A woman with glasses and a beige sweater takes a selfie in her art studio, surrounded by paintings, art supplies, a seagull illustration with the word "hello," a photo of two people at sunset with wine, a person hiking on a green hillside, and a seashell.

I’m Sarah, the owner of and designer for Shark Alley.

I live in Brighton, a lively and creative city on the south coast of England, with my husband Dan.

I came to Brighton to study for a degree in illustration at Brighton Polytechnic, and as a student, I experimented with all sorts of media - chalk pastels, coloured pencils, acrylic paint and collage - and I loved photography too.

FUN FACT
My personal tutor was Raymond Briggs, of The Snowman and Fungus The Bogeyman fame.

A collage featuring an artist drawing at a workspace, various artworks including a portrait and a painting, a pizza, pencils, and photographs including a woman and an architectural exterior.
A congratulatory arrangement featuring a portrait of a woman with red flower in her hair, a diploma, a pair of scissors, a Kingfisher Books catalog, and colorful fish and star-themed art.

When I left college, I began to work freelance as an illustrator, using mixed media and paper collage.

I worked for lots of different clients including ELLE magazine, The Telegraph, the Mail On Sunday, Ecover, Sony and Oxford University Press, and I was a prizewinner in the Reader’s Digest Young Illustrator competition.

But I didn’t really enjoy it.

I love making things, so I kept doing craft projects on the side, such as embroidery, patchwork, papier mâché and mosaic. In the late 90s I spent a year or so working with textile designer Kaffe Fassett on several of his mosaic projects, culminating in a gold medal winning garden at the Chelsea Flower Show in 1998, described as ‘the trend-setting garden of the year’s show’.

Collage of mosaics, craft supplies, and decorative objects including a couple standing in a greenhouse, mosaic tiles, a small wrench, a decorated globe, a handwritten note, and two mosaic head sculptures.
Collection of jewelry, accessories, and decorations with an owl, heart-shaped garland, earrings, flamingo necklaces, and a cat figurine, labeled 'jewelry'.

I am obsessed with jewellery and in 2010, I started making it for the first time, using papier mâché, beads and resin in various combinations. I was inspired by Indian jewellery before switching to wildlife themes.

 My current style developed in 2016. It took a long time to come around to laser cut designs as I needed to make sure what I was doing was original, different and true to my own vision. My first designs were two cats.

In 2021, I started making the hand painted bird brooches inspired by birdwatching in my local park during lockdown.

I specialise in brooches, because there are no holes to factor into the designs!

A collage of crafting supplies and art projects including painted and unpainted animal motifs, paint palette, paintbrush, paint cans, a hand holding a tool, a hand with a brush, color swatches, and the words 'laser cuts' and 'Charlotte Locks' written on a lid.
A collage with the word 'inspirations' written across it, featuring images of two geese, a dragonfly, a woman with flowing hair, a flock of birds, and artistic illustrations.

I find inspiration for my jewellery in decorative, stylised and graphic art. I love Ancient Egyptian art, Art Nouveau, and artists Alfons Mucha, Gustav Klimt, Robert Gillmor and Charley Harper.

 Growing up in a nature-loving family, birds and animals are a huge inspiration for all my work. My dad was a keen birdwatcher, my grandfather a passionate amateur botanist, and my great-uncle corresponded with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain about the birdlife in St James’s Park just before WW2!

 I love going birdwatching and photographing birds - it’s very inspiring and great for mental health.

Collage of nature and wildlife images, including a woman looking up, a kingfisher bird perched on a branch, a photographer in yellow flowers, a bird perched on a branch, and a letter with official seals.
Scrabble tiles spelling out 'SHARK,' 'ALLEY,' 'SARAH,' and 'KELLY,' with logos for 'Shark Alley' and 'Brighton, crafted in Brighton' on a white background.

I get asked A LOT about the origin of the name of my business as it is pretty unusual.

The simple answer is that it is an anagram of my maiden name - Sarah Kelly.