Interview with the artist - Rachael from Rachael's Wire Garden

Today I am happy to welcome Rachael, a jewelry artist I met on deviantART. Does her business name make you curious?

Let's jump right in then.

What's your craft and how did you get to do it in the first place?

The kind of crafts I make are mainly wire-wrapped Tree of Life pendants, but I do create other occasional wire-wrapped jewelry or ornaments as well. I became inspired to learn how to wire-wrap after coming across some beautiful wire-wrapped stone cabochons. That particular art form wasn’t proving to be my finesse, but then I came across the Tree of Life design. It took me a couple tries before I got one to look halfway decent lol, but from day one I had so many ideas running through my head. Now, I have a little bit more skill in which to execute them.

Celtic Peridot Tree of Life

I think this is one of the most asked questions – where does your inspiration come from?

I actually have never been asked this question before, but I'm very happy to finally answer it =] I get my inspiration from all different kinds of sources, but it all comes down to things that I love: nature, people, a type of culture, holidays... even some of my favorite TV shows or video games haha. There is no lack of things that I love, so the inspiration is always flowing.

 

Fairy of the Roses

What's your favorite tree in nature?

The Wisteria tree. I've heard that Japan has a BEAUTIFUL garden of wisteria trees, and I'd absolutely love to go there someday. The pictures I've seen are like nothing I've ever seen before.

Tell us a fun thing about yourself.

I love, love, LOVE jellyfish.

Cloud Tree of Life

Do you do other crafts, if yes, what?

I do many other forms of crafts, yes! When I was little, I was constantly making weird little creations out of toilet paper rolls, old candy wrappers, and TAPE – LOTS of tape – and that strange sense of creativity continued along as I grew up. I’ve moved on from toilet paper rolls since then lol, and onto bigger things like making quilts, plushies, and clothes. I also like to be very decorative with food I make (cakes, for example), though I’m not very good at it.

Which one of your pieces is your absolute favorite? Which one was the hardest to make and why?

Hmm, that's a tricky one lol. I have quite a few favorites, but my MOST favorite would probably be my "Winter is Coming" pendant that's themed to House Stark from Game of Thrones. That particular design has a lot of sentimental feelings attached with it, as it was the first piece that gave me recognition as an jewelry artist.

Winter Is Coming

The piece that was the most difficult to make (so far) was my ornament, "Rainbow Bridge." (which is actually my favorite of Rachael's pieces) It took an extremely long amount of time to create; both the actual making of it and also trying to figure out how to incorporate the concept. Rainbow Bridge is a comforting poem for anyone who has lost a pet. Being the big animal lover that I am, I wanted to theme a Tree of Life design around this poem. But, seeing as "trees" and "paw prints" don't really go together lol, it was a little bit of a challenge. I'm pretty happy with the end result though =]

Rainbow Bridge paw print ornament

Is there someone whom you admire and who inspires you?

My mom. She has always encouraged my creative side, and the only reason I even started making wire-wrapped jewelry is because she helped get me started.

Eywa Tree of Souls

If you had free choice of one supply you need for your work, no matter how expensive, what would it be?

Sterling silver wire. I haven't been able to work with sterling silver as much as I'd like to because of the cost, but eventually as my shop continues to grow, I hope to work with it more and more.

Do you sell online, if yes, where can we find you?

You can find my jewelry for sale on my Etsy site Rachael's Wire Garden.

 

Famous last words ;-) Is there anything else you want to tell us?

Even though I’ve done artsy things my whole life, I’m fairly new in the artist community. It has been such a wonderful experience for me to really get out there and share my art with other people, but I’ve also been faced with many new challenges and trials. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to keep being yourself and not get discouraged. I don’t know what kind of doors will open up in my life now that I’ve started down this road, but I’m very excited for any opportunities that may come my way!

Thank you for letting us learn a bit more about you and your work, Rachael, and all the best for your future!

Well, people, how about a little stroll in the garden now?