The Greek goddess Athene Ergane is
patroness of craftspersons, artisans and manual
workers. As she is the particular goddess of weavers and martial
metalworkers, I find her name especially appropriate for my work,
chainmaille jewelry.
I
have been fascinated by jewelry all my life, and likewise have always
loved working with my hands. I began making jewelry just for fun around
the age of twelve, but began to take it more seriously in 2004. I was
doing beadwork and some wirework when I decided to take a stab at
chainmaille, out of curiousity. My first attempts failed miserably. But
I was determined, and once it clicked, I was hooked. I love the puzzle
of learning a new weave, of deciding out what to do with a
weave,
or figuring out how to embellish it. In some ways, what I love most is
taking a form used to make tools of war, an ugly business, and using it
to make things of beauty.
I
believe that we all need things of beauty in our lives. I also
believe that when we dress ourselves, we are putting on the day's
armor. We are preparing for the day's events, and making choices about
how we want the outside world to see us. We will face
struggles
in our day, (may yours all be small and easily won) and we do what we
must to be ready. Perhaps a small reminder of protection will give you
the extra strength or courage to get you through your day.
More
recently, I have been experimenting with
metalsmithing, and as my skills increase I hope to incorporate more of
that work into the jewelry that I offer.
I
curently live in Rhode Island. My work is
available thru Etsy.com,
Maxima
Gift
Center
in Arlington.
If
you would like to
discuss details for custom work, please email.
