Heather Blake
Design: Ceramics, Furniture or Jewellery MA
Central Saint Martins UAL
Graduates: 2023
Specialisms: Jewellery / Accessories / Sustainable Design
My location: Canterbury, United Kingdom
Heather Blake
First Name: Heather
Last Name: Blake
University / College: Central Saint Martins UAL
Course / Program: Design: Ceramics, Furniture or Jewellery MA
Graduates: 2023
Specialisms: Jewellery / Accessories / Sustainable Design
My Location: Canterbury, United Kingdom
Website: Click To See Website
About
Heather Blake is a UK based contemporary jewellery designer. She uses the materials and techniques of shoemaking to reinterpret the codes of jewellery. Fervently interested in material innovation, she has developed a sustainable, non-toxic, biodegradable fish leather from food waste. Utilising techniques in leatherwork and repositioning them in the jewellery context she revitalises this heritage craft.
‘Marine Alchemy’ is a collection of oversized bracelets, made using the materials and techniques of shoemaking and based on the form of the signet ring. In this collection Blake transforms food waste into jewellery. Discarded fish skin is tanned using ancient methods. These are combined with Blake’s own tanning process, using food waste as the tanning agent, to create a fully biodegradable, sustainable alternative to ‘exotic’ leathers such as python. Blake is interested in experimenting with scale, material and processes. In this collection tiny rings become large bangles, hard metal is swapped for soft leather, the sharp facets of cut gems are interpreted in richly textured salmon skin.
Competitions
