Sharon McSwiney

Sharon has been a professional creative & artist for over 30 years. She lives & works in St Ives where she has a small gallery displaying her pieces and an additional studio space within the town.

She is hugely inspired by living by the coast. When Sharon is not in the studio she can often be found roaming Cornwall’s coastline and beaches in search of the ocean’s treasures to use for her work. From limpet shell necklaces to framed seaweed metal sculptures, texture and colour play an important part in her work, with each piece embodying the rich and earthy colours of the sea and coast, including Cornwall’s mineral rich heritage.

Seaweed fronds & sea creatures are etched and soldered making individual artworks. Alongside a collection of jewellery inspired by Barbara Hepworth & Troika pottery, limpets are one of her passions which are reflected in a range of cast silver shells from Cornish beaches.

In 2024 she started exploring a new direction within her practice; linking metals with the painting element of her work. She generates textured plaster surfaces, combined with metal powders such as iron, copper & bronze. Applying an accelerant, she manipulates the finishes to produce distressed & patinated effects. This work links with her 3D metalwork & reflects the Cornish mining industry & natural elements surrounding us in this area.

Working in different disciplines is beneficial as one always feeds into the other. Jewellery is sometimes scaled up to become wall pieces and vice versa.  Sharon is drawn to distressed surfaces and likes to explore different techniques of applying textures & patina to metal.  She enjoys the immediacy of working with metal, able to create effects quickly on the surface with tools & heat. Combining copper & brass gives contrasting colour variations.