This week we reached out to Solo trader Róisín from Wild Little Rose to ask her all about her jewellery designs. You can find her jewellery in our pop-up shop until the end of March.
What’s the story behind your brand?
I’ve always loved jewellery and started making in 2018, after trying a couple of evening classes in London’s Hatton Garden. I instantly became transfixed by the process of creating jewellery from scratch- the processes involved seemed magical somehow! I knew pretty soon after that, I wanted to make this craft into a business of my own. My making started shortly after I’d had my first little boy and having my own business gives me flexibility which is really valuable; so that’s my main motivation for making it a success.
In terms of my style, I started by making stacking rings, simple hand stamped pendants and beaded pieces. After experimenting with different techniques I settled upon traditional silversmithing techniques as my main focus, but very much with modern design at the heart of my process. My signature style is modern jewellery, full of texture, that can be worn every day.
What are your favourite materials to work with?
I use recycled sterling silver as the basis for most of my work. Sustainability is really important to me and I also make in small batches, mostly to order. In terms of other materials I actually really love mixing metals, so I use accents of gold- with silver- in some pieces. As well as texture, the other key element to my style is colour. I incorporate colour in two main ways: enamelling and gemstones. Enamel is made of tiny glass particles and is fused with sterling silver at a very high temperature (in my kiln!) to give a beautiful vibrant layer of colour. I’ve recently started using some ‘stones’ in my work which are repurposed materials called surfite and fordite. Surfite is a byproduct of surfboard production – created as a result of a build up on the resin applied to the boards. Similarly, fordite is a build up of hardened car paints. The colours in these two materials are pretty impressive and it’s a wonderfully sustainable way of working while creating aesthetically interesting designs.
What does your creative process look like?
In terms of designing, I do a mixture of things. Often I’ll do a rough sketch with annotations in my sketch book and then go straight to my bench to assemble the different elements and see how it works practically. Recently I’ve experimented with creating mood boards, filling them with pictures of things which have inspired me on my day to day travels. Sometimes a certain theme will stick out when you look at a mood board and that will inspire a piece or collection. Most recently my collection of photographs from urban environments have inspired me to create geometric pendants enamelled with the dominant colours from the board.
You currently have your jewellery stocked in Solo CraftFair, where else do you sell your work?
I sell through my own website: www.wildlittlerose.co.uk where you can find my collection pieces. I also take commissions- so feel free to contact me through my website or instagram: @wild_littlerose. I also sell regularly at craft fairs across London and Kent. I’ll be at Flea London in Vingear Yard, SE1 on May 29th.
