Carlo Verda
Bridlington, UK
Fun, passion and experience 
For me craftsmanship is a blending of skill, ideas and materials and
the work that you see on these pages is the result of 30 years of
this blending. But that’s jumping the gun a bit, so how did I end up
being a craftsman! I’ve heard other people talk about their
inspiration, that light bulb moment, the door that just unexpectedly
opens in front of them.
For me this was when I was eighteen, the college prospectus fallen
open at the jewellery and silversmith page. By the time I’d read the
course prospectus and visited the department I was utterly convinced,
“that’s what I’m going to be”, and I was right! That light bulb still
burns brightly for me.
I don’t think I’d ever thought about jewellery, at all, in any
context up until that moment. Jewellery design and silversmithing
seemed to occupy a much more comfortable space between Art, which I
enjoyed but could never really pin down, and technical drawing which
I was good at, but found it just to tight and organised, which is
just not me! Jewellery now allows me to draw evenly from both
disciplines, and of course allows me to use lots of tools.
I’ve never been one to produce seasonal ranges much preferring my
designs to evolve within their own time frame, this has had the
added benefit of allowing customers to build up collections or, even
after a few years, to be able to commission a new pieces knowing
that the same technical skills and design language is being used.
During one of the summer break at university in London I worked as
an archaeologist at a dig in the east end of London, we went from
car park down to flint tools in just a few week, this rapid plunge
though time, shapes, textures and materials have provided me with
the visual themes that I use in my work to this day.
It has taken 30 years to accumulate and then to distil the visual
and technical skills needed to be able to create works which almost
seem to form themselves on the workbench in front of me.
Texture and a clean lines, precious and non precious materials I’ve
always enjoyed the juxtaposition of contradictory ideas and themes,
exploring the dividing line between them has created many
interesting new designs. Now, having lived by the sea and walked its
shore line for the last 10 years, fossils, glacial deposits,
remnants of ww2 shore defences as well as the more contemporary
defences against the new enemy “coastal erosion” all present new
ideas and materials with which to explore these dividing lines.
…
Passion is contagious! Show us your passion, Show us your work!
Submit your work to feature in the Orchid Online Jewelry Exhibition
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