The designs for Katie Watson’s work start with a walk through woodlands, along the coast and across mountains, mainly around her hometown of North Berwick and The Isle of Arran in Scotland. On these adventures she draws and studies anything that captures her attention in detail, and creates a design enriched by her imagination. Using silver as a canvas, Katie translates the drawings onto the metal surface using chasing and repoussé and produces wonderlands of nature in unique pieces of jewellery and silverware. Her work transports you on a journey outdoors, immersed in nature and surrounded by wildlife. She brings scenes to life by conveying a sense of movement within each piece, from the interweaving flow of water ripples, wild grasses swaying in the wind and birds soaring high. We are delighted to welcome Katie back to Elements this year and take you behind-the-scenes for an in-depth look into her work and process of making.

Describe your journey to becoming a maker.

Having a keen passion for painting from a young age, I wanted to pursue this creative energy though a craft that would be a bridge between both art and design. Silver would be my canvas to draw my designs onto, it allows me to be expressive almost like painting onto the metals surface and I’m able to pour my passion for nature into my work.

I graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in Jewellery and Silversmithing in 2018 and continued making from a studio in Edinburgh. From this I felt the need to learn more and grow and so resided in Bishopsland Educational Trust where I carried on making and learning.

Making of the Fish Platter

What inspires your material choice?

I like the idea of taking something quite rigid and hard and moving the metal in an expressive way. Silver is a lovely material to work with and by chasing various lines, pattens and textures in the metals surface it often catches the light beautifully, in a shimmering effect.

Using a medium such as silver, gives my work a quality to it as I’m able to create pieces that can be admired and cherished for more than a lifetime. As well as capturing certain moments, scenes and elements from within nature, and almost freezing it in time.

What draws you to the technique of chasing and repoussé?

I knew from the moment I learnt chasing and repoussé, this would be the technique that would stick with me.

It allows me to use silver as a canvas where I translate my drawings and communicate this passion for nature. I like to bring scenes to life by conveying a sense of movement from within a piece, from the interweaving flow of water ripples, wild grasses swaying in the wind and birds soaring high. I’m able to create the detail desired with chasing and apply decoration to a piece which tells a story.

The process of chasing itself is also soothing, it transports me away for that time, as I’m guiding the steel tool over the metals surface in a sort of movement that’s tranquil as well as the repetition of the light tapping from the hammer blows on the chasing tool.

Describe your process of creating a new piece.

My work usually starts with a walk through the woodlands, along the coast of even across mountains. From these walks I draw and study anything that captures my attention, and create designs enhanced by my imagination.

With my inspiration, I look to see what will compliment this with certain shapes, looking at various curves or surface areas. As well as this for my jewellery I like to take elements from a larger picture either from a silverware item or drawing and narrow this down whether it be a type of leaf, animal, pattern or texture.

Making of the Circle of Life Dish

What do you draw inspiration from in nature?

Anything I find of interest whilst out walking, I like to have various ideas in my head around nature and kind of create my own nature wonderland.

From drawings around nature, I will study every element in detail, for example a tree, I’ll look at the different textures, leaves and shapes and even look at the curve of the tree to inform a certain shape for my silverware, or the curve of a leaf to inform an earring design.

I want the viewer to feel immersed in nature when looking at my work, I try to capture this incredible feeling I get from being outdoors, bringing happiness to the viewer but also bringing the outdoors inside a persons living environment.

I enjoy covering a piece with that chosen theme, whether it be a woodland theme, I’ll try surround that piece in anything you’d find in woodlands. For my ‘Woodland Dish’ design I included a: Tree, Squirrel, birds, various plants, leaves, grasses, seed heads, pinecone, sycamore seeds, mushrooms, bluebells.

I will sometimes zoom in on various textures or patterns or focus on a specific element like a plant and base a piece around this.

Making of the Circle of Life Dish

To learn more about Katie Watson and her work, you can find her at @katiewatsondesigns on Instagram and katiewatsondesigns.com. Katie is one of fifty makers from across the UK taking part in this years’ digital Elements: A Festival of Jewellery, Silver and Gold.

Images and video courtesy of Katie Watson