I go through stages where I feel I have a lot of worthwhile things to say and at other times I wonder if it’s even worth raising my voice. I’ve been wanting to write about some genuinely heartfelt things but haven’t had the energy, at all. As if my emotional tanks have all been spent setting up this new studio.
I took over the new space on the first of September. It’s been a bit of an adjustment to say the least. Although I couldn’t have lucked out (aka hard work, perseverance and keen observation) on a better location for a manufacturing studio and shop space, I have to admit being on show takes some getting used to.
I’ve gotten used to a solitary existence. Making space for others doesn’t come so easy. Interesting then that I would change tack and open a public studio in the little yet cosmopolitan seaside village of Scarborough. No longer out of sight and out of mind. Now always around and ready to do business. Who is this new me?
Looking back at fourteen years of jewellery design and manufacturing has me reminiscing about all the places I’ve sat down in to create. I opened my first public space in two-thousand and nine. A rather large space in the industrial area of sleepy hollow town Knysna, at that point in time it was home to me. A month long trip to Mozambique had me setup a make shift studio outside my tent to make and sell jewellery in between surfs. I briefly moved studios to Stellenbosch for a change of scenery. Not long after that I fell in love and moved up the West Coast of Namaqualand in the Nothern Cape and went on to have a home studio with a panoramic view of the ocean and kilometers of coastline to explore with no else around. Back to the Garden Route in two-thousand and twelve. Shortly after that I was lucky enough to stay in my childhood dreamland Buffalo Bay for six months to a year. It was in that time that I claimed a spot on Thesen Island that stood empty for three years, apparently the wrong location and no one was interested until I turned the space around and made a success of it. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie. During that time I had an incredible opportunity to teach and be taught jewellery in a remote and rural part of Northern Mozambique, right on the shores of Lake Malawi. I lived in a reed hut on the edge of the lake for six weeks, lived and ate simply and walked ten kilometers a day to the class room (a neighboring village).
Safe to say I’ve never backed down from a challenge or an adventure when it felt right. And here I am again. Trusting that the money to pay rent will come and the success is already in hand. I’m a great cheerleader when it comes to backing myself.
So, let’s be real for a second. I am making this journey sound simple. I might be making it look too easy. Mainly because I don’t kick up a big fuss about my big decisions, I have my own back. I back myself in the really big moments in life and have proven to myself many times over that the resilience needed to succeed is something I have enough of. But I want to throw a curveball in the mix.
University wasn’t a breeze. I struggled to fit in. Understand; relate to; feel at home for four years of tertiary education. I went through depression; eating disorders; always being the slowest in class to finish practical assignments, totally out of sync and flow with myself. I wasn’t ready for the world, in hindsight I have never felt ready for the world, but here I was so it was either sink or swim and clearly something within me decided I could swim and I might as well be damn flippen good at it.
For three years after university I didn’t touch a single jewellery tool, paint brush or pencil and steered so far clear of anything to do with creativity. The memories of not being good at university were too painful. Fast forward a few years and the final crux came when a long term relationship ended at a crucial part of my life and I didn’t have a choice but to rely on my skills to put a roof over my head. I had to build a new life from scratch with only my hands and the skills I picked up along the way. There was no more sitting back and taking it easy, the day to really rely on myself has come knocking on my door.
A sad time to find resilience. But a good time to have trust in yourself instilled. What I am getting at is the trust and resilience in this one (me) runs strong, but I am noticing that I might not yet have the understanding of when to keep the ship sailing and when to let it sink. When you learn to always save a ship because you’re an expert in survival, it could end up being a habit instead of an intuitive decision in the right direction.
I know this new studio was a good idea. So for now I’m going with this being an intuitive decision in the right direction. Let’s see what happens in the next few months.
Pop in at The Village Hub, Scarborough. Where I manufacture bespoke pieces in studio and sell a quirky jewellery collection of necklaces, earrings and rings. If you’re far away enjoy my website and online store here.
Thanks for reading albeit in the last hours of a Monday evening.
Catch up soon
Stefni
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