Mark Eames is, by his own admission, something of a magpie. Ideas are gathered wherever he finds them: in museum cabinets, books, music, machinery, skeletons, Victorian science fiction or simply in the world around him. One pendant began with the internal structure of a turtle skeleton and the workings of tractors on a neighbouring farm. Another might start with a discarded sketch, a shape spotted in passing or an image pinned to the wall of his studio.
That instinct for collecting and combining has given its name to Magpie, Mark’s collection selected for the Goldsmiths’ Centre’s Shine 2026 new talent showcase. Rather than following a single theme, the work reflects the way his imagination operates – picking up disparate references, holding onto whatever catches his eye, then allowing unlikely ideas to collide.
At the bench, however, the results are anything but random. Through sketching, wax carving and CAD, Mark distils those fragments into bold, highly polished jewellery with strong silhouettes and a distinctly sculptural presence. Organic forms meet engineered ones; silver curves, bulges and locks together in ways that can feel simultaneously futuristic and archaeological.
For a jeweller who says he is still developing his design identity, there is already a clear thread running through the work. What begins as a collection of borrowed fragments is transformed into a design language that is distinctly his own.
‘Many years ago, when I was a student, I was on an art course and initially wanted to specialise in photography. We had to cover different disciplines as well, though, and one of the ones I loved was jewellery making. At the end of the first year we had to specialise in one area, and at the time I picked photography.
It wasn’t until years later, when I was working at the BBC, that I decided I needed a hobby away from work – something completely unrelated. So I did a night class in jewellery making and that’s how I got back into it. I just loved it. I also wanted to buy a ring for myself and couldn’t find one I liked. I thought, “You know what, I’m going to make my own.” That’s kind of how it started.’
Falling in Love with the Process
‘At that first night class, we were making things in copper and learning lots of traditional techniques. I absolutely fell in love with the process, but I decided my designs were a bit lacking, so I went to City Lit in Covent Garden and did a course specifically in jewellery design. They really encouraged you to think outside the box and play with ideas. From there, I went to Holts Academy and did part-time courses over two years, where I learnt CAD.
Jewellery is still a part-time practice for me. During football season I work at TNT Sports in the studio as part of the camera team, and when I’m not doing that I currently work as a gardener as well. I’ve actually been making jewellery for years – I must have done that first course about 15 years ago – but I’ve taken it at such a slow pace. It was only about two or three years ago that I thought I really needed to start pushing it more.’
‘Being selected for Shine was an honour, especially because it’s the Goldsmiths’ Centre, but it came as quite a surprise. When I applied, I thought, “Goldsmiths’ sits up here,” but I had nothing to lose by applying. I was quite shocked when I got accepted. My best friend kept saying, “They’ve obviously picked you for a reason.” Of course your friend is going to say that, but when you actually hear it from one of the curators, that’s when it started to sink in. I thought, “Wow, okay, maybe I have got something.”
‘I’m not sure I’ve quite figured out my brand yet, but I’m slowly getting there. I’ve been trying to work towards having a design identity. There are certain jewellers where you see their work and immediately know exactly who made it. Even if it’s a new collection and somewhat different from the last, there’s such a continuity of style that it’s instantly recognisable as one of their pieces. That’s what I’ve been trying to develop over the last few years.
People do sometimes describe my work as masculine. At craft shows, one of the comments I often get is, “Oh, how interesting, there’s men’s jewellery here.” The funny thing is, I don’t really design with gender in mind. I design what excites me, and if it’s a man who wants to wear it, or a woman, or whoever, it’s all good.
I can never really tell who is going to connect with my work. Occasionally, if I’m doing a show, I’ll spot somebody walking down the corridor and think, “Yeah, they’re going to like my jewellery.” But generally it comes as a surprise. At one show, this woman came up who looked like a cross between Tilda Swinton and Annie Lennox. As soon as she walked towards me I thought, “Yeah, she’s going to like my work.” I’d never spoken to her, but she loved it and bought a few pieces. Really, I design for myself, as selfish as that sounds. I don’t have one particular client base in mind; I make what I find exciting.
I also like seeing how people wear the pieces themselves. One woman loved the fact that they were big, chunky and powerful and started stacking them up. I’d never thought of doing that because I thought they were too big to stack, but she made it work and it looked great on her.’
A Magpie Approach to Inspiration
'I’d describe my design style as eclectic. Literally anything can fire my imagination, and inspiration doesn’t necessarily come from one source. I’ve called the collection Magpie because that’s kind of how my mind works. I’ll see something, hear something or come across something while I’m out and about – whether it’s in a museum, something I’m reading or some awesome music I’m listening to while making – and that will trigger something.
My process is quite intuitive, and I’m okay with that. The initial idea is one thing, but then you refine it through drawing and making. A friend of mine who was into automatic writing once said to me, “Just try automatic carving and see what happens.” So I’ve tried that as well.
I do still have in the back of my mind that I want the finished piece to be recognisable as one of mine. That’s true of commissions too. If somebody wants something specific, it becomes more of a collaboration, but you still want it to look like one of your pieces.’
Skeletons, Machinery and Unexpected Combinations
‘Sometimes I actively go looking for inspiration. I remember going to the Horniman Museum with my phone and taking pictures of things I found interesting, then printing out little photographs, sketching from them and letting my imagination take over. One pendant started with an exhibit of skeletons. There was a turtle skeleton and it was actually the inside that fascinated me. But I also live next door to a farm, so I’d go over there and look at the farm machinery and tractor engines. I took those two ideas and thought, “Okay, let’s put these together.”
A fashion designer friend also inspired the way I work. I went to his house and his entire living room wall was a mood board filled with completely opposing ideas. I thought, “That’s such a good way of working. I’m totally going to steal that idea - like a magpie.” So in my studio upstairs I now have lots of contrasting images that I like to throw together and see what happens.’
‘My pieces generally start with doodling and sketching. Sometimes I’ll even go back to old sketches I discarded and think, “Actually, that’s got some promise.” From there, I tend to carve in wax because it gives me a sense of scale – what something is going to look like and how it’s going to fit. Sometimes, if I’m pleased with it, it will go straight to the casters. Other times I’ll measure every part and recreate it in CAD, where I can really play with it. I love CAD. I just love what you can do with it.
Even with a sketch beside me, there’s no guarantee the thing I’m making in wax will end up looking like that initial drawing, and that’s a good thing for me. Sometimes you let the wax have a say in it as well. That’s part of the process. Once I’ve made something and I’m really pleased with it, I tend to want to move on to the next thing. I have the attention span of a fruit fly! Occasionally I’ll go back, but I’m generally hopping from one thing to another.’
‘I tend to stick to the basics in terms of materials: silver, occasional gold plating and oxidisation. But I’ve been reading about patination recently, which I’ve done a little bit in the past and really enjoyed. I’d like to incorporate some of those amazing blues and browns you can create on copper into new pieces.
I’ve also become interested in Keum-Boo and would really like to learn how to do that. Enamelling is another technique I’ve started exploring. I tend to get a bit overambitious sometimes and think of things I don’t necessarily have the skills to do yet – but you get those skills by trying.’
Science Fiction and Favourite Pieces
‘My favourite piece changes on a daily basis. There’ll be something I made a year ago that I look at and think, “God, what was I thinking?” Then a couple of weeks later I’ll think, “Actually, no, I do quite like that.” One piece I’ve gone back to is my Walker Ring, inspired by The War of the Worlds. I went through a phase of reading Victorian science fiction and taking that as a starting point. Reading can give you some really good visuals to play around with.
‘The thing I’m most excited about is knowing my work is going to be on show at the Goldsmiths’ Centre. That is beyond exciting for me. It’s something I’ve thought about in the past. I even said to a friend once, “One day I’m going to have my work in there,” and she was basically like, “Yeah, okay, Mark. All right, mate.” And now it’s actually happening. Whatever happens after that, we’ll see, but for me, at the moment, that’s the exciting thing.
I’m also really looking forward to meeting the other Shine makers. We’ve spoken over Zoom and in meetings, but it’ll be exciting to meet everybody in person.’
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