International Jewellery Designer: Paula BoltonBiographyPaula lives in England in a small rural village in Cheshire. Her father was from Japan and her mother is of Dutch origins. Paula taught herself how to design jewellery after traveling through the Far East and seeing some amazing jewellery designs there. When she got back from her travels, she ordered a shipment to sell in her large gift and antique store that she owned. The jewellery became so popular it completely took over from the gifts that she sold and she soon decided to just sell the jewellery. As well as importing the jewellery, she started to design her own jewellery using the Far East jewellery as her main influence. Now the majority of jewellery she sells is of her own design and hand-crafted in Bali by skilled craftsmen.Design philosophy: principle concernsPaulas principle concerns are that people only see art as art and poetry as poetry, not something that can inspire a 3 dimensional craft such as jewellery.

She also works with many Museum and Heritage sites on subject matter such as Art, Architecture and Wildlife and her jewellery is becoming quite popular with discerning customers throughout the world.

Design philosophy: attitude to designHer attitude towards design is very positive and innovative. She tries to create something almost completely new rather than just improving or changing already existing pieces of jewellery.Design philosophy: themesPaulas theme is mainly turning 2D art into jewellery. She uses old paintings and poetry which seem very flat, 2D and in the case of poetry, non-visual, and turns them into jewellery which is 3D and very visual.She uses Art, Architecture and Wildlife to create a better awareness of it because she believes that people do not appreciate the great artworks and buildings created over the centuries and she tries to make people more aware of Wildlife and what people are doing to the environment to endanger so many species. She also uses Wildlife to make people more appreciative in their natural surroundings.InfluencesBesides Paulas Far East jewellery influence, she has a great passion for Art and History and therefore finds a lot of inspiration in both subjects such as paintings (e.g. her Monet collection and Monets Giverny painting collection), architecture (e.g. Antonio Gaudis entrance to the courtyard of the Casa Mila in Barcelona and Charles Rennie Mackintoshs Willow Tea Rooms windows), Art Nouveau (e.g. her Art Nouveau Dragonfly collection) and for History, Shakespeare (e.g. her Shakespeares Heroines collection).

Another great inspiration to Paula is Margaret Macdonalds gesso panels in the Kelvingrove Museum & Art Gallery.Left: One of Margaret Macdonalds gesso panels

Innovation/contribution to world of Design Paulas jewellery is a very big contribution in the Design world. She does not just follow previous designers themes and subject matter, but makes her own, totally unique style of jewellery. I believe that her designs can open other designers minds to a different way of thinking and we will see another style of design come into fashion.

How did/do they market themselves?

Paula displays and sells her jewellery online on the website http://www.paulabolton.net/index.html. She also sells a few pieces on other online shopping websites such as The Lowry (http://www.thelowry.com/gifts-and-souvenirs/jewellery-and-clothing) where some of her jewellery is also displayed and Murrays gifts (www.murraysgifts.co.uk/murrays/mia/pid/3258452). She has had her jewellery published in Springfair Magazine.

Use of materials Most of Paulas jewellery is made from sterling silver and highlighted with 22 carat gold plate, although she also uses copper with silver detailing and set with turquoise for her Margaret Macdonald gesso inspired jewellery. The semi-precious stones that she uses for her silver and gold jewellery are Amethyst, Garnet, Peridot, Citrine and Iolite. The Pearls that she uses for her Pearl collections are Freshwater Pearls from rivers and lakes in China.

TechniquesTechniques include wire working, gold plating, piercing and soldering. Techniques are kept quite simple due to the fact that the pieces are handcrafted by Bali craftsmen who have learnt their skills from previous generations and most of Paulas designs do not require complicated techniques.

What is the relevance of this work to your practice?

I find how Paula turns art pieces into jewellery very inspiring because I am doing something similar for my theme this year. I am trying to show that you can be inspired by something as 2 dimensional as a painting and create something as 3 dimensional as jewellery while still keeping the artwork and art period recognizable. I love the way she turns paintings into pieces of jewellery and makes it look abstract but at the same time you can recognize the painting, art piece or art period that she was inspired from.I like the way she uses gemstones to create objects and colour making them a part of the 'picture'. She uses them as if they are another medium to create her artwork.

Bibliography

http://www.paulabolton.net/index.htmlhttp://content.yudu.com/Library/A1n2y8/BestofShowforTheJewe/resources/3.htmhttp://www.murraysgifts.co.uk/murrays/mia/pid/3258452http://www.thelowry.com/gifts-and-souvenirs/jewellery-and-clothinghttp://www.ladiesjewellery.co.uk/index.php?cPath=2137&osCsid=b58eaa0c1a616ffa970d500816a0c53a