Harriet Walford MSDC

Harriet works in a variety of metals to make playful, sculptural and engaging pieces to wear or to hold. She uses silver and gold, alongside ‘base metals’ such as copper, brass, bronze and gilding metal as well as high grade stainless steel balls (designed for body contact) which can be incorporated in the work. Materials are carefully selected in every piece for their individual qualities, colour, tarnish or oxidising potential.

She uses a crochet hook to create chains or ropes from silver wire, differently stitched for a tight or an open knitted appearance and they are flexible, long lasting and comfortable to wear. Other chains are made with linked, forged or cast elements, original in design and smoothly articulating with a catch that may hard to find! She gives close attention to the catches and closures, each designed to compliment the bracelet or necklace, to be secure and to blend harmoniously into the piece. They also form an ongoing dialogue between the maker and the new owner each time the jewellery is put on or taken off.

Harriet develops new ideas by working directly with the metal and by drawing, She is inspired by exhibitions and the natural world, she finds that travel can energise her ideas, but time away from the workshop renders her moody and irritable!

There is usually a ball or round element in her metal work, the captive balls roll perfectly smoothly between finger and thumb, the sensation is soothing and a little saucy.

She gets pleasure from seeing a smile spread over the face of a potential client as they handle the work, striving to make new enticing pieces which are original and different.

She has made clothes and furniture, and finds the scale of her making always relates to the human body, whether for decoration, in medical examining, cheering or healing, dressing or making. She still works a little in her first career as a doctor in general practice.

• 1993-4 Foundation Studies in Art and Design- West Surrey College of Art and Design
• 1994-7 Three-Dimensional Design in Crafts - Wood, Metal, Ceramics and Plastics - University of Brighton
• 2018-20 MA Metalwork - University of Creative Arts - Farnham
• 1999 - Hampshire and Berkshire Guild of Craftsmen