Stacey Bentley: jewellery designer/maker

Distinctive enamel jeweller with an urban edge.

About Stacey

Stacey Bentley graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2008 with a 1st class honours degree in Jewellery and Silversmithing. It was here that she first developed a passion for enamelling as part of the jewellery making process, inspiring her to embark upon an MA in jewellery, also at ECA.

A visit to the Enamel Research Centre at the University of the West of England introduced Stacey to liquid enamel, which allowed her to experiment with more painterly, contemporary effects. Since then she has continuously challenged and questioned the processes and techniques of enamel, creating her own visual aesthetic.

Stacey’s vision

Through material experimentation, Stacey’s work explores the new possibilities that industrial liquid enamel can bring to contemporary jewellery. Her aim is to challenge the pre-conceived ideas attached to enamel by questioning technique, process and aesthetic.

Stacey’s elegant yet gritty structural work is informed and inspired by the industrial city. When creating new designs, she paints patterns and structures observed on her journeys through urban scenes onto small scale panels using industrial liquid enamel. She then transforms these images into tactile, wearable, sculptural forms that reflect her ideas of the city.

Stacey comments; ‘I enjoy experimenting with the roughness of the enamel which I combine with smooth silver wire. The strength of the silver opposes yet compliments the fragility of the enamel coated binding wire.’

In future research, Stacey would like to investigate the rusting process of binding wire and the effects it would have on fused vitreous enamel as she finds this uncontrollable element fascinating.