Simone Welsh

Australian jeweler, Simone Walsh, is an inspiration to all one-man-band jewelery designs.  Not only does her jewelry reflect a sense of originality and dedicated to quality, but her success is a testament to her hard work and dedication to being a successful business woman.  Yet every...single...piece is completely handmade.   Here she gives us some insight into that productivity,  and I really feel that this gal is someone that many aspiring jewelers, and established jewelers alike can (and should) look up to.

Your work features a lot of piercing and intricate patterns yet you seem to be highly productive.  How do you manage to produce these detailed pieces so quickly?  Do you have any sawing secrets?

I used to find piercing a chore until I stumbled across a line in one of my technical books that described a saw blade as being like a very fine sliver of a file.  That simple insight made me think about piercing work very differently and to start seeing it as having similarities to the process of carving - something I've always enjoyed doing.  Since then I've learned to love piercing work and going about it in a more organic way I'm sure helps me to finish pieces quicker - as does simply doing a lot of it as I'm sure my abilities in that area have increased a lot just from so much practice!  I now feel a lot more at ease when I'm doing sawing work now that I do so much of it.

Nature is a big influence of course, but I'm particularly interested in the way that different cultures make use of and refer to nature in their art and design.  I've also always been inspired by my travels and various periods of history that intrigue me for one reason or another.  But even simply seeing a piece of jewellery or clothing that someone is wearing can be enough to send me off into doing rough sketches to evolve ideas and problem solve.

My favorite piece from my current production range is a very simple, large link handmade chain.  I first made one of these just for myself years ago and I still wear it almost every day.  I've always felt that handmade chains are special given the labor involved in every single link.  It does sell pretty well, so I think customers must appreciate that too!

I've actually come to quite enjoy the repetition involved in the production work I do - quite unexpectedly!  I do like the idea of perfecting a skill by repeatedly doing the same piece of work - as with piercing work for instance - but also I like the fact that every piece I make of the same design is always subtly different from every other piece.

However, while I think my work has naturally evolved over time, I'd really love to be able to find the time to challenge myself a lot more than I do.  Going back to full time study would be fantastic, but even having a period of time each week that I could set aside to create work which may never go into production but which is intended to push my skills and knowledge further would be great.  It's something I've promised myself I will start doing once I've moved and have a better studio space (I hope it happens soon!).

I think earning a crust doing something I love and have been passionate about for such a long time is very motivating, as is working for myself and being solely responsible for my own business.  The downside is that it tends to make me a workaholic!  Also having a new design idea in mind can be very motivating as I nut out how to make it work as simply as possible.  I often find myself very distracted and driven when I'm in that mode as my brain keeps working on problem solving until I've figured it out (or have given up in frustration occasionally!).

Marian Hosking, an Australian contemporary jewellery maker, makes work that I find astoundingly beautiful and engaging.  Her work is so organic and seems to combine complexity with simplicity in such an interesting way.  I'm definitely a fan!

They actually approached me a while before the Gallery (and its shop) opened late last year and asked if I would be interested in supplying them.  I tend not to do a lot of wholesale as I prefer to deal with customers directly, but this seemed like such a great opportunity and they've been really good people to work with.  I just need to get myself to Canberra at some stage to have a look at the place myself!

Gosh, how to decide?!  Extra arms would definitely be something I'd love to have - and entirely heat resistant extra arms!  Fingernails that never get messed up by files or sawblades would be great too!  Another would be to be able to magically hold tiny pieces of metal in place while I drill them without my fingers needing to be nearby.  And finally I'd like to be able to magically have my orders packed for posting without me having to lift a finger.