CREATION
Creating that changes the world...
In my workshop, every piece of wood has its own story. It’s not just about designing jewellery, it’s about thinking about the deeper meaning of what I create. There is so much more to wood jewellery than aesthetics; it carries soul, history, experience and a connection to nature. My relationship with wood has changed radically since I started making jewellery.
In the beginning it was just a fascination with wood. I liked wood as a material, I liked the texture and the colour and that was it. Eventually I started to look at the wood I was working with beyond the ‘horizon’ of just a board of wood. I started to look at the trees that gave the wood. In that moment I saw the tree as something I took for granted, something that gave me wood for my workshop and that was it…
Then you start to realise that this tree also gives life to other creatures. Birds, insects, squirrels… Your perspective changes a little. And you think further. Because a tree is also a source of oxygen, a natural filter for our atmosphere. With each insight, your view of the tree changes. You realise that the tree may have been there for centuries. It has witnessed countless events.
You start researching… You come across amazing research and evidence, and your perception of trees changes radically. When you realise that they are living beings that respond to their surroundings and to us, that forests are actually sophisticated communities with unimaginable communication networks that experts call the “tree internet”, when you realise that “mother trees” send food through their root systems to “baby trees” that have grown from their seeds, then you think…
You feel pretty small. And you have to admit that you don’t really know anything about what many would call “a rather banal thing like a tree”.
When I choose wood for my jewellery, it’s not just a choice of material; it’s a choice of partner in the creative process. The wood I use was once part of a living tree that grew, evolved and lived its life just like you and me. Physically speaking, each piece of wood has its own colour, texture and smell, all of which have changed over the years. And then there’s so much more…
When I design jewellery, I realise that it is not just dead matter; it is life that has grown out of nature itself. A nature that we certainly don’t understand.
Each piece of wood jewellery contains a piece of this connection to nature, reminding us that we are inextricably linked to all that surrounds us. Trees are not only a symbol of life, but also of balance and harmony in nature. They are a reminder that we need to take care of our planet and that our role in this ecosystem is crucial.