Rainpebble contemporary style jewellery created and made by Nicola Underwood
My love of creating things started many years ago when I was a little girl, from making mud pies in the garden and sandcastles on the beach, to painting and making pottery in art classes at school. Even now I still love to push my creativity skills. I recently learnt how to crochet, which is now a very addictive pass time!
I enrolled myself on a jewellery silversmith course, after being made redundant and thought that this would be a wonderful opportunity for me to finally learn how to use my love of making things and turning it into wearable art.
Most of my learning has been self-taught, apart from the initial silversmith course. I found the more I played with the metal using forging and fusing techniques, the more I wanted to learn.
I have always had a deep fascination with crystals and this all started after finding a piece of quartz crystal on a beach holiday. It totally mesmerised me. Nature is so amazing being able to create these unique colours and patterns within the stones and not one of the semi-precious stones are the same.
A lot of the gemstones I buy are of different shapes, sizes and textures. I try to incorporate some of these crystals into my designs, and make them into you could say, “unique pieces of wearable art”.
My jewellery designs are of a rustic contemporary style having influences from within the Art Deco, Modernist and Brutalist periods. I love the geometric shapes of the architecture and artwork from these times, and use my own interpretation of these styles to help the way a design will form.
With the unpredictable way that metals can melt under heat and create very random patterns, and together with the different structures, colours and shapes in the gemstones, I like to allow nature to do the talking. I then use this in some of my pieces to enhance the way my designs are developed.
All my jewellery pieces are designed and created by me, by hand, in my Nottinghamshire studio using traditional silver smithing techniques. In my designs I use a range of metals. Predominantly sterling silver, but also copper and bronze.
Rainpebbledesigns is registered at Sheffield Assay Office with its own Sponsors Mark and I’m also a registered member of The Guild of Jewellery Designers.
The Guild of Jewellery Designers logo in the footer.
Jewellery Commissions
Would you love to have a piece of jewellery designed especially for you or your loved one to treasure? Please read more.