The Sunday Times: Issue #7

Hello, friends! It's hard to believe yet another week has flown by, but here we are!

This week has been stranger than most for me. Some uncanny coincidences have taken place amidst my attempts to get progress made on the Paradiso Collection. I will detail one of those coincidences below as I think it will prove important later this year when I start work on the Fall collection.

As you read on, you'll also find a progress update on the wax carving for the new collection. I've managed to complete 3 wax ring carvings - just a few more and I'll be sending off the first batch for casting. Finally, I spent some time this week cleaning and re-arranging the studio and thought now would be a good time to give you all a tour!

So pour yourself a cup of tea and get comfy.

"Women who love the dirt love the dead."

- Perdita Finn

UNCOVERING ROOTS

A STRANGE COINCIDENCE

Something I have been doing lately in my free time, but haven't yet shared much about publicly, is researching my ancestral roots. I grew up knowing very little about where my family came from (all I knew was that my mom's side is French Canadian and my dad's is likely from England) as it wasn't often discussed. For some reason, a couple months ago, I woke up wide awake at 4am and remembered that I had some papers that my aunt had given to me many years prior, detailing some information that a distant cousin had assembled about our family. The handwriting was really difficult to read, so after a quick once-over, I had stashed them with other important documents and hadn't given them much thought since.

For reasons I can't explain, something came over me that early morning to get those papers out and try to decipher them. After a few hours, I'd come up with some rudimentary understanding of my paternal grandmother's family (they immigrated from England and Germany) but still knew virtually nothing about everyone else.

I decided to get a membership on Ancestry.com to try to fill in the gaps. I had no idea how much this would take over my life as it became the only thing I wanted to work on. Everyday I discovered new, exciting facts by accessing marriage licenses, birth certificates, newspaper articles, etc. The one I will detail today pertains to my paternal grandfather's family, the Jennings.

The photo above is of my first mood board above my old bench in my old studio, from 2018. I put together this mood board to have an overall direction for the vibe of my new company, Palm Sunday. At the time, I had only begun to take lessons on metalsmithing and hadn't yet released a collection or even sold much jewelry. The mood board was comprised of printouts of images I found inspirational and motivating. One of them, located on the upper left hand corner, was a portrait detail of hands and rings.

This week, while doing completely unrelated research on Medieval jewelry for a custom client, I came across a portrait that stopped me dead in my scroll.

I recognized those hands! All these years, this photo had no head, it was just hands holding a flower. Here she finally was in her totality.

Upon an inspection of the caption, I saw that it said "Portrait of Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury." The name Pole sounded familiar as I had just uncovered a few days earlier a distant relative with that name. I checked with my tree on Ancestry, and sure enough, YES! Not only did I have a Pole in my lineage, I had THIS Pole! Margaret Pole is my 14th Great Grandmother through my dad's side.

All this time, I've had her hands on my mood board, guiding my business and serving as inspiration and didn't know we were related. It was such a strange feeling to acknowledge. And even more coincidental was the fact that my image was cropped from the neck down - she died in 1541 when she was beheaded at the Tower Of London.

I have a feeling this image will take on an even more important role in Palm Sunday come the Fall Collection, so stay tuned.

You can learn more about Margaret Pole here - she was one amazing lady.

THIS WEEK AT MY BENCH

Here are the first two rings I have carved for Paradiso. I am starting to become more comfortable really leaning into my inspiration and taking the shapes and textures of the seashells in my mood board more literally. I'm really enjoying carving bezels with scalloping and fluting. As I look around my studio, a lot of my teacups and vases have scallops and fluting, so that makes a lot of sense.

"An interior is the natural projection of the soul."

- Coco Chanel

WELCOME TO MY STUDIO

COME ON IN

My studio is my refuge. It's a converted garage so there's plenty of space for both a lounge area and work area. I've thrifted and antiqued just about everything in here from the lighting (a turn of the century blown glass lamp) to the furniture to the workbench.

I've quickly filled it with tools, plants, books and antiques over the course of the two years we've been in this house. I love to come in here to drink coffee, read, and do research even when I'm not working at the bench.

I found four stained glass panels on marketplace shortly after we moved in, so the side windows glow with tropical flowers and birds late in the day, giving the whole room a warm, almost sanctuary-like glow.

I use the two large bookshelves on either side of the french doors to display all of my collections. I collect shells, hourglasses, coral, and religious and occult relics, among other things. I often sell these as I find them on my other Instagram account @sunday__market.

The thing that brings me the most joy in my studio is my little solarium. I found this empty terrarium at a flea market last year and have really enjoyed hunting for miniature items to fill it with. It now resembles a miniature version of my dream room in my dream house - a Victorian sunroom filled with plants and birds.

Thank you for taking the tour with me! Maybe I'll hop on IG live again to do a live tour video. Let me know if that's something you'd attend!

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