Ellie Stickland

"Jewellery is my passion in life, I couldn't do anything else"

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved beautiful things. As a teenager, I would lock myself in my room for hours painting, making and creating, and I was experimenting with beads and wire long before I knew designing jewellery could be anything more than a hobby! Today, my design style still draws on many of the influences that inspired me back then: the simple splendour of nature, my love of folk, country and jazz music, and the work of painters Klee, Kandinsky, Hockney and Gonsalves.

I graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2008, then spent the next few years working in the fine jewellery industry, honing my skills in drawing, painting and bespoke design. But I also took on admin roles and temp positions in finance and operations to allow me to keep doing the work I loved. Along the way, I learned that there’s a kind of creativity to be found in keeping a business running, and that if I was brave enough, I could do it for myself.

In 2012, I finally set out to build something entirely my own: a world of colourful stones and trusted craftspeople, where I was free to follow my inspiration wherever it led. I describe myself as a jewellery artist, gem lover and all-round creative, but above all I specialise in bespoke design. People come to me because they want a piece of jewellery that reflects them – their memories, their dreams, their quirks; the little things that make up who they are – and I have a knack for knowing how to bring that to life.

When I’m not designing jewellery, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, usually accompanied by my beloved dog Beetroot, but I’m still most likely to be found caught up in creating something new. At any one time, I might be working on a sculpture or painting, researching techniques or writing my first book on the design process, and I’m always fizzing with ideas for the next beautiful thing – perhaps one of them could be yours!