Catherine Hartley

About

Catherine Hartley is an artist goldsmith known for her simple, striking designs and inventive approach to combining materials. Calling both the sprawl of London and the west coast of Canada home, Catherine’s work is characterized by a deliberate balance of dualities; it is distinctively strong but subtle, elegant but unconventional.

Conintuing this approach, Catherine values both the old and the new in her work. centering traditional goldmsithing methods, Catherine offers a fresh perspective to ideas around jewellery, questioning and looking past established structures, particularly in ceremonial pieces. She is drawn to the intimate nature of jewellery and the way that unlike almost any other object - especially pieces that are worn over many years or lifetimes - it can be a vessel for memory, connection, and personal narrative.

An appreciation for the incredibly ancient history/lifetime of the materials in her hands is woven throughout Catherine’s practice. The naturally unique properties of gold, silver, and stones informs and works in rhythm with her designs, and she continually explores the expressive possibilities of them. She makes pieces to amplify and highlight the materials, never never using them simply as an afterthought to a design form. The traditional goldsmithing skills that she has honed over years reflect this respect for materials and process, and results in jewellery of the highest quality, made to endure.

Through clever compositions of colour, scale, and pattern, Catherine creates pieces that are deceptively simple, but on closer inspection layered with detail and complexity in make. She enjoys creating work that invites touch and wonder, and finding impact in the understated.

Process

While modern technologies such as CAD have made it possible to produce jewellery quickly and primarily by machine, Catherine uses hand fabrication methods that focus on durability and character, and builds each piece in a way that creates the highest quality finished product. Metals are drawn into wire, rolled into sheet, and forged into shape. This increases their density and strength, as well as giving them an internal grain that gives some necessary flexibility to the metals. This process of building step by step also ensures that each component is carefully considered and structured to work in relation to each other.

Tradtitional goldsmithing techniques that are becoming rarer to find but that have been passed along for centuries are behind each piece she makes, and the result is jewellery that is made to endure.

The processes Catherine uses also imbue her minimal forms with an intangible sense of softness that cannot be manufactured, and means that no two pieces are ever exactly alike. Hand fabrication facilitates Catherine’s focus on artistic experimentation and innovation in the studio, allowing her to continually experiment with methods and materials. She welcomes the possibility for chance and inquiry - seeing them as essential components for discovery and rare outcomes. 

These tiny structures are not invincible, and care must be taken with them, especially those with gemstones and diamonds. But the regular wear and tear that will accumulate with age and use will result in a patina and texture that reflects your daily life. rather than impacts that will quickly degrade the piece

Materials

Catherine sees transparency and responsibility as core elements of her practice, and strongly supports initiatives that provide meaningful impact and improvements throughout supply chains. She works with Fairmined gold primarily and whenever possible Fairmined silver. You can read more about her sourcing practices and standards here. Catherine is also a registered Fairtrade Goldsmith. If it is not possible to use Fairmined gold in a piece, she will use Fairtrade gold or SMO (Single Mine Origin) gold.

Bio

Catherine Hartley was born on the west coast of Canada and lived in Vancouver until moving to London in 2016. She studied fine art before training as a goldsmith, receiving a diploma in Jewellery Art and Design from VCC in 2012, and has been continually developing her craft since. She currently works from her South London studio.