How Wendy Ramshaw Inspired My Jewellery Designs
I have always been drawn to jewellers who approach their work as artists first, and Wendy Ramshaw has been a particularly important influence on my own jewellery designs.
What interests me most about Ramshaw’s work is her ability to move jewellery away from traditional ideas of decoration and towards sculpture, architecture and abstraction. Her rings, in particular, often feel like small constructions — geometric forms designed not simply to sit on the hand, but to interact with one another.
That idea has strongly influenced the way I think about my own work. I frequently use stacking, repetition, geometric shapes and contrasting proportions, allowing several individual elements to come together to create a larger composition. Rather than treating a ring as one fixed object, I like the idea that jewellery can be built, rearranged and viewed almost like a miniature piece of architecture.
Ramshaw was also unafraid of negative space, unusual proportions and unconventional combinations of precious metals and gemstones. These are ideas that have naturally found their way into my own design language, particularly my more abstract and brutalist pieces.
For me, her work demonstrates that fine jewellery doesn't have to follow familiar rules. It can be precious while still being experimental; beautifully made while remaining challenging and unexpected.
That philosophy continues to influence the way I work today: deconstructing familiar jewellery forms and rebuilding them into something more individual, sculptural and contemporary.