ary
The Creative Visionary
Mary’s path to the jeweler’s bench is as winding and colorful as a skein of hand-dyed yarn. A lifelong creative, her energy is impossible to contain, and she is rarely found without a project in her hands. While her professional background includes stage management, a degree from Cambridge, and a dedicated tenure as the Vicar of St. Paul’s in Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter, it was in that very neighborhood—surrounded by the clinking of tools and the legacy of metalwork—that her obsession with silver took root.
Now, settled in the old Graig Fach Chapel in Machynlleth, Mary’s creative output knows no bounds. She is an eclectic crafter of the highest order, moving fluidly between knitting, crochet, quilting, and felting, with regular detours into stained glass, acting, singing, and writing. If it involves making something with her hands or expressing a story, Mary is in.
She is the vibrant, beating heart of the workshop, though she is the first to admit her process is not exactly “textbook.” You won’t find her behind a drafting table sketching out blueprints—that’s just not how her brain works. Instead, she leaps into the deep end, figuring out the technicalities as she goes. She isn’t much for meticulous planning, preferring the thrill of spontaneous discovery and the joy of creating in the moment. For Mary, every piece of jewelry is an act of intuition, a beautiful experiment that brings a touch of magic and a dash of joyful chaos to the craft of silversmithing.
on
The Workshop Architect
Jon’s journey has been anything but linear. Born in Swansea, he has spent a lifetime mastering the bridge between the technical and the creative. His path began with the violin at age six—a pursuit that blossomed into a professional career in music sessions by the time he was thirteen. That innate understanding of harmony and frequency eventually evolved into a second life as an electronics whizz, born from the necessity of keeping his own gear alive. This technical curiosity eventually scaled up to the world of high-voltage civil engineering, where he spent his years designing the massive transmission towers that crisscross our landscape.
In 2020, Jon’s world shifted when he teamed up with Mary. Together, they transformed a historic 18th-century chapel into their home and sanctuary of creation. While his days of designing behemoth pylons are behind him, Jon has found a new, exhilarating focus: scaling his engineering skillset down to the intricate and the imaginative. By trading the staid world of industrial infrastructure for the magic of the workbench, he has rediscovered his creative pulse. Whether he’s at the lathe or programming the CNC, Jon is finally building things that spark joy, proving that for an engineer with a bit of imagination, there is always a new frontier to explore.
rrol
Head of Marketing (Official Title: Goodboy Bindle Featherstone of Quirm)
If you have visited our stall at any of the markets, you have likely already met the true face of the operation. Errol is our Head of Marketing, a position he takes with the utmost seriousness—usually conducted from a strategic vantage point on the rug.
Errol’s daily itinerary is packed with high-level responsibilities. His mornings are dedicated to rigorous workshop supervision, ensuring that Jon’s soldering and Mary’s silversmithing meet the highest standards of “good form.” He also acts as the official liaison for our household, managing the delicate office politics between himself and the domestic feline management team, Alice and Loki.
But Errol really shines when we are on the road. He believes that a well-crafted piece of jewelry or a finely-tuned CUTIE robot is only as good as the welcome that accompanies it. He is a firm believer that all potential customers should be greeted with a gentle wag, a soft gaze, and, if the situation warrants it, a polite investigation of their snack situation. He maintains a strict “quality over quantity” policy regarding treats, though he is generally open to negotiations.
When you see him at the craft fairs, feel free to say hello—he considers every visitor a potential new friend, and his “tail-based” feedback system is the most honest marketing you’ll find in all of Wales.