Our Artists

Description

Charmian Harris was born in Bath, Somerset in 1953 and spent much of her early childhood in Nigeria, returning to England aged 9 when her family settled in Cambridge. She trained initially in ceramics at the Cambridge School of Art, later specialising in ceramics at the West Surrey Scool of Art, Farnham under Henry Hammond and Paul Barron. During this period Charmian took part in Jewellery classes with jaqueline Mina. After leaving Farnham she went to work in Devon with Clive Bowen at Shebbear Pottery where she helped build his large woodfired kiln and where she met her future husband Nick Chapman who also came to work there.

With two small children to look after Charmian's ceramic production declined and gradually her interest in metal work took hold, using techniques that are largely self-taught, always simple, giving importance to design, colour and texture of the materials.

Charmian's work is available through a number of galleries and has attended many exhibitions including Chelsea Crafts Fair, Goldsmiths' Fair and Art in Action. Her main infulences with her work are Early Egyptian, Roman, Greek Jewellery, Pre-Columbian gold and Designer Breon O' Casey.

The teqhniques she uses, include different carats and colours of gold, silver and semi-precious stones. She works using hand tools and very simple equipment. Each peice is individually made, fusing metal before using it giving texture and softness. Charmian uses charcoal blocks to cast shanks of rings to make solid gold and silver beads components to the necklaces she makes.

Decoration is cut out of metal sheets with a peircing saw and soldered onto the background, which is sometimes oxidised for contrast. When necessary she cuts the stones herself to her own designs and shapes using a diamond saw and carborundum wheels. Her stones come from a variety of sources from all over the world and she often travels to choose and collect them herself.