A JEWELLER in Frome, who was a runner up on BBC Two’s All That Glitters in 2020, has moved to a new studio in the Black Swan Arts, and can be seen working on his jewellery creations.
Daniel Musselwhite has over 27 years’ experience designing and making jewellery. He has now moved to a bigger studio at the front of the Black Swan Arts shop on Justice Lane, to accommodate a growing demand for jewellery making workshops, tutorials, and wedding ring-making workshops with the public.
He said, “It’s nice to be in the new studio! It feels like a creative space. At the moment I am trying to come up with some new collections and fill the shop up a bit.”
Daniel moved from Winchester to Frome five years ago and was welcomed by Frome’s arts community, he said. “The Black Swan is such a welcoming place. Frome has been so welcoming to move to in general. There’s no sense of competition between artists. In Winchester everyone was a bit guarded. All the other jewellers are so welcoming here. I have met so many lovely people. I would never have actually got onto the tv programme if it wasn’t for the support of these people. I owe a lot to this place.”
Daniel started making jewellery around the age of 16-years-old, he said, “I got an apprenticeship job just before I was 16 and I have been making jewellery all of my life. It’s like mini sculpture, I just like making stuff, I always have. If I wasn’t making jewellery, I would be making something else. I am very practical. I love trying to figure out the challenges and how to get around problems. I did design and technology at school and really liked it.
“In-terms of my process in creating new jewellery, I have never been much of a drawer so I tend to have an idea in my head, then I will just start making it. It will then either work, or it won’t work. It then just evolves. It’s a fluid process, I sometimes leave it then come back to it and then carry on. I like Asian art and I am influenced by Chinese culture; I do a lot of martial arts, that’s always been drawn into my work, not necessarily overtly but it’s all in there.”
Daniel’s signature piece of jewellery is the water ring, He said, “With the water ring, I like creating fluid lines. It’s simplistic in design but getting it right to a high degree so the light dances around the surface.”
In 2020, Daniel appeared on All that Glitters, with seven other jewellers who competed in jewellery-making challenges, presented by Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan; As a runner up on the show, he is still regularly stopped by Frome locals. “It happened the other day actually,” he said. “I was walking along and a lady stopped me and said ‘you’re the jeweller, you should have won!’ I still get a bit of this and am always happy to chat about it.”
On Friday 24th February, there was a launch party at the Black Swan Arts for friends and colleagues to welcome Daniel into the new studio.
Pictured: Daniel working in his Black Swan Arts studio.