Glasgow based jewelleer Georgia Wiseman first caught my eye with her sleek contemporary designs. A strong use of geometric shape and a good flash of colour is enough to have me hooked so naturally I had to sit down (read: at the computer – with wine) and pick her brains about her collections and find a bit more about Wiseman.
Tell me a little a bit about your background:
I’m originally from Leicestershire and moved to Glasgow in 2000 to study
at Glasgow School of Art where I graduated with a first in 2003. I
moved to London straight after and started studying for my masters at
the Royal College. After a while I decided it
wasn’t for me and decided to leave the course, the head of which said it
was going to be one of my biggest mistakes!! That was like a red rag
to a bull and I’ve constantly worked hard in the craft and fashion
industries to keep pushing myself and my jewellery
forward and have built up a loyal client following. The last two years
I’ve taken time out to start a family and have just had my second baby.
It’s been a great period of time for me to spend re evaluating what I
want to get from my work and where I want to
be. I’ve returned to the scene refreshed and fully charged with a fab
new ecommerce website, branding and I know exactly where I want the
jewellery brand to be heading, it’s exciting times!
What inspired you to start making jewellery:
I was studying on the art & design foundation course at De Montfort
University in Leicester and really had no idea what creative route I was
going to take as I loved everything, painting, drawing, designing &
making. When it came to crunch time we looked at
the work I’d created over the time and it was pretty much all related to
the body and metal was a favourite material, i loved the process of
taking it through all the stages from raw wire, sheet or grains and
turning it into a finished shining beautiful object
– jewellery and silversmithing it was! Packed my bags and that was me
heading up to Glasgow before I could change my mind.
How would you define your design aesthetic:
Geometric, sophisticated, sharp, luxurious
Who and what are your biggest influences and why:
Hmm obviously I have to say my partner Tommy (boring I know) but we
drive each other forward, we’re both self-employed so we understand why
each of us has to work late nights sometimes, weekends etc and our
brains never really switch off and we work through
each others obstacles, drive and believe in each other. Being
self-employed is all encompassing, you get told it shouldn’t be when you
go on courses and lectures and you shouldn’t let it happened but I find
that tends to come from someone who is employed and
has a salary and paid holidays.
Would you be able to talk me through the design process:
I work in a mixture of ways, I have initial ideas and sketch things out
which is always just the tiniest part of it as then I head to the
jewellery bench to start working things out, this generally leads me in a
different direction to where I thought I’d be
and that’s the beauty as that’s when the most successful designs come
though. It’s not until i get the metal in front of me that I can really
start to build things, I build, create, construct. The collection then
flows off from each piece..
Do you tend to follow trends or work to your own formula:
At the moment I have a very stylised design aesthetic for which I have
become known for, but I’m gradually moving away from this and slowly but
surely. (Although I am addicted to making intricate structures)
perhaps the materials I chose will change even more
over the next wee while! I like to incorporate trends into my designs
though and my new collections feature optical patterns influenced by
Prada’s creations and rich jewel colours that we’ve been seeing on the
catwalks.
Do you have any favourite piece that you’ve designed over the years:
I loved the Platinum and diamond ring that I made, it was a beauty 30
diamonds set all the way round the outside of the openwork structure and
an award winner, but I’m completely in love with my new 3D pendants in
the Geo Collection, I’ll be releasing new shapes
each season, studded with gorgeous coloured crystals. They’re my hot
tip!
1: Geo Chain Tribe Pendant – £155 2: Dark Star Venus Earrings – £120 3: Dark Star Delta Bracelet – £90
These are some of my favourite pieces from Wiseman’s collection. The sightlier edgier Dark Star collection of hers is a firm favourite. For me it feels like a natural progression of my love of shape but still keeping a flash of colour with the swarovski crystals. Her iconic geo collection is gorgeous and the tribe pendant is simple, elegant and easy to wear.
You can buy yourself some of Georgia’s designs directly via her website. Def ideal if looking for something a bit more special for Christmas.