Deborah's jewel personality

By Rosalind Gibb

Last updated 10:00, Friday, 08 August 2008

Deborah Hewertson-Tisdall’s life is dominated by colour. At her home there is no grey or black to be seen – indoors, in her garden, workshop, or even on her person.

Deborah with one of her creations

Slideshow: more photos

From the intricately-designed peacock brooch made from hundreds of glistening beads, to the necklace created using Japanese kumihimo braiding, there is no doubt this Carlisle jewellery maker’s spectacular range of work is hugely varied.

But the common thread is her use of colour. “Everything about me is colour, there’s never enough,” she smiles. “I have bright clothes, hair, a very colourful home and a garden with lots of flowers. Even my workshop is full of light and in the middle of greenery.

“If you look at what most people wear in this country, everything’s black or navy. But colour gives you an energy, which is vital for how you feel.”

It is 21 years since Deborah taught herself to make jewellery, first experimenting with beads and wire. Over the years she has used fabrics and yarn – including Kumihimo braiding – film, enamelling, her own version of cloisonné (a type of enamel work), gemstones, and silver and gold.

These will all be displayed at her retrospective exhibition at Talkin Tarn, which opens today. Taking pride of place will be her fused dichroic glass jewellery. It is the main method she uses these days, and her favourite material.

Dichroic means glass which shows more than one colour when reflected in the light. Deborah layers coloured pieces onto a base, then uses a kiln, where the heat fuses them .

“I call it alchemy,” she says. “Magic alchemy. There’s a certain mystique to glass-making. Each piece has an individuality and there is an element of surprise each time. You have a complete palette of colours which change when the light reflects it.”

She makes the unique pieces in her garden workshop, and sells them for between £15 and £60.

“Jewellery is immensely personal. It’s worn right next to your skin and becomes part of you. It speaks for you. And I hope my pieces speak through colour, light, and energy.”

Deborah did not shine in art at school, and has never had proper training.

Instead, she took an art history degree at St Andrews, which she enjoyed. “It gave me a very good grounding in design, looking at pictures and images, getting ideas about colour and form.

“I think I benefited from not learning art in an official way, because I wasn’t taught how to think.”

After university she worked part-time in the Gossipgate gallery in Alston, and was inspired to try out jewellery design. She got an enterprise allowance and decided to have a go. “I just bought loads of craft and art books. I started making jewellery with beads and making things with clay. My work was quite child-like, but then I am child-like. I like playing with things and experimenting.”

Her designs proved popular, and she moved on to other materials such as gemstones. She set up a business, Gild the Lily, and began selling her jewellery from a barrow stall in the centre of Newcastle.

The business did very well, but success came at a price. “I was working seven days a week, and it made me ill. I burnt out, got depressed, and realised I had to do something about it.”

In 1994 she moved to Camerton with her then husband, artist Rolf Parker, and they set up Skylark studio and gallery in Cockermouth.

“I loved the greenery of the Lake District, and being among nature. I loved walking and communicating with the earth.” She started practising reiki and tried yoga classes, taking to it “like a duck to water.” Soon after, her teacher asked her to train as a yoga teacher.

Deborah is in no doubt that yoga turned her life around, but eventually she found it too all-encompassing. “I became a bit rarefied I think and had stopped paying attention to being a human being.”

She had also joined local singing groups, including Nova Cantica. “I like music in the same way I like art; it brings energy and vibration.”

Then came a bolt out of the blue, which changed her life completely. On a trip to France with Nova Cantica, seven years ago, she got talking to Gerald, an acquaintance in the group.

They were both married, but soon realised they had fallen for each other. “I was 39 and he was 63. I’ve always been an alternative person; I was a punk when I was younger, I’d been in rock bands, and Gerald was in the army and an ex-lawyer. We were really very different.”

But they couldn’t deny the spark they felt between them, which soon blossomed into love.

“When I found him I felt like I’d known him forever. I felt like I’d come home, there was this energy. Everything I’ve done since has just dropped into place. My creativity has gone through the roof.”

But it wasn’t an easy time for anyone involved. “I wouldn’t have picked that way to find my soulmate,” she adds. “We never wanted to hurt anybody.”

The pair eloped to Scotland and stayed in Ayr for several months, before returning to Cumbria.

They renamed Deborah’s business Dancing Peacock, ran a shop at Wetheriggs Pottery, then a shop in Penrith for three years, before moving to Carlisle. They married last year at Carlisle Registry Office, wearing their trademark bright colours. Gerald helps run the business – helping with everything but the actual jewellery design.

The exhibition at the Talkin Tarn is her first solo exhibition. It features pieces of jewellery made from different materials, and Deborah’s equipment will be on display too. A bead lume, a kiln, a marudai (a Japanese braiding stool), a palette of threads, plus her tools and books will all be on show. Deborah will be doing demonstrations on some afternoons.

“There are no rules... I make the rules myself. In the UK there is quite a traditional definition of jewellery, but I like to step out of the box, using textiles, crocheting, and the glass-making has a certain technique about it. I love the serendipity of it... I just love making beautiful things.”