Discovering jewellery during her formative years at South Hill Park Arts Centre, Jo Pond progressed through Berkshire and Loughborough Colleges of Art & Design, establishing her design process some years later, during her Masters at the School of Jewellery in Birmingham. She was awarded for her Narrative Jewellery Collection, winning the 2005 BDI Industry & Genius Awards in the category of Products and Genius. Her work has been exhibited internationally, showcased at selected exhibitions such as Schmuck in Munich, the V&A Museum London, Price Tower Arts Centre Oklahoma, Galerie Rob Koudijs Amsterdam, Velvet da Vinci San Francisco and Contemporary Applied Arts in London.

Born in Chiswick, London, Jo is now based in rural Derbyshire. After lecturing at the School of Jewellery in Birmingham for fourteen years, and becoming a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, she now works full-time as a studio jeweller. 

 "I come from a family of 'Ponds' who appear to have a genetic necessity for hoarding; digging up metal detector finds was the foundation of a passion for objects which others might not quite appreciate. This fashioned the beginnings of a lifetime of habitual collecting. Utilising this drive to accumulate the unconventional and unwanted, coupled with an aesthetic appreciation of the details of decomposition and change, I choose to incorporate items potentially paradoxical within jewellery, to create beautiful and on occasion, confusing objects. Employing symbolic references of form, material and technique, I dabble in the potential for wearable items to become vehicles for communication; whether through sense, nostalgia, or knowledge."

All images, text & designs are copyright of Jo Pond © 2024 ​'Stood in the light' neckpiece photographed by Charles Colquhoun