Florence Beauloye

Jewellery maker

Wearable works of skill and imagination

Florence turned to craftsmanship after a career as a lawyer
She opened her own workshop in 1999
Her jewellery provides an escape into a fairy tale world

A lawyer by training, Florence Beauloye had been languishing for several years in an administrative career far too dull for her artistic personality. Reminiscing about her childhood days, when she was fascinated by her grandmother who embroidered, she decided to sew her first pieces of textile jewellery. After abandoning the comfort of her salaried job, for 13 years she travelled to find inspiration, creating unique pieces that led to increasing success. Wanting to offer her customers an innovative alternative to traditional jewellery, she chose to work with textile lace. To perfect her technique, she took a workshop at the famous embroidery company Maison Lesage in Paris.

Interview

What made you decide to make jewellery?: Jewellery represents a universal language; they are works of art that we can carry on us. I can still remember my first piece of textile jewellery: it was a ring composed of a passementerie ribbon embroidered with semi-precious stones and solidified with resin.
How do textiles influence your creations?: I like the immense diversity of fabrics, their beauty and warmth, their softness and fragility. The deeply human stories they tell us about who creates them, about who uses them. I extract fragments of fabrics to honour and highlight them in my jewellery.
What are your other sources of inspiration?: Like any artist, I am touched and inspired by nature in all its forms. I visit museums regularly to immerse myself in art and culture, I travel to feel new sensations and open my mind. It’s a neverending process.
What do you most love about your work?: What gives me most pleasure is researching in the service of my imagination. I look for the most appropriate materials, imagine the models, and then create and test them, achieving a subtle and distinguished effect that provides a beautiful escape from our everyday lives.

Florence Beauloye is an expert artisan: she began her career in 1999