Brass Cat Design

Unique, contemporary handmade jewellery designed and created by Denise Gibson. Brass Cat Design is my creative exploration in jewellery. With help from my feline 'assistant', Nero, it is my aim to create beautiful and unique, nature inspired handmade jewellery for you and your loved ones. Starting in my teens, I loved to make jewellery using beads and wire wrapping techniques. Many years later I took it up again and decided to start my own jewellery business. I then discovered silver clay and, together with skills I learnt at art college, I began exploring this new medium and became inspired by its creative possibilities. The name, Brass Cat Design, was inspired by a pair of vintage brass bookends I bought during a month long stay in Germany when I left school. To me, it represents my independence and, of course, my love of cats! Since early 2015, my love and passion for jewellery has become my life and my career, as I work on it full-time from my small home studio. My biggest inspiration comes from nature as seen in my Scottish wildlife pendants, leaves, and fossils. I also enjoy working with sterling silver wire which is shaped, soldered and hammered to create geometric or natural forms. My jewellery is made mostly with silver and copper clay, which is a wonderfully creative medium. Malleable when wet, it can be cut, shaped and textured like clay. When fired, it creates a piece of solid pure silver (99.9%) or copper (99.5%). Rather than using generic bought texture mats or shape cutters, all shapes (excluding circles) are cut and shaped by hand. Textures are created from moulds that I make, or leaves, fabrics, and other found items. I also use tools to draw directly on the clay by hand. These techniques ensure that my jewellery is completely unique and imbued with its own personality.