Cheryl Bond:
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I work under the name of Coastal Crafts. My daughter and I started Coastal Crafts in 2013 making beaded and braided jewelry at home. At that time we worked in base metals and I developed an allergy to nickel, so had to change my metals to copper and silver. We started a fortnightly beading group that is still going today.
We called our business Coastal Crafts as originally we intended to sell more than just jewellery. I thought I might have time to get back to painting and I also want to make copper dragons and as of today they are still possibilities. When I get around to buying my microwave kiln, I will also be creating unique glass pendants. Over the years my daughter and I have pursued different areas of jewellery making. She has followed the braided side and I have moved to the metalsmithing side and we each do some of the beaded jewellery.
While I love the colours of the beads I wanted my items to last better by having soldered joints but my husband put his foot down about using open flame in the house, so an old shed was cleaned out, lined and set up as my studio. I started on the metalsmithing at the beginning of 2015 working in copper and silver, I read lots of books and worked my way through different techniques, tried different mediums, took a couple of weekend courses at Hungry Creek Art School.
Things did not always go how I expected and I had to solve a lot of problems along the way. I am still very much a novice but really love working with metals. I have not yet settled on a particular style for my work but are still exploring the possibilities
I have lived in Paura Bay since January 2000.
