Artisan jewellery, handmade ethically (with ethics!) is what I create with my hands in an effort to creatively express myself. Both the subject matter and choosen materials reflect these thoughts and emotions. The ‘eco-conscious’, ‘ethical’ labels are a fairly new signal to the ‘market’ place. Twenty odd years ago When I started making my art in jewellery form from old unwanted coins and cutlery there was no internets or desire for such creations!
In 2018 you can find hundreds of manufactures and makers offering a bewildering array of ‘green’ produce. This is a great thing, in theory. I say this tentatively as I do have a couple of reservations. I guess its to do with personal intent. I have always been wary of the ‘band wagon’ effect and the motives behind such actions. Certainly there are many wonderful thoughtful kind hearted creators out there making work with sympathy for the earth. However, it would be naive to assume that all makers share the same connection with the earth and have the good intentions. Many mid-large size jewellery manufactures are jumping on this ‘niche market’ (as i’ve heard it referred to!) to strip it of its core, in the usual dogmatic capitalistic manner of a machine with too many heads.
Mmm, me thinks I should of planned or thought out this blog post!? I sat down to write a piece about a winter solstice at stonehenge recycled silver florin piece I recently finished and now I’m thinking about how corporations always seem to smother individual creativity and the voice of ‘man’ and replace it with neatly packaged slogans….
