March Featured Maker
Jewellery Designer | Cathy McCarthy
Cathy McCarthy is a contemporary jewellery designer and maker based in Southampton. She loves working with Sterling silver and incorporates 18 carat yellow gold for added contrast. She is passionate about creating quality jewellery, which can be worn every day and loved forever.
Cathy’s designs are inspired by her interactions with nature and a desire to make the ordinary extra ordinary. Her handmade, narrative pieces combine silhouette shapes with intricate detail and gorgeous surface textures.
Cathy studied 3 dimensional design at Portsmouth College of Art and Design. While living in Edinburgh, she returned to education studying Jewellery making and Silversmithing and won the Stephen Betts Jewellery Award. Cathy worked for a number of years at The Edinburgh Assay Office, where she experienced many aspects of working in the jewellery trade.
Cathy set up her first full time jewellery business after a move to Brisbane and since returning to the UK she has re-established her business and is enjoying finding new inspiration.
Cathy enjoys the hands-on nature of jewellery making and like most jewellers she has a studio full of tools. If asked to choose which items she could not do without, it would be her multi angle mitre jig cutter and of course the work bench her dad made for her.
Cathy shares her passion for jewellery making running classes and workshop.
Cathy’s work is included in the recently published book “Narrative Jewelry: Tales from the toolbox” by Mark Fenn, 2017
She is a member of the Association for Contemporary Jewellery (ACJ) and also the ACJ Wessex branch, where she is a committee member.
Cathy’s designs are inspired by her interactions with nature and a desire to make the ordinary extra ordinary. Her handmade, narrative pieces combine silhouette shapes with intricate detail and gorgeous surface textures.
Cathy studied 3 dimensional design at Portsmouth College of Art and Design. While living in Edinburgh, she returned to education studying Jewellery making and Silversmithing and won the Stephen Betts Jewellery Award. Cathy worked for a number of years at The Edinburgh Assay Office, where she experienced many aspects of working in the jewellery trade.
Cathy set up her first full time jewellery business after a move to Brisbane and since returning to the UK she has re-established her business and is enjoying finding new inspiration.
Cathy enjoys the hands-on nature of jewellery making and like most jewellers she has a studio full of tools. If asked to choose which items she could not do without, it would be her multi angle mitre jig cutter and of course the work bench her dad made for her.
Cathy shares her passion for jewellery making running classes and workshop.
Cathy’s work is included in the recently published book “Narrative Jewelry: Tales from the toolbox” by Mark Fenn, 2017
She is a member of the Association for Contemporary Jewellery (ACJ) and also the ACJ Wessex branch, where she is a committee member.
