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Meet The Maker - Lucy Stopes-Roe
Posted on 30 Jul 06:00
This week we speak with London Based jewellery designer Lucy Stopes-Roe. She creates life-like miniatures of insects, mammals and sea creatures with a recent development of prehistoric Dinosaurs! Her creations are brought to life through the model making process which she often shares on her social media channels and is well worth a look!
Who inspires you the most?
My inspiration comes partly from what I see in nature but perhaps more so from historic art, design and illustration. I have a real soft spot for the Romantic Period, and the Pre-Raphaelites. I love late 19th and early 20th century illustration as well and I think my work has a quite an illustrative quality - I always I want to create magic and tell stories with my pieces. I studied History of Art as an undergraduate degree, but I’ve had no formal training as a jeweller, so I think I’ve always approached my jewellery design from an angle of making my art wearable, and figuring out how to do that along the way!
What was the inspiration for the jewellery in the exhibition?
I chose a selection that shows a range of different things, including pieces from each of my 4 main themed collections, namely - Cottage Garden, Ocean Treasures, In the Jungle, and Woodland.
If you weren’t a jeweller what would you choose as a career?
Children’s book author and illustrator. Also maybe a portrait artist and fine art sculptor. Also a potter!
Please can you tell us a bit about your creative process?
I look at art and jewellery constantly to find inspiration, once I’ve got an idea in my head I might sketch it out, or go straight to clay! All my designs are sculpted by hand in polymer clay. For pieces that are structurally a bit complicated I might create a wire armature first to build on to. Sculpting a new design usually takes a few days - could be anything from 5 and 20 hours work!
What are you listening to?
I listen to audio books constantly! I recently finished The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, it’s really good, but I didn’t expect the ending to be so sad… Also super recommend the Shardlake Series by CJ Sansom.
Which is your favourite piece?
Probably my most sentimental piece, and the one I am most fond of is the robin heart design, which I made to wear for my wedding.
Finally, for fun, what would be your dream piece to make or person to make for?
It would be a mesmerising collar style necklace, with tiny filigree details, and each section would be a unique miniature scene, representing a Midsummer Nights Dream, with whole lot of opals, diamonds, mixed sapphires and moonstones. I’m not sure who would wear it, but it would probably reside in the V&A.
Featuring the talented works of: Catherine Hills, Clio Saskia, Issi Bulloch, Issy White, Lucy Stopes-Roe, Maria Manola and Victoria Walker.
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