go with the flow.
My style is instinctive, accidental, happenstance.
After having an exhibition in west London in the mid 1980’s, I was approached by a Notting Hill gallery called Crucial who exhibited early work by the likes of Ron Arad and Danny Lane. They encouraged me to think about decorative pieces for interiors. I started to make pieces with the chicken wire and paper draped round mirror frames and painted to look like fabric. So I was off; combining pattern, 3D and trompe l’oeil. This continued until the recession in the early 90’s, when sales fell.
I then started working with my husband in his painting and decorating business, doing my work when I had time. Working together meant that after a few years we were able to buy an apartment in Camden, north London, and sell it a few years later, with enough to buy a house here in France mortgage-free.
For the last few years I have been making jewellery from paper. I got back into my work slowly and, with the rise of internet shopping, moved towards smaller pieces, then jewellery–and off again, no stopping the creative flow now! Let mistakes happen, you never know where they might lead. Persistence pays off. Don’t give up. Enjoy!
I love to draw from inspiration everywhere–Renaissance art, fashion, contemporary art, Elvis, architecture and interiors, kitsch, vintage postcards, fabrics, religious art. Belief in my instincts and the support of my husband and friends have served me well!
I think that being an artist covers so many creative areas. Someone like Banksy can amuse and make people think, other art is purely for pleasure. It is so varied; hopefully there is something for most people to like and/or engage with. I don’t believe there is a single artistic outlook. It’s personal to everyone creative, whatever type of art they do.
When making jewelry, my process begins with designing the shapes and making templates. Then I hand paint the background papers, adding texture or gold, silver or copper leaf patterns on top. Next comes cutting and gluing, then decorating fronts and backs with various types of paints and/or more leaf. If it doesn’t move, gold leaf it. More is more. The last step is to add waterproof varnish, after which I make the shapes into the jewelry.
I am working on a new collection with letters, although this is still at the development stage. I am thrilled to say that I have been invited to participate in LOOT 2019: MAD About Jewelry, the annual sale and exhibition of studio and art jewelry at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York, in April. So I am now very busy putting together a collection of Atelier Jen classics and smaller pieces for that.
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
— Dolly Parton
My advice would be to go for it! I have always found it very difficult to promote myself and my work; I’m just not one of those people who can talk to anyone–I have the very English embarrassment at self promotion. So Instagram has been brilliant. Through Instagram I connected with the designer Naeem Anthony of Helen Anthony by messaging him that I loved his work and thought it would go great with my jewelry. That led very quickly to an editorial fashion shoot, then an invitation to create pieces to feature on the catwalk at his F/W 2018 catwalk show at New York Fashion Week. That was an amazing experience, and a great learning curve.
I don’t really have a specific dream, just to keep working, to collaborate with more fashion designers, possibly work in theatre and film! All of my projects present a challenge to keep going financially, having sometimes to put work aside to earn money, but then always coming back to it and being stronger. I’ve learned that I must carry on and to keep doing and learning new things!
