ATKINSON-HINDLE, KATHLEEN

Atkinson-Hindle, Kathleen – Blacksmith/Jeweller

“I have a memory from when I was a little girl, maybe 6 or 7 years old. I remember picking up a piece of my mothers silver jewellery, cold, hard and smooth. Holding it between my fingers I pinched it, trying to change its shape. I knew it was handmade, I knew that someones hands had manipulated the material into having those smooth delicate lines, had worked the seemingly unmoving metal into soft and flowing lines and yet it wouldn’t move between my fingers. It seemed like magic.

“So began my love affair with metals. Ever since I have been manipulating and playing with metal, softening its edges, polishing, tarnishing, hammering, making it move. Forming so it sits close to the skin, warming to the heat of our bodies. Creating lasting memories that sit upon our frame. I have this memory of when I was just a little girl, Holding a piece of jewellery and thinking how special it was that someones hands could do that. it seemed like magic. I have always wanted to be that magician.”