Things have been buuuusy lately! A house and studio move, a busy work schedule and winter flu thrown in the mix, and alongside all that, I have been quietly re-exploring the direction of my business.
As an environmental scientist, I am always curious about how I can make this business and the way that I create gentler on the planet, trying to strike a balance between my need for creative expression (which requires natural resources) and my need to live in a thriving and healthy ecosystem (which is impacted by the collection of said resources!). Something that has come up for me recently is the opportunity to align these values by leaning more into jewellery redesign and material recycling i.e. taking unworn pieces and recycling the materials into something new, sounds cool right?
Pictured: the process of melting metal into liquid form, to be poured and set into a sand mould, a technique called "Sandcasting".
Interestingly, when I mention this to people in the industry, I’m often met with words of caution, and stories of deals gone wrong, disgruntled customers and money lost. Just recently I spoke to an antique jewellery trader who has been duped more than once by incorrect information about materials, sometimes through honest mistakes, sometimes not. This space is complicated and many in the industry seem unwilling to go there.
But the more I sit with it, I wonder if this sentiment that recycling/repurposing "isn’t worth it" is less about it being technically too hard and more of a reflection of how the conditions for doing it have changed. New materials have been made readily available through online trade and global supply chains, and the specialist tools for identifying unknown metals are expensive, so the path of least resistance is simply to buy new. The skills and knowledge to work with unknown or inherited materials haven't disappeared, but the incentive to develop them has quietly faded. Repair, repurpose, recycle, the ideas are not new, they are ones we’ve lost practice in.
So, I've decided to do some exploring. I’ve enrolled in a gemmology course to start building my knowledge of gem identification and ethical sourcing. I'm trying material swaps with other makers and in my custom work. I’m growing my learning and skill in working with recycled and inherited materials responsibly. I’m even experimenting with a name for it; Re-made with Grace.
It's the start of a journey and a re-invigoration of the impact I’d like to have with my business. Watch this space...
If you have a piece sitting in a drawer that deserves a new life, I'd love to hear about it. Get in touch here
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