A lifelong passion for all things “colourful and shiny” led Emma Lawrence to explore jewellery-making as a hobby around 2010. What began as a creative way to while away the evenings, however blossomed into Spangle Fandango, a jewellery brand that specialises in vibrant and fun colour juxtapositions, shapes and patterns created through the intricate weaving of tiny glass beads.

As a former student of Anthropology, Emma chose beads as a medium both for their cultural and historical significance and simply for the endless creative possibilities that they present; “with beads, your imagination is the limit”, she explains. Her jewellery, which is bold and beautiful, uplifting and ostentatious, has earned her a place at Shine 2024, the Goldsmiths’ Centre’s annual talent showcase and exhibition.

From Hobby to Brand: Emma Lawrence's Journey into Jewellery-Making
I've always loved jewellery and I’ve always loved making, but my jewellery career started with a need to have a hobby. After having my children, I was retraining to be a school teacher, and I realised I just needed something that was fun and creative, an outlet. After dipping in and out of making jewellery I took it up more seriously following a short course on wax carving in 2021.

I previously studied anthropology at university and trained to be a librarian, getting a master's degree, but the jewellery-making was entirely self-driven. I taught myself how to bead - I got books and tried to recreate the different patterns that I saw in them, but then I realised I wanted to push my jewellery-making a bit further. So I did various short courses, including most recently a year-long course at Morley College.

The Allure of Beads
I always loved beads. I was really lucky to discover some bead shops when I was a teenager, and it was so much fun delving through all these different colours, shapes and sizes of beads. When I studied anthropology, they cropped up. Throughout history and different cultures they have been used for so many different things.

Beads such as cowrie shells, for example, have been used as currency in the past. When you go back in time, they were tokens of exchange, and they still are. I've got lots of trade beads that have been used for various different exchanges, and they would have great stories to tell. They're really fascinating items, quite possibly the earliest form of symbolic art. We’ve been adorning ourselves since the beginning of our species.

Aside from wanting a hobby, something I could bring out on the kitchen table at home in the evenings, tinker with and put away again, it’s these connections that inspired me to work with beads. I also love that the beads themselves come in such a huge variety, and I love the material they’re made of, which is mainly glass. Your imagination is the limit with beads.

Finding Inspiration in Everyday Life
I think my style is vibrant and upbeat, to the point that I’m trading under the name Spangle Fandango, because I think it’s an apt name for my type of jewellery. It's fun, it's colourful, and it's definitely unique.

I get inspiration from everywhere. Colour is really important to me, so inspiration could come from a certain colour combination. It could be a flower or something that I’ve seen in everyday life that just sparks my curiosity. Or a shape - I love shapes and patterns, so I am generally looking at the material world for my inspiration.

A Sneak Peek into Emma’s Shine 2024 Collection
The collection is called Points of Light, it comes from my love of contemporary geometric beadwork. That’s where it all started; I was making these lovely geometric shapes, with tiny Japanese glass beads, and I realised I wanted to enhance the beadwork, because I thought it was beautiful but that it needed something more. So then I started to find ways of capturing the intricacies of the pattern in the metal using different casting techniques. Now I've stretched it even more by using the tubing to create the geometric shapes and then adding the beading onto that.

Exploring New Materials and Methods
I did a casting course that really got me started with casting the beadwork, and ever since then, I've been trying to find different ways of adding the beadwork into what we would call fine jewellery. I’m looking for the opportunities for colour and playing with colour and yet still having that lovely elegance and sophistication that you would get with classic jewellery. So I use tubing to create structures that are big but also lightweight, and they are also in the collection.

Design Process Unveiled
My design process typically starts with an idea, a spark of inspiration, and then I'll do lots of sketches. Often I'll have lots of ideas, so I'll have to put them all down on paper, and then I will just experiment - making probably in copper or bronze, working out how a piece can be constructed and its shape. Often it's the fixtures and the fittings that I want to somehow incorporate into the design, rather than just having them as add-ons. So I'll spend a lot of time thinking about how the piece will be attached to the body, and then I have fun with the colour - which is the best bit! 

Who Wears Spangle Fandango
The people that tend to wear my pieces are creatives, and they could be anyone from a yoga teacher, to a dancer to an academic or a musician. They aren't necessarily any particular age or gender, but they definitely have a wild side to them that they want to express. People are often really curious as to how the pieces are made. They haven't necessarily seen anything as intricate as the beadwork before, so they often don’t realise that the pieces are made from tiny little beads which I've sewn together. So that's always surprising for people and they love the colour and that the jewellery is vibrant and bold.

The Significance of Shine
I keep getting pinch-me moments still! It's really exciting, I’m honoured to be chosen. What it means to me is to be taken seriously by the jewellery community. Also, it means that I get to access all the support that the Goldsmiths’ Centre is offering. So it's a big thing.

Looking Forward
So far in the Shine programme, I feel I am already being pushed, which is great. I'm really forcing myself to think about how I come across to a wider audience and experiment with videoing myself. That's really been helpful, but I guess the most exciting moment will be the pop-up, where I’ll actually display my pieces. I’ll be able to get some feedback about my work and of course, meet all the other jewellers on the Shine programme.

I'm hoping that I can use Shine as a springboard, to do more UK-wide shows. I'd love to do the Great Northern Craft Fair. I'd love to do Dazzle. Obviously, it would be so lovely to get into Goldsmiths’ Fair at some point. That would be an amazing experience. For now, I plan to just keep on working and getting my work out there.