It started with a dream…

Literally…

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How did I get the feeling to become a goldsmith? Well, I had a dream (of course!) in which I was learning how to goldsmith at the prestigious School of Jewellery (SoJ), Birmingham City University.  I woke up and thought, this means something; I must take notice.

After art college, in 1997, I considered jewellery at university but wasn’t ready to translate my ideas as a concept artist into design; I pursued my interest in fine art working in glass – until I suffered one hell of a creative block that resulted in a10 year hiatus from anything creative. 

 

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I Googled course in jewellery and found Creative Jewellery at the SoJ, led by Katherine Campbell-Legg, I made contact and went to have a chat with her, I needed to check access because I was injured in 2010 that left me paralysed from my waist down. 

 

I would have to pick the most inaccessible trade/creative pursuit possible, but that’s me. That was in 2017, and I’ve not looked back, though I’ve had many challenges along the way. I’ve been going through spinal rehab and all the lovely trimmings that go alongside being a para.

 

After surviving the accident, with a broken back, head trauma, and with multiple brain injuries I recognised that my work was not yet done in this current incarnation. It was a deeply spiritual experience.

 

I embarked upon a journey of self-discovery and spiritual growth, and realised my calling was to dedicate a life of service to others; my gratitude for surviving something that would’ve devastated my parent beyond repair. 

 

Through pain and persistence, and the wonderful kind souls at the SoJ and community spirit of the Jewellery Quarter Birmingham, the patience over years of my health-related poor attendance, I’ve made my love and passion accessible – now I want to share this with others.

 

The meaning I’ve been searching for, was born from intense pain and many a year of isolation, introspection, and transformation, a discovery of quiet activism : I want all disabled people, no matter their difference, to access the wonderful creativity, and joy, of making jewellery…this meaning galvanised my creative vision. 

 

Disabled people are statistically less likely to be in gainful employment, and less likely to fight for their right do so. All of my support staff are the unsung heroes of life: they have physical or mental health struggles, and/or neurodiversity – and I’m proud!

 

I became a designer, goldsmith, and jeweller through determination to make my dream a reality, in a world that’s filled with cobbled pavements, no dropped kerbs, and listed buildings with heavy doors and staircases only.  

 

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Kelly Donald

Jaclyn Kelly Goldsmith