Picking the right stick
Most people don’t realise my designs come straight from nature, that I mould real twigs and sticks to make my pieces. But even fewer people know just how little I have to do with the design process.
When it comes to my twig jewellery my biggest contribution is perceiving potential. I will amble around nature picking up twigs and studying them. I will turn them this way and that, imagining their potential as a wearable piece of jewellery. Most of the time what I pick up is not suitable for one reason or another and I will continue to search. Lots of twigs get tossed back into nature. I am hunting for the right twig, something with an artful bend or a charming curl, a tantalising twist or an exciting nodule. It’s so exciting when I find a twig that has “claws” this usually presents itself in the form of three small branches clustered together on a twig. The reason for the excitement is that when I cast the twig in sterling silver I won’t have to do any extra metal work, like adding wires to make a claw setting to hold a gemstone. Now please don’t misunderstand this eagerness to do less, it isn’t out of laziness, it is because nature has bestowed me the most perfect specimen for transforming into a wearable piece of jewellery. A specimen that comes with the natural ability to clutch a gemstone, it is delightfully perfect. The closer to the original and unaltered form the more completely I have captured the essence of nature.
So I wander through Wilson’s Promontory on the lookout for the most personality packed, handsome, practical twigs that are just laying around waiting for someone like me to notice their potential and immortalise it.
If you have a sentimental twig or a handsome stick you feel is destined for more than dust collecting on your book shelf, contact me and let’s talk about ways of making your wooden friend into a wearable, one of a kind, piece of jewellery.