When I see Craig Macauley’s Dewdrop jewellery it instantly has one of those distinctive styles that you just know is really original, I can confidently say I haven’t seen anything like them before. I was lucky enough to be able to talk to Craig and ask him some questions about his work, the design behind it, the method and lots of extra goodies. Here’s what he had to say;
Given the fascinating and really original nature of your necklaces and bracelets can you describe some of the ideas behind them?
The initial idea behind the Dewdrop range of jewellery was really the discovery of the process of creating the individual strands. The design of the pieces was also informed by the way early morning dew clings to spider webs and traditional beaded tribal jewellery.
How did you come up with the process for making one of the strands?
The process for making one of the strands came about like a lot of the best ideas do, entirely by accident. I had created these lamp-worked glass cocoons that I wanted to use in both large sculptural/hanging lighting pieces and a range of jewellery pieces. I’d decided to coat these in resin to create a protective layer around the glass. After dipping them in resin I hung them up to dry using some clear nylon thread so the excess resin would drip off. Where the resin had got onto the nylon thread it formed these little droplets.
Have you always had an interest in jewellery making, or has that developed from another medium?
No I haven’t really, it mainly developed out of my interest throughout the length of my degree course in the process of lamp-worked glass. This technique is quite often used to create glass beads for use in jewellery; this led me to explore more experimental use of glass in jewellery and the history of this technique which formed the basis of several university projects.
I think it was amazing to see some of the design process of your first concept turning into the finished things that we can see today, how do you think your idea has progressed from the original sketches?
The idea has progressed a lot from my original aims and sketches. The jewellery was just supposed to be supporting the larger sculptural work I’d made in the first half of my third year then it gradually took over. After working almost exclusively in glass for the three years of my degree I was pretty determined to keep the glass elements a part of it. I drew and made lots of pieces with different fastenings, ways of finishing and trying to incorporate the glass cocoons but in the end I decided that the it was best to keep things simple and focus on the Dewdrop effect nylon.
Did it take a great deal of failures and mistakes to get to the place that your work is in right now?
I wouldn’t say there were lots of failures and mistakes. Apart from a couple of instances when I didn’t mix the two parts of the resin accurately enough so it didn’t set properly! There are pieces I made that don’t work as well as I’d hoped or didn’t translate well from a drawing into a finished piece, but I learnt from these and refined the idea by taking what worked and removing or changing what didn’t to create the finished range.
What has been your favourite part of these pieces of work (making, design, experimenting etc)? And which is your favourite piece?
Experimenting and just playing around with materials and generating ideas for pieces from this is definitely my favourite part of my design process for this series of work. My favourite piece is the Dewdrop necklaces with frill in the pale grey nylon I’ve just started using, the colour is delicate and seems to accentuate the clear resin droplets.
What has been one of the most exciting bits of feedback that you’ve received so far?
At our university degree show the course tutors had arranged an awards ceremony with various prizes and opportunities being handed out. Very unexpectedly I won a three-month showcase of my collection in the Franny & Filer gallery in Manchester. The fact that a gallery that wants to support makers but has to make money to survive thinks your work is good enough to be worth promoting is a big boost straight out of Uni.
Finally, what is coming next for you, are you carrying on with the dewdrop jewellery, or do you have a new series lined up?
I will be continuing with the Dewdrop series I still have a lot of ideas for new work using the nylon strands and variations on the pieces produced so far. I have recently set up an online store and in the coming months work from my Dewdrop collection will be part of the winter showcase at Atelier Jewellers on the Isle of Wight and a selection will be for sale through Designers Eclectic in the Craft and Design Centre.
If you want to read an extra extended version of the interview with Craig it’s going to be in issue 3 of Ampersand magazine, I shall be posting when that next issue is out.
I found talking to Craig really interesting and it was fantastic to get to learn a little bit about his methods and more about the way he works, I think there are some really exciting things to come from him and I expect to see his jewellery all over the fashion magazines and specialist bespoke stores. He’s already been in a Vogue advertorial so expect very big things!
It was a privilege talking to him, he has plenty of places you can check him out further.
website: www.craigmacauley.co.uk
email: craig.macauley@yahoo.co.uk
twitter: @CraigMacauley
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