Brooches with Birds

Guy Royle’s jewellery inhabits a space between the definitions of Art and Craft; mingling influences from both, yet never so far as becoming exclusively one or the other. Brooches are paintings in metal, necklaces are sculptures for the human form, while the tones, shades and textures of raw materials are his palette. This combination of elements brings a timeless and natural quality to his work. What is more, Guy’s jewellery is graceful for its functionality; whatever beauty stems from his work, has derived, and is inseparable from its intent to be worn.

Using the simplest of tools and methods, he works mainly with sheet silver, which is cut, bent, beaten and formed. This metal work compliments his use of natural pebbles and semi-precious stones, which are ground, shaped and drilled into beads.

Since the nineteen-eighties Guy has made a name as a jeweller, however, his varied practice includes printing, painting and weaving. Except for his time at Morley College of Art, Guy is largely self-taught. Perhaps more valuable than any formal education, 25 years as an assistant to the artist Breon O’Casey’s has proved of deeper and more longstanding influence.