Steve Wager’s “smithing” days began in a shed in East London. From there he stepped up to the rather more refined environment of crown jewellers Aspreys (later to become Asprey-Garrards) in London’s Bond Street, where he served a five year apprenticeship, He came out of his time and was given the prestigious honour of being made a Freeman of the City of London, He worked for Aspreys for over 25 years whereby he mastered all the skills of the “across the board” Gold/Silver smith/Jeweller.

He offers an individual client service, designing and making objet d’art and bespoke artefacts, in fact anything that you desire in gold and/or silver can be made for commissions, for both corporate and private clients, He works with both large and small items. These commissions include silver and gold tiaras with accompanying jewellery.

He loves his work and, whether he is mustering every bit of his expertise to transform the more elaborate gold/silverware or crafting individual and absolutely special wedding rings into the imaginings of his customers into reality his fondness for his skill never falters. His creations are of perfect exclusivity, they are designed and made to the highest quality.

His ethos and his vision are simple: the highest level of technical expertise melded with flexibility and creativity. His creations are always unique, and always a matter of personal pride. Whatever can be imagined can be made, He is inspired by style and elegance with a visualisation that “Beauty Is Always Unique”.

REBECCA JOSELYN studied metalwork and jewellery design at Sheffield Hallam University, it was here where she developed her love for silversmithing, she found working on larger pieces much more challenging and in a sense more rewarding than working on small-scale jewellery. Rebecca entered her work into the craftsmanship and design awards which is run by the Goldsmiths craft and design council, she won the gold award for small workers. She used to opportunity at persistence works to develop her ideas and produce a body of work to be marketed at different shows around the country, the first show she exhibited at was the British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate it was here where she won the newcomer award which was sponsored by the craft and design magazine.

Whilst on the starter studio she also worked on different commissions including one for Sheffield assay offices privet collection, and showed her work at many selected exhibitions around the country. Towards the end of her time on the starter studio she received the crafts council development award, which helped her buy equipment and tools to set up her own workshop September 2009 she received the Goldsmiths fair graduate stand and bursary.

Rebecca explores the function of the objects she is creating. She is interested in how people interact and handle different objects. Drawing her inspiration from our lifestyles of convenience and throwaway, she looks at the items we take granted and discard from day to day. Her Tableware questions how using different Materials can change our views on objects and there acceptance within society.

PADGHAM & PUTLAND LTD first came into being in July 1984 when Carl Padgham and Andrew Putland formed a partnership and opened a workshop in Aylesford, Kent England.  Both partners had been educated in silversmithing and design at Medway College of Design now Kent Institute of Art and Design.
 
The partnership worked from Aylesford for the next six years.  During this period a working relationship was formed with Nicola Bulgari, of Bvlgari International Jewellers, producing the Olympia range of silverware with the tea/coffee set leading the collection.
Projects for trade companies produce a great deal of work for many destinations, chiefly for the Middle East, including trophies, models, and occasions such as weddings.  On the domestic side many commissions come in from the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, of which both partners became Freeman of the Company and Freemen of the City of London.
 
In 1990 PADGHAM & PUTLAND LTD moved to their current location of Forge Hill, Pluckley into a purpose built workshop in a traditional style of building.  The small rural village of Pluckley is famous for “ghosts” and the author H.E. Bates books and television adaptations of “The Darling Buds of May.”
   
From the new workshop the 1990’s proved to be a busy time for mainly trade work.  On the individual commission side there was the Lichfield Cathedral flagon, which was part of a collection organised by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.  Other church work included a processional crucifix, altar candlesticks, reproduction of two Omar Ramsden candlesticks for Bromfield Church, Whitstable, Kent.

PADGHAM & PUTLAND LTD were delighted to be asked to design and produce a pair of Loving Cups from the Worshipful Company of Butchers to commemorate Her Majesty the Queen Mother’s 90th Birthday.  One of the more unusual pieces of work the partners became involved with was to provide labour on a C.J. Vander project, working under one of their earlier years’ tutor Norman Bassant, who is one of the best silversmiths Britain has produced.  It consisted of constructing a silver conference table approximately 20 metres long and 2 metres wide for a Middle East government department and it looked like a chequer board with leather pads along the sides.

Stuart’s artistic training has been rich and diverse, following the path of both fine art and the decorative Arts. Whilst studying for a fine art foundation course, he was introduced to the world of silversmithing and jewellery making, craftsmanship and beauty, by a local, leading British silversmith, Michael Bolton. An informal apprenticeship taught him techniques of the past, to combine with design ideas, for the future.

After graduating from Bretton Hall University College in 1997, with a first class honours degree in fine art (painting), Stuart moved to London, setting up a workshop, enabling him to slowly start making up his own collection, whilst working as a freelance maker for other jewellers. After 8 years he then moved down to West Sussex. Setting up his studio, from were he now works, creating items of jewellery and silverware, to adorn the body, heart and mind.

“Many pieces born from an idea quickly scrawled on a piece of paper, sometimes from an image held in my minds eye, then worked out cold at the workbench, where it takes on a life of it’s own. Creating pieces in silver is very satisfying and rewarding, because it is such a forgiving material. It can be shaped, worked, and pushed as far as you are willing to take it! The surface retains all evidence of the creative act, and becomes a document of it’s own history. When you see a piece years after you have made it, it becomes even better! Through wearing, a piece gets knocked, marked, and aged, adding to its beauty, its history.Inspiration and ideas comes from many places, nature, man-made objects, architecture, wind worn surfaces, waiting for delayed trains and looking up at the station ceilings; but mostly they come from the shear joy that is the creative act.”

In 2007 Stuart was accepted into the Sussex Guild of Craftsman, this has enabled him to widen his exhibitions in the south of England. In 2010 he took part in the fast growing 'British Silver Week', opening his work to a national, and international audience, when the event is taken to 'Inhorgenta', Munich in February 2011.

Jewellery
  Rebecca combines and exploits the qualities of slate with silver in her jewellery. She has been greatly influenced by the flat reclaimed marsh land landscape of the fens and the surrounding areas where she was bought up. She has combined this aesthetic with the slate found near to where she studied in Liverpool and has created a range of simple yet elegant jewellery. These items are created by cutting and forming the slate to enable fusion between the slate and silver.

  Tableware
Rebecca’s tableware explores the importance of dining around the table as a family or social event. With this in mind she has created a range of tableware that evokes discussion and initiates interaction between the users through the sculptural form and manner in which it is used. The pieces are created using spinning and both hot and cold forging.

Rupert Todd has always been passionately interested in creating beautiful forms in three dimensions. He has long taken inspiration of the natural world, in all its forms; from the unpredictable paths of subatomic particles, and the grand motion of the ever expanding universe, to the shimmering play of light on a rain washed pebble.

Rupert began silversmithing at the age of 15, when he started a night school course at Chesterfield College, and immediately found the joy of working with metal, particularly silver. After completing his foundation studies at Chesterfield, he went on to develop his making and design skills at Loughborough University, finding greatest satisfaction in creating more functional pieces; combining use and beauty. Later, at Bishopsland, he refined his skills to design and produce silverware, and is now working to create ranges of aesthetically pleasing pieces, that work.

Rupert’s current ranges are the Devices, and the Trigonal series’. The Devices pieces take their inspiration form natural phenomena; optics, balance, and principles of leverage. They develop these concepts creatively into sculptural, functional forms, such as the Cantilever Vase, and Optics Champagne Flutes. The Trigonal series takes its joy from the craft of making, and experimenting with traditionally unused or unavailable materials and techniques. The Trigonal Flame Dishes, for example, have base and walls structurally joined with fused 9ct gold, using an inert gas shielded arc process; to my knowledge, unused in such a way before.

Rupert strives for his work to be interestingly beautiful, often playing with concepts, whilst retaining the quality and functionality of traditional British silversmithing.

Elizabeth Peers graduated from London Metropolitan University in 2008 with a BA(Hons) Silversmithing and Jewellery. She then completed a year at Bishopsland, a specialist-training workshop in rural South Oxfordshire, where she gained from master classes, tutorial time and the community. Elizabeth is a creative, passionate artist who is dedicated to her vocation as a silversmith.

Elizabeth has just spent a year working in Holland, amongst the Dutch silversmiths in Schoonhoven. Here she had time to develop her skills as a maker, whilst producing work for sale and exhibition internationally and focusing on her philosophy as an artist in silver.

The human form, character and persona are what she seeks to express in the curves, bulges, folds and undulations of her pieces. At present Elizabeths work is strongly influenced by scaring and facial disfiguration. She wants to translate what people can perceive as ‘unnatural or repulsive’ into something beautiful, how it should be perceived.

Elizabeth believes silverware should be held and caressed, just as those with misfortune should be loved and admired. The owner of a piece of mine should imbue a little of themselves within that piece and treasure it.

Frances Julie Whitelaw’s background is in traditional jewellery and Silversmithing techniques learnt when she was a student at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design. After studying she moved to England and took up a part time post teaching jewellery at an Art College. Frances continued to develop her own practice whilst teaching and worked in this way for over 25 years. Although she now devotes more time to her own work she still teaches freelance in her studio. Create Jewellery Studio was set up to continue teaching both on and off site and make use of her accumulated experience in this area. Frances has shown her jewellery and silversmithing widely and takes part in regular selling and exhibition events throughout Britain and abroad.

The selection of work that is being exhibited in Urban Armour has been put together to create a loose theme on the use of the line. Frances enjoys working with wire and forging flowing lines, which can be used to create piece which are not always solid but are non the less bowls or containers. Silver is a wonderful material to work with; it is malleable and can be formed in such a huge variety of ways, which allows for highly sculptural forms. The surface of silver can be finished to the traditional reflective polish, it can be textured, hammered, or oxidised for a dramatic black contrast.