Upon Arrival: Éire

We stepped off the plane onto foreign soil and that felt like an unbounded miracle.

Two years of lockdowns, caution, distance, cancellations, postponements. This trip was scheduled for 2020. We thought it miiiighttt happen in 2021…but no. Finally in 2022, the green light stayed green and we, fittingly for that metaphor, touched down on the Emerald Isle.

Our Why

At the time, I wasn’t thinking about jewelry. I was simply ecstatic to be somewhere with my husband other than inside the walls of our house, and with friends to boot, experiencing something that felt new and novel. I also wasn’t thinking about moderation - from the moment we landed it was all about fish and chips, pubs and ale - the kind of revelry that 2 years prior we might have hemmed in a bit. How much Guinness is too much Guinness? I guess it depends on how recently you lived through a global pandemic…

We picked Ireland as our destination for a few reasons. Hiking was our preferred activity (we were still hesitant to be focused too heavily on cities and towns, still unsure of crowds) and the landscape there was incredibly beautiful. Backroads Travel outfitters has been our travel company of choice for many years because they put together a kickass program with great hikes, 5 star food, excellent lodging and the best guides ever. Having never been to Ireland before, we were hungry for those iconic verdant landscapes in the travel journals. We were not disappointed.

Rocky, green, lush, wet

A photo of our Backroads Travel group in front of one of the waterfalls we hiked to in the Irish Countryside.

Water was certainly a feature of the trip. This land is full of streams, lakes and lots and lots of rain. The weather was constantly changing - we were changing in and out of our wet weather gear on almost every hike. One of the many special things about this group, that turned something that could have felt tiresome and less-than-ideal into part of the magic, was that no one ever complained about getting wet. That could have gone another way…but the rainy moments instead felt intrinsic to the landscape. How could a landscape this green and lush exist without intermittent rain storms? The good attitude of our group highlighted that and that small turn of perspective continues to reverberate in my life.

“You can do it like it’s a great weight upon you, or you can do it like it’s part of the dance.” - Ram Dass

One consistent decorative element of the many, many fields that we ventured through were the sheep. They are all spray painted the signature color of their local farmer so not to confuse one flock from another. To my American eye, I couldn’t unsee that it seemed like animal abuse, but it is effective…

Backroads hiking groups have the amazing ability to take you off the beaten track to places that you would have never found on your own. They drop you off on what seems to be a totally random spot at a field and the guild takes you up through this luscious pasture up and over gates, past spray painted sheep, across streams and through vistas that you only see in pictures.

The steadfast nature of stone

The country is rich in history and architecture. We went through lots of ruins, only some of which had been restored. Stone structures are the norm and they come with a certain ancient energy. You can tell they’ve been there for awhile, that they will likely be there for much longer. There’s something about that solidity and staying power that I tried to bring into this collection. Styles that aren’t going anywhere, even if they aren’t hitting on the top trends of the day. Styles that literally have the energetic quality of time and tradition woven into them, that you might wear with reverence.

I especially liked this one wall we found. Jagged. The mason used what he had, didn’t ask for the materials to be different. I loved this wall, I think of it often.

After we finished with Backroads, we rented a car with our traveling buddies, Margaret and David. The first thing to do was to get a rental car - which was not as easy as it sounds. The common rental cars are ridiculously small by American standards, clearly not accounting for the travel wardrobe of American women. We almost had to make the tough call to leave our husbands behind so we could get all of our luggage in.

Next area of concern…..driving on the left side of the road especially when the roads are so narrow and we were driving on the coastline. Imagine this: a sheer cliff face to one side, no rail. There was a definite trust factor involved here, but it was worth the practice to experience the rugged beauty of this part of the world. If ever I was looking for a place to visit for an extended time, this would be on the top of my list. I might even leave behind my wardrobe for it…

How this trip became this collection: turn the bug into a feature

This was the first moment after the pandemic where my husband and I got to relax. It was such a big moment for us. My husband has really been bitten by the travel bug, even before this trip, but this trip was an exhalation and I understood his need to get out and explore in a way I hadn’t before the pandemic (if you know me, you know I am a chronic home-body). In the years since this trip, we have made it more of a priority to travel and see new places, experience new cultures. We travel with friends, family, travel groups, whatever and whenever we can. This means that I am always recalibrating how my career as a fine jeweler fits into that larger puzzle, not to mention being Nanna to FOUR little ones now.

Any artist will know that creativity ebbs and flows. I was in a creative slump at the end of 2023, looking at our calendar for 2024 and realizing I was traveling more than I was home. I met with Jerrica and told her - I don’t know how we are going to do this and keep up with our orders. I couldn’t think of what to make next because I wasn’t in the studio long enough to have a clear brainstorming session…and then it hit us. Turn the bug into a feature.

No, I wasn’t thinking about jewelry when I was on this trip, but as soon as I looked back through our photos from this time, I felt the surge of creativity that I live for in this business. I knew the first collection had to be this one. Ireland. That sweet relief that shook us out of the doldrums of a pandemic, lush green air, expansive vistas that reminded us that our feet were solidly on this Earth. Architecture that whispered, don’t worry. Ideas flowed freely, my sketch book started filling up again.

In the last two years, my husband and I have traveled to some pretty amazing places. For now, new jewelry will be launched in capsule collections based on each of those places.