Introducing Jess from The Hammering Hag. Where every item is handmade!! From her home in the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, Jess hand-crafts her jewellery using traditional techniques.
Find out why Jess started creating and why she is so passionate about the value of handmade.
Tell us about your creations and your handmade process.
I create handmade silver jewellery from my home studio on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia. I also work with copper, brass, gemstones and pearls. My jewellery is hand-fabricated, which means that each piece is cut, shaped and finished by hand using traditional techniques that are no longer common in mass-produced jewellery. I work with natural gemstones to create small batch collections. And I create a variety of hand fabricated silver and mixed metal jewellery pieces.
Each year, I release a new line of mixed metal earrings. This years collection has a whimsical forest theme featuring copper mushrooms, fern fronds, copper and brass blossoms and hoops of bark-textured copper. During the quieter times of the year, I also enjoy working one-on-one with customers to make their bespoke jewellery dreams a reality.
Tell us a bit about your journey to becoming a handmade artist.
My second child was born right at the start of the Covid-19 lockdowns, and it was during all of the disruption that I realised I wanted to start my own creative business from home. I have always been crafty, so I began exploring a variety of creative mediums.
My first exposure to metalsmithing was on TikTok. I found a creator who makes bespoke silver jewellery from her home studio and I instantly fell in love. Everything snowballed from there, really.
What is your inspiration or where do you find inspiration?
My favorite jewellery designs are usually nature inspired. I love adding little silver leaves or leaf cut-outs to my pieces. As an Australian with a very mixed heritage, I am also inspired by ancient silversmiths. My ancestors came from Scotland, Sweden, Germany and England. Countries with many different cultural traditions. But one thing they all have in common is the art of silversmithing.
Working with silver helps me to feel culturally connected to my ancestors.
Where did you learn your craft?
After discovering silversmithing on TikTok, I took a deep dive into any online source I could find. I watched hours of YouTube videos and asked endless questions in Facebook groups. I started teaching myself by practicing with brass and copper before moving on to silver. It is not lost on me that I am incredibly fortunate to live in a time when so much education is freely available.
I have heard from women a generation or two before me who really struggled to find anyone willing to teach them. This has been a male dominated craft for a long time. But now, with social media, it is much easier to find a willing teacher. The metalsmithing community is wonderfully accepting and generous with their knowledge.
Why is handmade artistry so important to you?
Supporting human creators is becoming more and more important as AI explodes into our lives. Choosing hand-fabricated jewellery keeps traditional metalsmithing alive. Metal that has been hand-hammered into shape is denser and more durable than mass produced jewellery.
Hand fabricated jewellery is a product of human touch and creativity. Each piece is unique wearable art that connects the wearer with the metalsmith. At a time when cheap, mass produced jewellery abounds, hand-fabrication offers bespoke jewellery with soul.
Jess is a much loved member of the MadeIt Collective, posting regularly in our Facebook Group ~ The Handmade Marketplace of Australia ~ and sharing their new creations as they are released. If you haven't connected with The Hammering Hag, make sure you join our FB Group and say hi !
