Q&A with Fleur Grenier
Location: Angmering, West Sussex
Discipline: Metalwork
Biography:
Trained at the Royal College of Art, MA on the Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewellery course.
Published Author. Pewter Designs and Techniques Published by Crowood Press.
Commissioned to design and make crosier for the Bishop of Stepney, London. Piece presented to the countess of Wessex by The Worshipful Company of Pewterers.
Featured in the V&A Magazine Summer 2023, feature ‘Pewter Perfect’.
Freeman at the Worshipful Company of Pewterers, Selected Maker Crafts Council Directory, Design Nation and Sussex Guild member.
Fleur is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Pewterers and in 2014, she was invited to Pewterers Hall to strike her mark at a touchmark ceremony. She felt very honoured to know that her touch mark is now alongside the many other pewtersmiths from the last 500 years and she uses this stamp as a signature on all of her work.
Please describe your creative process/practice:
My designs are individual and sculptural in style, I design and make contemporary pewterware and work with clients to make bespoke commissions.
Fluid sculptural forms are the key words I use with my work, with the sculptural elements not being detrimental to the function of the piece. This drives not only the design of my work but also my understanding of the material. I am constantly looking at ways to work with the pewter and discover new ways to manipulate it to achieve an aspired outcome.
What makes your work unique?
There are few contemporary pewtersmiths working within the UK, of which I am one. My passion for pewter began when I was introduced to it while doing my degree at Sir John Cass in London 30 years ago and from that moment on, I did not look back and it has been a constant companion in my work.
I use many of the traditional pewtersmithing skills to produce my work and I am constantly creating designs that challenges the material and peoples perception of it.
Fleur Grenier, Bottle Stand, £280, and Stopper, £58.
Fleur Grenier, Pewter Mistletoe Detail, £35.
