Sarah Palmer grew up in Cambridge and, following studies in Industrial Design at de Montfort University, then travelled widely throughout India and Asia. On her return to the Uk she established her first studio in 1991 and now works from her family home in Barrington, Cambridge.
Sarah is particularly interested in the inherent properties of silver and the effects produced on the metal by heat (reticulating) and hammering or forging. With both these techniques she forces the metals to their extremes. In the reticulated jewellery she has experimented with juxtaposing contrasting textures, and gold and silver. She also uses the technique on flat and three dimensional surfaces. The work results in strong lines and distinctive surfaces.
At school Sarah studied calligraphy and has incorporated the use of movement (changing plane) and strong lines in her designs. This particularly lends itself to the hammering and forging techniques. The work is the result of more than 20 years of experimenting with these techniques and design concepts. As these techniques are " spontaneous", some designs are the result of the intuitive knowledge of the processes, materials and technique. A design may be triggered off by the process itself (only needing structural modifications) and not beginning with fully developed design sketches.