Deborah graduated in fine art and has worked in a variety of disciplines including animation, model making and packaging design. She had been making acrylic jewellery for several years before enrolling on a jewellery design diploma to further her skills. Her current collection War Without Tears is hallmarked 925 sterling silver.
War Without Tears developed after Deborah was moved by the human tragedy that escalated during the summer of 2015. Daily images of suffering ensued as refugees, particularly from Syria, fled their homeland to find safety. Deborah was especially drawn to the plight of the children, caught up in a conflict they couldn’t possibly understand. One particular image of a child crawling under coils of razor wire was incredibly powerful and formed the nucleus of the idea from which the collection grew.
The collection is distanced from any particular conflict but offers instead a comment on war in general – its ultimate futility yet apparent ceaselessness and cyclical progression through consecutive generations. Plastic soldiers are used as a starting point for the designs. Played with by children the world over – a symbol of war but used here as a metaphor for the lost childhoods of the youngest of those caught up in the atrocities and the toys they left behind.