This week we welcome urban forest dweller Jess from Full Spiral Designs. Jess is a good online friend of mine – we joke that we are each others’ doppelgangers! Jess also makes eco-friendly metal jewellery – but she has a beautiful style all of her own… come check it out!

Where do you live?

Melbourne

Where do you do your work?

My jewellery creations happen in my humble home studio, aka an old shed that I have set up with an impromptu jeweller’s bench. My writing and other work happen wherever I feel like opening my laptop – usually curled up on the living room couch with a puppy in my lap.

What’s your favourite place in the world, and why?

It’s a tie between Hanalei, the most gorgeous little surfing village on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, and Telluride, a mountain village & ski resort tucked away in the San Juans of Colorado.  But there are so many other fabulous places that I love and many more I have yet to explore.

Tell us a little bit more about yourself! Your ‘day job’ or business, family, hobbies…

I have an MA in Gastronomy, quite possibly the world’s most esoteric field.  However I find the role of food in our lives totally fascinating, and I enjoy writing about nourishment from many different perspectives.  I see this part of me as being in alignment with my artistic side, too, because creating jewellery or any form of art is also nourishment – of the soul.  It’s all part of finding balance and wholeness as a person, which I’ve realised is a very complex process!

What did you want to be ‘when you grew up’?

Am I grown up?  Oh dear.  Didn’t get that memo. I’ve always been a live in the moment, flit from one activity to the next kinda gal, so I’ve never had much time to focus on what I am going to be in the future because I’m too busy being what I am now.

How did you first get into your craft/art?

I started making jewellery while I was writing my Master’s dissertation.  I think all that intellectual exertion demanded that I take up something purely creative as a sort of balance.  I still have the very first bead that I ever wrapped – I keep it pinned to my bulletin board so I can remember how far I’ve come!  Jewellery making felt like coming home to me, and I really haven’t looked back.  It’s kind of taken over and I love it!

What do you make?

Messes!  Somehow pieces of jewellery do emerge from my messy studio though, and I’m quite proud of them.  I like making intricate pieces, I see them as little works of art.  But it’s also really important to me that my pieces be wearable and comfortable, and lately I am more and more drawn to minimalism – in a spirally, organic way, of course!

What are you most proud of making?

I’m pretty proud of every piece of jewellery that I make and every piece of writing that I publish.  As far as I’m concerned, the key is to put your heart and soul into everything that you do.  Take pride in your work and make it the best that you possibly can.  And then take a deep breath and take that last crucial step – put it out there for the world to see.

What do you like the most/least about selling your wares online?

I love selling online.  I don’t know when I become a computer nerd, but one day I realised that I really like working on websites!  Honestly I find the creative work of presenting my work online just as stimulating as making the jewellery pieces themselves.  It’s a whole different set of challenges when compared to selling in shops or at markets, but I really enjoy using words and pictures to convey what my pieces are about.  Oh, and the best part?  Shipping my baubles all over the world and delighting customers in places as far away as Russia and Brazil!

I love…

Well, we are love, right?  So I try to be grateful for and open to love in all its forms.

It drives me crazy when…

There are a lot of great big problems in the world that drive me crazy, and I can’t understand why more people aren’t demanding solutions to them.  The one that gets me the most is how much we are poisoning our earth and our bodies – spreading harmful chemicals across the planet, coating our foods with them, tossing them into the oceans, spraying them into the air.  I’d like to see a world where we all had access to pure drinking water, natural organic whole foods, and unpolluted air.  It drives me crazy that people don’t realise that the absolute trash they’re eating and drinking is the root of dis-ease in our bodies and societies.

What’s your favourite word?

Action.

If you could sum yourself or your work up in one sentence, it would say…

I’m an urban forest dweller, drawn to create adornments inspired by the beauty and contradictions of both the natural and the technological aspects of our contemporary lives.

Find Jess Online!

Shop:  fullspiral.etsy.com

Website:  fullspiraldesigns.com

Blog:  messy-bessie.com

Twitter:  @FullSpiral

Facebook Page:  facebook.com/FullSpiralDesigns

CLOSED

Jess is giving away this gorgeous Copper Hammered Double Wrap Ring! Similar to the silver one above, but in yummy, organic copper… mmm… custom made just for you… open world-wide, so get entering!

To Enter:

1. Visit Full Spiral Designs and come back here leaving a comment about your favourite piece from the page.

2. For additional entries, leave a comment saying that you: followed or subscribed to Epheriell Designs (or already do); have twittered about the givewaway; have shared the giveaway with friends on Facebook, or; you have written a blog post about it.

3. Entries close next Friday, the 22nd of October, at 12pm Australian EST.

The winner will be chosen via Random.org

Please remember to leave me a way of contacting you!

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The winner of last week’s wing by sea giveaway is Lynn!

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