From the rugged wilderness of Dartmoor, through the verdant hedgerows of the South Hams, down to the sculpted red cliffs, rich sunsets and glittering waters of the coastline, it would be difficult to live in South Devon and not to be inspired by the forms, colours and texture of its landscape.

Endlessly shifting, the point where water meets earth has long been considered magical. It is a liminal place. A place where salt, wind and water sculpt the land to the beat and rhythm of the tides. Growing up in the midlands, many miles from the coast, Chrystine only experienced the beach for brief moments but since moving to Devon she has lived a stone’s throw from the sea and it is now a constant and irreplaceable presence in her life.

She walks on the beaches daily taking photographs, drawing and collecting fossils, stones and sea-glass deposited by the waves. These interactions are the start point for her artworks.

Chrystine works almost exclusively in pewter, a non-precious alloy primarily comprised of tin, characterised by its malleability and low melting point. With the careful and controlled application of heat, pewter too becomes mercurial and transitory which affords it the spontaneity and dynamism that she enjoys. Through painstaking experimentation, she has developed ways to control the vibrant patinas that form on the metals surface and in this sense, her work is more akin to abstract painting than traditional whitesmithing.

She first discovered her passion for working in this way and went on to hone her skills whilst studying 3D Design at South Devon College and later, Plymouth University. Since graduating, Chrystine works from her home studio, where she is constantly exploring new ways of distilling the texture and tones of the landscape into the metal, thereby imbuing it not only with a colourful vitality but with the preciousness of place.

View my website http://www.chrystinejones.com/