I N T R O D U C I N G
the Erobre collection
Erobre: Norwegian meaning ‘Conquer’
This collection has been on quite a journey…
Have you ever experienced something that completely changed the way you think about challenge?
For me, that experience was watching the film ‘The Dawn Wall’ (it’s on Netflix). It’s about the first free climbers (climbing without ropes) to scale the Dawn Wall of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, America. Their tenacity was incredible. They would camp out on the rock face, for days, repeating sections until they could do them. Conquering the challenge became an obsession, they didn’t succeed the on the first try - they didn’t give up at the 3rd failed attempt. They kept going, having a break when they needed and then trying again.
Around the same time as watching the film, I met my good friend Beth Elsdon (of Walter and May fame, have you met?) and she introduced me to one of her favourite quotes:
‘Courage doesn’t always roar - sometimes its that quiet voice at the end of the day that says “I will try again tomorrow”’. It struck a cord.
Mr W and I met through climbing many years ago. One afternoon at our local bouldering wall The Red Goat, a hold caught my eye. It was geometric and purple. I started to notice more, peppered around the wall.
Suddenly I remembered that film and the quote and started to ‘see' the holds as pieces of jewellery… a seed had been planted.
I knew I wanted the pieces to be solid metal - be it silver or gold. So I set about doing some research into carving silver. But I also wanted the pieces to be a certain price point and carving silver is time consuming. What if I could just carve the piece once and get it copied?! I discovered a video on Instagram of a jeweller who was showing her followers how she created one of her new pieces using Fimo! FIMO!!! I loved Fimo as a kid. So off to Hobbycraft I trotted and I bought two little blocks - in lilac, of course. So the cufflinks and hoop earring charms were formed using Fimo and a blade. I discovered I could get the pieces cast in silver, so I sent them off. I started to investigate more methods of casting and found videos (God bless Youtube and all who post on her!) on wax carving. I bought a kit and carved the pendant, the stud earrings and the ring from blue jewellers wax.
The first incarnation of the collection was called ‘Klatre’, created in collaboration with Beth and launched in Walter and May. But it needed some refinement. So two years later, here it is. Under a new name, with some new pieces.
I called the collection Erobre, meaning conquer - as with all my collections, I’m quite strong in the feeling that ‘conquering’ is whatever that means for YOU. Sometimes it’s finishing that thesis and receiving your doctorate or completing a 100mile trek. Sometimes its getting to the end of the day, leaving the house or conquering a fear! The collection is about celebrating overcoming the challenges life throws at us, whatever their size and shape.
