Anya Keeley Designs was established in November 2002, with the help of a loan from the Prince's Youth Business Trust. I run every aspect of the business myself through sourcing materials, design & production of pieces along with all promotion.

I have just found my first workshop, a small unit on an industrial estate, which will give me the chance to be more experimental, now that space is not so much of an issue!  I also use the workshop facilities of Alloy, the Hereford Guild of Jewellers, of which I am a member.

Whilst studying for a BA(hons) at Hereford College of Art & Design, I discovered an interest in utilitarian wirework. I found that I had an ability to manipulate wire, forming shapes and then binding the joints together. To make the pieces more individual, I began designing asymmetrical forms, hammering the wire to produce tapering curves. 

I wanted to include glass droplets in the designs but couldn't find any on wire, (like on old venetian chandeliers). As a result I ended up teaching myself the skills of lampworking (the manipulation of glass in a flame). After many failed attempts I am now producing handmade glass droplets on wire, unfortunately there is a large amount of loss due to the wire cooling down far quicker than the glass, causing fracture lines within the glass.

New influences have come from the vintage finds I surround myself with, such as maps, old books, jars of buttons & beach glass and lots of old adverts & ephemera hoarded from charity shops, auctions and on my travels.

My new ranges include map covered boxes & journals, collages and jewellery made with vintage mother-of-pearl buttons!