Hi Rosa, in our last portrait we chatted with your friend and studio mate, fellow jewellery designer, Bec Denton, and now we’re catching up with you. Lovely to have you here.
You both make pretty dazzling, flamboyant jewellery. As a real magpie myself, I've always loved both your work and you are both such splendid H&B wearers! I'm always so touched by your loyalty to the brand and so it made sense that we needed to delve a little deeper into your creative lives.
Rosa wears Unisex Embroidered Jacket in 'Jewel'
Rosa, I remember meeting you at Latitude I think, circa 2015 or 2016 maybe? I bought one of your bracelets. We were both selling in The Secret Emporium. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself too.
RP: I remember, Latitude was a great festival to sell at. I think we both traded in The Secret Emporium a few times? I was immediately drawn to your beautiful wares!
I was born in London but we moved to the Wiltshire countryside when I was 5. I grew up in various villages and small towns before studying in Brighton and eventually ending up back in London. I’m in Bristol now though.
Rosa, so you studied in Brighton, what course did you do? And where did you learn your skills and how has your style developed over the years? What part of the process do you enjoy the most?
RP: I did a BA in Fashion Design at the University of Brighton. My mum was a textiles and interior designer and my dad an artist, so it wasn’t that surprising I ended up doing a design degree, though they both would often warn me how difficult it could be to make a living with a creative job!
Throughout my degree I was often more drawn to textiles and surface design, and spent my uni work placement learning about block-printing. Almost immediately after graduating and beginning work in the fashion industry, I realised it was not a world I wanted to be a part of, and started pursuing craft projects in the evenings and weekends to keep my creativity going. Many years ago, as a teenager, I used to make costume jewellery from my bedroom (a welcome distraction from studying for my GCSES) and sold it on eBay, so I suppose that was my first taste of being an indie business! So when it came to pursuing my own craft / design ideas after uni, I revisited jewellery design, learnt how to use vector software and started experimenting with laser cutting and resin casting.
My style began to properly develop when I realised I could combine my love of vintage textiles, prints and embroideries with the laser-cutting techniques I’d been learning. I started taking inspiration from there, and my designs soon became more complex, colourful, and hopefully distinctive, as I grew my skills in digital drawing and jewellery making techniques.
Rosa wears Unisex Cord Patchwork Shirt & Trousers
I was lucky enough to visit your studio in Bristol recently, have you been there long? It must be so inspiring being in that lovely, colourful creative space.
RP: We were so lucky to get this space! I’d actually only just moved to a temporary workspace after downsizing from a huge studio, when Bec got in contact to say she’d found an amazing shop / workspace to move into. I love sharing with other Bristol creatives - the studio is full of colour and I get plenty of not-so-sneaky peeks at everyone’s work in progress.
I feel very lucky to be sharing with someone as like-minded as Bec - we have a lot of the same small business related experiences that we can always chat to each other about, and her joyful use of colour is a constant inspiration for me to not hold back with my own designs!
If you could put your jewellery on anyone who would it be?
RP: I’m always so rubbish at answering this! Honestly, it might sound cheesy but what I really love is seeing anyone wearing my designs and feeling great in them. It’s such a nice feeling when I hear that my designs have been getting people stopped in the street and complimented - it’ll never get old!
How did you and Bec meet? Was it an immediate friendship?
RP: We met through selling at the same markets many years ago in London. I was instantly drawn to Bec’s colourful, unique work and we swapped a few pieces. We stayed in touch, became friends and ended up doing a lot of festival trading together, especially once I moved back to Bristol. Bec is such a great person to share a studio and trade at events with, and like she mentioned, we always remember to keep some fun in our business plans!
Can you tell us a highlight of your jewellery career so far? And when you're not creating amazing jewellery, what else do you get up to?
RP: It’s definitely hard to switch off from designing and making mode! I do love live music, part of the appeal of festival trading is that I get to go out and enjoy the music while I’m not working.
What do you listen to while you work? Can you give us your favourite song at the moment?
RP: I feel a little antisocial if I keep my headphones on when everyone’s in the studio, so I only really do that if I need to totally zone into my work, but generally speaking I like to listen to music across any genre as long as it’s intense, loud, uplifting or good for focus, depending on my mood. Like absolutely everyone this summer, I’ve been loving Chappell Roan, but I’ve also really been enjoying the new Jamie XX album. I’ve been listening to a lot of Floating Points and Ezra Collective too.
My taste can be pretty eclectic, I can start the day listening to 90s boybands and finish it on heavy metal!
And you live & work in Bristol? How would you describe Bristol and the creative community there?
RP: I think Bec nails it with her description of Bristol as being colourful, rebellious and creative! The creative community has a huge mix of different types of art and design, and is friendly, supportive and passionate.
How did you first come across Humphries & Begg?
RP: It would have been from trading at festivals, then looking out for your collections online. I was instantly drawn to your clothes when I first saw them at festivals. Slight segue, but as part of my degree, many years ago, I was lucky enough to do an internship with the incredible Anokhi, an ethical fashion company who have been integral to the preservation and celebration of block-printing in the Jaipur area in India. So when I first saw your designs, I immediately recognised them as being block printed, and loved the more modern take on the traditional technique.
If we could make you your favourite item of clothing what would it look like?
RP: I’m always drawn to your beautiful coats and jackets in particular. So I guess it would be a jacket, the more elaborate and colourful the better! Now that winter is rapidly approaching, I’m wondering what warm clothes you’ve got in store for the winter season…. I’ve also just had a thought, imagine what some Humphries & Begg knitwear might look like!
What excites you about 2025? Do you have any exciting new work or projects on the horizon?
RP: 2024 has been a challenging and turbulent year for me to say the least, so what I’m really looking forward to is having the space to focus more fully on my designs, and on diversifying what I do a little. For example, I’m really keen to teach more workshops and to develop things like jewellery-making kits and more homewares. I’ll be trading at my usual festivals again, and me and Bec have a lot of plans up our sleeves for events to host in our workspace!
And finally, where can our readers find your work both online, and in person, over the next few months?
RP: Speaking of events hosted in mine and Bec’s workspace, we’ll be having a number of Christmas pop-ups and late-night shopping evenings where customers will be able to browse our products in person and take a look around our workspace, while sipping on a glass of fizz. Also hosting will be our studio sharer Sabina of Hello Cleo, a slow-fashion designer and seamstress who has made a number of beautiful pieces using Humphries & Begg fabric! You can find all our dates on our Instagram accounts and websites.
I’ll be trading at Frome Independent on 3rd November and 1st December, at Lucky Dip Market on 30th November, and at Totterdown Arts Trail on 16th and 17th November alongside a small collective of Bristol makers. Now that I’m looking at all these plans, I’ve realised it’s going to be a pretty full-on Christmas season!
Rosa’s work can be found at: www.rosapietsch.etsy.com
Photographs by: https://www.kayleighgrestyphotography.com/