Lina Peterson, Jewellery; Photo: Dave Ashton 2008

Lina Peterson confesses she has a 'thing' for brooches. This is understandable - she is a jeweller after all - yet she sees brooches as having a direct relationship with the body, allowing for a conversation to start between the garment and the work. Seeing her work, this claim makes sense. Lina is fascinated with the endless possibilities and configurations of materials - her work includes crocheted silver and gold, embroidered metal, dip-coated plastics, gold plated textiles, even bread buns! This love for combining unlikely materials drives the work itself, whilst also cleverly playing with people's expectations of jewellery.

Lina's unusual approach made her a recipient of the Craft Council Development Award last year. Despite describing her work as 'low-tech', the award gave Peterson the financial support to equip her workshop with some much needed tools, including a pendant drill, various hand tools, a computer and even a mannequin. While she had envisaged being able to 'buy time', she ended up spending the award on equally 'luxurious' things such as stationary, promotional materials and gift boxes for her work.

Lina will be exhibiting at Origin for the first time this year, and her first major public event. She is looking forward to talking to new people, as well as staying visible for those who are already familiar with her work, and hopefully making some sales! A whole new body of work is already being prepared, mostly one-off pieces, including some of those beloved brooches.