In the hands of Ami Pepper, shells and seaweed from Pembrokeshire become things of beauty, as she weaves their shapes and textures into rings, necklaces and earrings encrusted with precious gems
Were you to find a piece of Ami Pepper’s gold jewellery on the beach, she reckons it might look slightly shiny but that it would blend in with the sea wrack that inspires her. The Welsh jeweller reinterprets the textures, forms and colours of seaweed and shells washed in by the tide, and barnacles in rock pools, as sculptural rings, earrings and necklaces. ‘Because I’m constantly handling or looking at those formations, that naturally translates into the work,’ she says.
Growing up in Pembrokeshire, Ami spent her childhood collecting marine ‘treasures’ from the shoreline. Beachcombing around Fishguard is now a daily activity with her one-year-old Afghan hound, Strumble (named after the local headland and lighthouse). Discoveries change with the seasons, as storms bring ashore mermaid’s purses (egg cases of the lesser-spotted dogfish) and very low tides provide opportunities to forage for different seaweeds.
Her studio sits above the West Wales Arts Centre, a gallery run by her parents in Fishguard. It overlooks Lower Town and Dinas Island, ‘an ever-changing expanse of sky and sea’ that is reflected in her jewellery by the hues of the stones: green and blue sapphires, and diamonds in soft tones such as white and pink that evoke clouds and sunsets.
