Goldsmiths Craft and Design Award Winner

I’m still a bit lost for words that I’m writing this, if I’m honest. Last night, I was awarded Silver in the 2D Silversmiths category at the Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Awards, and also the London Assay Office Award.

The Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council has been championing craftsmanship for over a century, which makes being recognised by them feel not only incredibly special, but also slightly surreal. Kind of like being told your homework is excellent by someone who has been teaching for 100 years!

The winning design was in the Silversmiths category and was a hand-painted silver underplate called Cycle of Nourishment.

The plate is designed as a playful spiral board game, a slightly mischievous invitation to literally ‘play with your food’, which was the design brief. It’s framed with engraved vegetables around the edge, and in the centre, a collection of worms help you progress towards the middle of the board.

The piece is a celebration of cycles - nourishment, decay, renewal - the magic of things breaking down so something else can grow. Composting is one of those everyday processes that’s both completely ordinary and quietly miraculous. You put scraps in a box and, with enough time and a bit of help from the smallest workers imaginable, they transform into something rich and life-giving.

The evening itself was a real mixture of emotions. Pride, disbelief, gratitude, a faint sense of should I be here?, and that odd feeling you get when you’re surrounded by incredibly talented makers and suddenly become acutely aware that you are just one human with a dusty apron and a habit of talking to your workshop cats at the bench.

But it was wonderful. The atmosphere was celebratory and warm, and it felt genuinely meaningful to be in a room full of people who care about skill and making, people who understand the hours that go into a piece, the tiny decisions no one sees, the trial and error, the devotion to doing things properly.

This is what craft looks like. And it deserves to be celebrated.

It was also absolutely lovely to see my old college tutor, Brian Hill, who somehow still recognised me after graduating approximately 100 years ago!

I went to university straight from my A-levels at 18, and I remember feeling a bit lost in that first year. Many of the other students had already done an Art Foundation or an HND in jewellery. They seemed confident and capable, like they knew what they were doing, while I was quietly panicking and trying not to reveal that I didn’t know which end of life I was holding.

Brian was one of the people who helped me find my footing. He was genuinely kind, gently supportive. He believed in his students, and I think that kind of encouragement stays with you forever.

I’m incredibly grateful to the judges, the organisers, and everyone involved in keeping these awards going. Recognition like this matters, not just because it’s an honour, but because it reinforces that craftsmanship still has value in a world that often prioritises speed and convenience over time, skill and care.

And I’m grateful too to everyone who continues to support craft and making, whether you’re a fellow maker, a customer, someone who shares a post, leaves a comment, visits a show, or tells a friend. It all matters more than you might realise. So, thank you.

And today… it’s back to the bench.