HEY SACHA IT'S BEEN GREAT WORKING WITH YOU OVER THE PAST YEAR AND SEEMS LIKE YOU'VE COME ALONG WAY. CAN YOU GIVE OUR AUDIENCE A LITTLE INTRO ON WHO YOU ARE AND YOUR JOURNEY WITH JUNO+ACE SO FAR?
Ahh, thanks Anna, it’s been great working with you guys too. You were after all my very first wholesale account AND the one who suggested for me to do workshops in the first place, So I think I owe a lot to you for that! Well, Juno+Ace began after I’d just arrived in Sydney from the UK and after I’d had baby #3. It began as a jewellery brand as this is what I had been doing back in England, but after going to a few design markets with my jewellery, I’d noticed how much awesome talent there is out there in the jewellery field so, I decided to use my metal working skill to make bigger pieces. The mobiles came about after I’d been searching for something for my new baby’s room but couldn’t find anything I liked, (I’m not really into stuffed animals or felt mobiles!) I’ve always loved mid century art and Calder has been a long standing favourite of mine so I figured I’d have a go at making some pieces in that kind of style.
JEWELLER BY TRADE, COME METALWORK ARTIST. I LOVE THIS EVOLUTION. WHERE DO YOU DRAW YOUR INSPIRATION FOR THE SHAPES AND DESIGNS IN YOUR WORK?
I’m from a small town in Cornwall called St. Ives and this little fishing town was at the epicentre of the abstract art movement back in the 1950’s and a lot of the art and studios still remain there. The town is dotted with sculptures by Barbara Hepworth and filled with galleries that have every kind of art imaginable. My favourite artist that was in St. Ives during that era has to be Sir Terry Frost. He painted bold abstract pieces that often contained circles and semi circles. I think his use of these shapes has always been a huge inspiration for me.
HAVE YOU GOT ANY HEROES IN THE JEWELLERY TRADE?
Hmm, not really. I’m self taught so I have always just kind of done my own thing without too much influence from other jewellers. I did work in a shared studio back in the UK though with a polish guy who taught me loads! He was a real fine jeweller and made the most delicate, intricate stone set pieces and he’d often laugh at me doing something my own way, then he’d show me the ‘proper’ way to do it. That was a great experience, I was sad to leave that studio.