I am Maria Whetman (formerly Maria Morris) based in West Devon in the Tamar Valley where I have a small workshop and have been working as a jeweller, designer, maker and fully qualified teacher in schools and colleges since I graduated with a BA.hons in Jewellery design from Central Saint Martins School of Art & Design in 1992. In 1994 I fully qualified as an art teacher and have been teaching continuously at schools, colleges, private institutions and clubs ever since. Currently I am a proportional lecturer at the Plymouth College of Art & Design in Devon and occasionally at the Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery.
Having always admired the designs and colours of many printed steel packaging products (biscuit tins, tea caddy's, olive oil cans, etc) I find that when pressed into 'cabochon' forms and combined with patterned silver, a range of unique, fun and 'illustrative' jewellery could be produced. Some of the 'tin' jewellery is kept flat, collaged and layered. From time to time there are also elements of found-object assemblage in some of the works.
Bangles. Silver, suede, tin, faux diamond.
The printed steel packaging product is what we usually refer to as 'tin' but is no longer really so, as lead has not been used in the making of the material for many decades. Only a fragment is ever used in my designs and I try to select an area of the design which not only looks great as a miniature composition of text, colour and pattern, but is unrecognisable from its original form. Each piece of jewellery is slightly different from the next.
The methods I use are traditional silversmithing and jewellery techniques, sitting alongside mixed-media and non-traditional approaches.
Other techniques I use in my work are Repousse & Chasing (sculpting, forming and indenting metal with hammer and punches), Etching, Enamel, Stone Setting (rub-overs and claw settings), roller-printing. I love narrative in work and using fragments of found materials (often from the beaches in my area). Sometimes I incorporate polymer clays and PMC (precious metal clay - check it out at the MCSJ, see the link). Metals are sawn out with jewellery piercing saws and assembled through Silver-Soldering or Cold-Connections.
All my ideas originate in sketchbooks where I collate my interests, some of which go back 19 years - architectural details, organic details, patterns, papers, fabrics, landscapes, packaging, objects, photographs, postcards, sketches from life....it all goes into the creative cooking pot, and comes out as jewellery and small works eventually!
At the moment I'm concentrating on making simple, fun pieces inspired by the materials. I'm also enjoying the warm colours of coppers, steel, plated metals, and the scuffs and scratches of vintage materials and my tool marks. In these hard financial times, I'm also trying with my new non-silver work, to appeal to those people who like buying handmade, art jewellery but have to keep a strict eye on their purses...I'm one of those people.
I'm a proud member of international web-based jewellery group "EtsyMetal". www.etsymetal.blogspot.com
