Hi! I'm Donna Marea Ratcliffe, I am the designer and maker behind Briar & Hawthorn.

In the years since graduating from Art School, where I studied Silversmithing & Jewellery, I have taken courses and attended workshops in everything from screen-printing to ceramics, sewing to lino-cutting, spoon-carving to weaving. Over the years, I have developed a love of and fascination with plants - taking courses in herbalism and horticulture as well as trying to keep on top of a seriously overgrown allotment. I set up Briar & Hawthorn as a way of combining my love of making using a variety of materials with my love of all things botanical. I am inspired by the plants themselves, their beauty and endless variations, their uses both in the past and the present and also by the stories and folklore surrounding them.

I try to work in the most sustainable way possible, using recycled materials and packaging whenever I can and I donate a proportion of the profits from each sale to tree-planting charities in a bid to make my creative practise not only sustainable but to try make a positive contribution to our natural world.

Every item is handmade, by me, in my little workshop in Stirling in the heart of Scotland where I live with my husband and three children.

DM x

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