Janice Derrick was born in Trinidad and emigrated to the UK at the age of sixteen. Her love of all things creative led to her pursuing a degree in Silversmithing, Jewellery and Allied Crafts from the prestigious Sir John Cass faculty at London Guildhall University, graduating in 1996. The following year Janice received a Clerkenwell Award from the Clerkenwell Green Association to set up her studio near the heart of London’s jewellery quarter, Hatton Garden.
During the eight years her business was based in London she developed not only a sound local market but also exhibited and sold her work through galleries and museum shops across the UK, US, Europe and Japan. She also exhibited at prestigious craft shows such as the Chelsea Craft Fair and attended trade fairs in Munich, San Francisco and New York.
In 2005, Janice had had enough of city life and the British weather and returned home to Trinidad where she continues to develop her jewellery and silversmithing practice.
Simplicity, clean line, the structure of manmade or natural forms and the delicacies of nature that Janice observes in the world around her, are what inspires her designs. The later work of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and the Bauhaus movement were great influences during university and their hold remains.
A keen observation of people and life in general usually provides the final details on designs – the quality that makes the piece wearable as opposed to just being a beautiful object.
Every piece of Janice Derrick Jewellery is designed and handmade at her studio from different colours of gold, sterling and oxidised silver, precious and semi-precious gems and beads as well as combinations of these within the same piece. She also enjoys working to commission and often produces one-off exhibition pieces where she tries to push the boundaries of scale and what is considered wearable, without compromising comfort. Janice aims to create jewellery that is contemporary yet lasting and is not dictated by trends.
Showcase History
Janice has exhibited her work in Germany, France, Ireland, the US, Trinidad, Japan and across the UK.
Her pieces have been featured in Vogue (UK), Harpers and Queen, World of Interiors, The Sunday Times (UK), The Guardian (UK), Retail Jeweller magazine (UK), Instyle magazine (UK), The Evening Standard (UK), Time Out London, The Newsday (Trinidad), Trinidad Express, Trinidad Lookbook, 6 Carlos (Trinidad) as well as The Rings Book (UK, 2002), 1000 Rings (US, 2004) and The Contemporary Jewelry Exchange (Denmark, 2015).