In the landscapes of North Wales, slate is everywhere - embedded in the walls of old villages, shaping the paths that cut across the hillsides, and scattered in the places where industry once met nature. For centuries, it was the lifeblood of the region, quarried on a vast scale and exported around the world to roof cities and fuel the growth of industry. Entire communities were built around the slate trade, their identity tied to the quarries, ports, and mountainsides where the stone was cut and carried.

Today, the remnants of that history remain in waste heaps that shape the land, in fragments along the shore, and in the ruins of cottages slowly reclaimed by the elements. It is within this landscape - rugged, layered, and deeply tied to memory - that jeweller and silversmith Beca Fflur finds inspiration. For her, slate is more than a material or a relic of industry: it is a pathway back to her roots, and a guide forward in her creative practice.

Graduating in 3D Design and Craft from the University of Brighton, with time spent studying in Seoul where her fascination with silversmithing first began, Beca returned to making after years away from the bench. At Bishopsland Educational Trust, she honed her skills in silversmithing, box-making, and engraving, while discovering a deep affinity with enamel. Her dedication has already been recognised - with the Jane Goodman Award and Bursary, and multiple prizes at the Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council Awards in 2025.

Her Llwybrau Llechi – Slate Pathways – Collection captures both the natural beauty and industrial past of Wales: hillside paths strewn with slate waste, human structures softened by time, and the quiet erosion of stone blending into the wild. Working in precious metals and locally sourced slate, with enamel, resin, and composite materials, she builds layers of engraving and colour that evoke weathered surfaces, muted tones pierced by brighter hues - jewellery and objects that hold both memory and place.

Chosen for Shine 2025, the Goldsmiths’ Centre’s new talent showcase and associated training programme, Beca reflects on her creative journey and the pathways, both literal and personal, that continue to guide her.

From Origins to Shine 2025

'I’ve always been interested in objects. As a child growing up in North Wales, I loved collecting, and I come from quite a crafty family who were always mending and making. I found that I enjoyed working with my hands, so jewellery and silversmithing became a natural path for me.

For the past two years, I’ve been based at Bishopsland Educational Trust, focusing on silversmithing skills. Before I came here, I had only ever worked on a very small scale with jewellery, so it’s been an incredible opportunity to create larger objects. Through this, I’ve discovered a real love of box making - I like that it can be taken in so many different directions.

Silversmithing has always intrigued me. During my 3D Design and Craft degree at the University of Brighton, I was fortunate enough to spend time at Seoul National University in South Korea where they had a fantastic silversmithing course. Although I was in the jewellery department, I was always envious of the silversmithing students and their hammer rooms filled with stakes and machinery. I knew then that it was something I wanted to explore, and this led me to Bishopsland.

Last year, I was fortunate to take part in the Goldsmiths’ Centre’s Getting Started Online business course, as well as Spotlighting Getting Started. These programmes helped me think more strategically about creating collections and how I want to present my work. Over the past year, I’ve focused on developing a collection that truly represents who I am and what I’m passionate about. Shine was a big goal for me and through it, I hope my work will offer people a real sense of my journey and creative identity.'

A Path Back to North Wales

'The collection is called Llwybrau Llechi - Llechi meaning “slate” in Welsh. I began it during my first year at Bishopsland Educational Trust while working on a box. Around that time, I had discovered a love of engraving, and I knew I wanted to combine the two. I wanted to bring a textural element into the work, so the engraving on the box became a repeated pattern that wraps around it like a pathway, following the form of the box itself. This idea continued into a couple of other pieces, including brooches. Later, I introduced enamel into the collection, which was a turning point.

Much of my inspiration comes from North Wales, where I grew up surrounded by the mountains and the sea. I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time, but whenever I go home now, I’m struck by how beautiful and grounding it is. This collection feels like a journey - a personal exploration of the direction I want to take my work, especially as I’m still quite new to making.

Giving the collection a Welsh name felt natural, as Welsh is my first language. Growing up in a slate-exporting village, slate was everywhere - in the beaches, woodlands, and the remnants of the quarries that shaped the area. Only after leaving did I begin to see how deeply those textures and landscapes influenced me. Slate Pathways reflects both the literal slate paths of my home, and the personal path I’m following as a maker - one that has led me away from North Wales, but I always circle back to it in my work.'

Exploring Enamel, Engraving and Scale

'Before Bishopsland, I often incorporated colour into my work, mostly through jesmonite and pigments. So when I had the opportunity to work with enamel, I jumped at it - and I’ve not looked back.

I was fortunate to take part in a weeklong enamel masterclass in Brighton with Jane Short, where I developed new work, including a dish that became part of this collection. I also learned from Sheila McDonald, who came to teach enamel at Bishopsland, and I loved being able to experiment freely. Enamel is unpredictable - you never quite know what you’ll get - so I’ve learned not to over plan, but to embrace the journey.

Most of my pieces begin with engraving. I hand engrave textures or line drawings, often starting from a collage - sometimes made from my own photos, sometimes from sketchbook drawings done outdoors. From there, I engrave the designs directly onto silver. Sometimes I leave them as they are, but other times I layer enamel on top, treating the metal almost like paper. I apply enamel in translucent and opaque  layers similar to watercolour in order to build up depth and texture.

This collection has also been a way for me to explore scale. I’ve made small wearable pieces like brooches,  dainty trinket dishes, and an ornamental and tactile box combining new techniques that I’ve recently learned. I created my own formers to shape it, engraved pathways all the way around the outside, and for the inside I wanted real slate from my native Wales . At first I thought about cutting a piece to fit, but instead I decided to crush slate with a pestle and mortar, mix it with jesmonite, and inlay it flush into the interior. From the outside, the box looks entirely silver, but inside it holds a hidden surprise.

I think my favourite pieces are the box and the enamel dish. The dish, in particular, gave me space to experiment with enamelling on a slightly larger scale. Unlike the brooches, the dish became a bigger canvas to experiment with enamel. It took a long time create - I applied the enamel in layers - firing, adding colour, stoning back, then adding more - but I love the subtlety and depth it created and felt it was worth the time.'

Stories in the Surface

'Each piece in the collection carries a story. The enamel works in particular often begin from a single image or place, which I first translate into engraving and then enhance with the enamel. In that way, they’re quite personal, and I think they appeal to people who like a jewellery with a story, as well as those who are drawn to colour and texture.

I’m especially drawn to decorative surface techniques like engraving and enamel, but I’m also keen to explore ways of adding more depth in my work in the future, perhaps through light chasing - to expand on the surface detail in my work. My style is still evolving, but even though I use colour and texture, my approach remains quite subtle. The muted, calm tones I often use reflect the moody, windswept, landscapes of Wales that continue to inspire me.'

Shine 2025 and Beyond

'Shine has given me the opportunity to reflect on my collection and share it with a new audience, which I’m really excited about. The support and encouragement I’ve received throughout the programme has given me invaluable mentoring and the space to think about the future of my work. At the moment I’m back in North Wales renting a bench at a place called Iard in Caernarfon. I’m working on a small continuation of this collection - a series of enamel brooches based on one image I took of a mountain landscape here, with each brooch capturing a different snapshot within. I’m excited to be moving to Birmingham soon to do an Artist Residency at the Birmingham School of Jewellery and developing more new work there.'