Colourful Jewels, Cornish Inspiration & Ring Love With Marsha Drew
Marsha Drew joins us in our Meet The Jeweller interview series to share her story, love for colour and gemstone rings! Being based in Cornwall we love chatting to other Cornish creatives about their small businesses and how our home inspires their designs. We are totally in awe of Marsha's unique designs and her use of bright colours and texture to bring you the most unique and eye-catching designs. Keep reading to find out more about them and how Marsha fell in love with jewellery making...
Hi Marsha! Tell us about the first design you ever made and how jewellery making made you feel
My adventures in jewellery first started, like most jewellers I imagine, with glass beads. The first beaded pieces were simply made with either wire or macrame. Things got serious when I enrolled on the Silversmithing and Jewellery Degree at Truro College in 2008.
One of the first assignments was to make a ‘Modernist Ring’ I didn’t get a great mark for it, but I was so incredibly proud of the very first silver ring I created.
Silver or gold?
Silver, all day every day. It’s so easy to work with, looks fantastic and is such good value for money. It has to be recycled sterling silver of course. Gold is simply too expensive but there are ways to add a splash of gold to designs, such as Keumboo or gold granulation, I use both techniques from time to time.
What’s your favourite part of the jewellery making process?
It has to be practicing and researching new techniques, I love getting to grips with something new and adding it to my list of skills.
"Every day is an inspiration living in Cornwall..."
Your based in Cornwall (like Kernowcraft!) how does your home inspire your creations?
Every day is an inspiration living in Cornwall. I spend a lot of time outside exploring the moors and coast with my beautiful doggie Bramble, we go on so many adventures, ahhh, I love her so much.
When you’re not jewellery making, where can we find you?
When I’m not physically making jewellery there’s the other side of the business, emails, photographing, invoices, updating the website, ordering supplies etc, this part really does take up quite a lot of time, especially the long lonely walk to the post office with orders, in the rain 😅 But seriously, when I’m not doing any of that, I’m pretty much outside most of the time, going on adventures with my beautiful pooch Bramble and tending to my lovely garden.
Favourite gemstone combo?
Anything goes really.
Pendants or rings?
It’s rings for me, love making them.
What’s new?
I’m currently working on a whole new collection where the star of the show is handmade silver chains. I dabbled in a little bit of chain making during the degree and loved the process, it’s almost therapeutic. I’m incorporating molten elements so it will blend together with my existing collection beautifully. New pieces should be ready in Spring 2023, exciting stuff.
Tell us about your experience of showcasing your jewellery designs in galleries in Cornwall and beyond
Over the years I’ve had my jewels in a number of galleries and exhibitions across the country. It’s a fantastic experience to get your name and designs further afield. I currently have 6 galleries showing my work, two of which are in Cornwall. The Whitewater Gallery in Polzeath and The Market House in Marazion. The farthest one away is The Moy Mackay Gallery in Peebles, Scotland, she found me through Instagram, so I must be doing something right on there.
"Rings rings rings! I don’t have a particular favourite design but I just love making them..."
What would be your workshop soundtrack?
Haha, it depends on how my day is going. I almost always have Radio 6 on in the workshop.
We love your photography, any top tips for those wishing to improve?
I used to photograph all my jewellery outside, but because silver is so reflective, you just can’t do it on a sunny day as the silver will mirror the blue sky. I was always waiting for a bright but cloudy day to avoid this from happening. I now photograph everything indoors using a light tent with professional lamps, it simply saves so much time and the results are so much better. My camera is an old Canon 5D with a 24mm macro lens, which helps me get good close up shots.
We are obsessed with your use of colour! What gemstones and colours are you drawn to most right now?
It’s always going to be shades of blue and green, must be something to do with living so close to the coast 😅 These are my most popular colours and luckily my favourites too.
What’s your favourite piece of jewellery you’ve ever made?
Rings Rings Rings! I don’t have a particular favourite design but I just love making them. They’re very personal and possibly the most sentimental type of jewellery there is. Being on the fingers they are visible to the wearer more than any other piece of jewellery.
"I never wear matching earrings by the way..."
You love to feature gemstone slices in your designs, tell us more about why you love using these
I absolutely love these juicy little gems, each one is completely unique and they look so good as a pair of mismatched earrings. I never wear matching earrings by the way.
Do you follow or ignore trends?
Ignore!
Faceted stones or cabochons?
Ummm can I have both please!
We love your use of texture, what are your favourite techniques to use?
I love playing with molten silver. My Rock Pool collection is pretty much all molten silver, it’s awesome to work with once you get the hang of it and every piece of jewellery created this way is unique.
