When my flatmate, quite rightly, announced that the kitchen table of a 3rd floor flat was hardly an appropriate place for blow torches (neither of us are regular creme brulee makers) and borax sticks, I had to look elsewhere for a place to create my jewellery. 

One freezing cold morning my brother and I were inspecting the dilapidated state of some abandoned pigstys when he suddenly suggested I turn one of the stys into a studio ... or rather a stydio!  As I peered into the darkness at several hundred roof tiles stored in the space, crumbling walls and the remains of a dead rat it didn't seem an obvious solution but....

In the process of overhauling the sty I have learnt to plaster, glaze, install chimney liners and discovered just how much paint it is possible to get on your head whilst painting a ceiling. The tiles (and the rat) have been moved, electricity restored, the windows made good and a wonderful woodburning stove installed. Its far from a slick, purpose built studio, it has old conveyor belt on the floor to insulate, the manger serves as a log basket and there are still holes under the door through which leaves occasionally blow but it is a functioning and much loved space where blow torches are fine and I can have all my equipment laid out without having to box it away all the time. And hey, it is literally a pigsty so surely I can make as much mess as I like!?

The Stydio is my space to create beautiful jewellery and grow Zephirine Designs. I am hugely inspired by the countryside around me and aim to produce simple elegant jewellery, often with a botanical element.