Twenty years on, Emily starts each day early, with a full immersion in the water, most often at Battery Rocks. “The sea is more to me than something I just look at, or am inspired by,” Emily assures, “I have absolutely integrated myself into it.” The cold water, the ragged stones and the barnacles against the smooth rock pools are all a morning ritual for Emily, followed by a coffee to warm up and a rummage in the sands before heading to the studio.
It is these daily rituals that carry and flow through to Emily’s current collection. Unmatched gemstones in a rockpool-inspired palette sit within crags of silver and gold; teals, blues and greens are paired with the limes, bright yellows, vermilions and pinks that you sometimes see below the water’s surface. And there is a casualness to each piece, with watery sapphires sitting off-kilter, all characterized with a tumbled finish and sculptural asymmetry. Elements from the shoreline integrate seamlessly into Emily's working practice, as she recalls a line from nature writer Roger Deakin. “When you enter the water, something like metamorphosis happens,” she re-counts. “Leaving behind the land, you go through the looking-glass surface and enter a new world.”
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