KeastDesign

I began making jewellery over ten years ago. It started with collecting shells at the local beach where i grew up and stringing beads to create gifts for family and friends as well as pieces that were a little bit different for my own jewellery collection. I began searching through op shops to find old pieces of jewellery to cannibalise and make into something new. First it was economy driven, now, its a way of life for me. Breathing new life into something that has been loved once upon a time, then discarded for one reason or another. A broken clasp, a tangled mess of strings lurking in a drawer, a product that just does't fit with your style anymore. Any number of reasons call us to discard things that we may have once held dear. That's where i find myself, at the graveyard of old things, who have been loved and lost to the universe, awaiting rebirth by the gentle hand and appreciative eye of an artist with an obsession for fossicking.

What started with beads soon became anything i could get my hands on that had the potential to adorn the body. I love the challenge of reinvention. Seeing something old with new eyes and giving it a second use completely out of context with its original purpose. It feeds my soul and allows me to walk the line between art and design. I want to create for the sake of art and the pursuit of beauty alone but i am stimulated by the parameters of an already existing form that needs to be manipulated to suit a purpose. I guess a little like my own nature really. I would describe myself as an earthy pragmatic analytical and lateral thinker, but there's still a touch of the whimsy and romanticism left in me yet! Who doesn't enjoy a daydream reverie every now and then?! When it comes naturally, i will incorporate a touch of whimsy and humour into my bespoke pieces. I like to sit quietly with the new hoard each time i return from my hunter/gatherer afternoons and let the pieces take shape of their own accord. All the trimmings are there, i just need to listen for what they want to become.

Now, it no longer needs to be adornment for the body, although jewellery is my foremost passion, I find myself making furniture and homewares from recycled materials. Anything i need i would much rather make or repair, rather than buy off the shelf. I love the character of pre-loved materials. The embodiment of history that is a mystery, yet somehow still speaks through nicks and knocks that in my humble opinion, add value rather than detract. The Japanese have a term for this, they call it Wabi-Sabi, and i like it, so i want to share it with you :)

"In one sense wabi-sabi is a training whereby the student of wabi-sabi learns to find the most basic, natural objects interesting, fascinating and beautiful. Fading autumn leaves would be an example. Wabi-sabi can change our perception of the world to the extent that a chip or crack in a vase makes it more interesting and gives the object greater meditative value. Similarly materials that age such as bare wood, paper and fabric become more interesting as they exhibit changes that can be observed over time" (Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi)

So, this is me, the way i think, and how it influences my creative process and my progress developing an Etsy shop and sending these little pieces of me out into the world. Please take a look around my shop and i hope you enjoy the pieces therein as much as i have enjoyed the process of making them. I am always open to the challenge of working with you to help create something new from something old, please don't hesitate to message me if there is something i can help you with.

Thanks for reading!

Warm Regards,

Katie Keast
Designer/Maker - Keast Design