About Us - Rebecca Cordingley Jewellery

Art has always played an important role in my life. I played the piano, violin and harp as a child and spent most of my spare time with my nose in a book. As a teenager, I loved taking photographs with my SLR and developing them in the darkroom.

I studied politics then social health at university, with a particular interest in human rights.

LAMPWORKING & SILVER JEWELLERY MAKING

In 2006, a friend introduced me to lampworking. I knew nothing about jewellery at the time but I was fascinated by hot glass and hooked from the moment I melted my first rod. 

Later that week, I bought my first little torch, a hothead, and a few basic tools and rods of glass and set up a small studio at home. That small studio grew as I acquired more glass and tools and moved on to more powerful torches.

I find hot glass mesmerising and love playing with it and trying to get colours to react in different ways. The array of reactions you can get from a single rod of silver-rich glass is astonishing and depends on so many variables - the temperature of the flame, the chemical makeup of the flame, the kiln environment, the types of tools used to manipulate the glass (brass vs graphite etc)...

Like so many artists/craftspeople, I first began selling my work as a way to fund my hobby but after a while my business became quite successful.
Unfortunately, in late 2010, I had to give up lampworking due to ill health. Since then, I've been back to university to study post-grad computer science.

From the time I started lampworking, I had wanted to try silversmithing and I was finally able to undertake several courses at the incredible Jam Factory in Adelaide. Working with metal - particularly sterling silver - is extraordinary. It can do so much but, like glass, it will let you know when you push it too far. There's an endless number of metalworking techniques to learn and I intend to continue doing short courses to acquire more advanced skills.

I get a great sense of satisfaction from the process of turning a pile of raw materials into something (hopefully) beautiful and/or useful.

I hope you enjoy my work!