I caught up with Geraldine from Saba Jewellery and really enjoyed a look at a completely different studio. Geraldine uses so many different materials and tools it was like a visit to an enchanted laboratory. It was amazing to see how much work and skill goes into making her beautiful jewellery. The brightness of the colours really struck a chord with me. I am saving up for a Kingfisher pendant!
You didn’t always work as a metalsmith Geraldine – can you tell us a bit about that?
You’re right – I had two different careers before realising that working with my hands, and working with metal in particular was what I really wanted. It is a compulsion I think!
Before setting up my business I had worked for several years in San Francisco on the business side of design and marketing. By the time I left there I was working as a strategic marketing consultant for America’s largest drug wholesaler. It was a great job and really well paid but I knew deep down it wasn’t for me. Eventually I moved to Spain and then back to Ireland where I returned to college to do animation. When I finished I got a job at an animation studio in Dublin as the Art Director’s assistant. I was doing colour work on a classically animated film called Sir Gawain and The Green Knight which won a BAFTA in 2001. It was a great experience. Then I worked for Brown Bag Films on the series of Give Up Yer Auld Sins which was produced after the original short film had been nominated for an Oscar in 2000.
I had been doing lots of classes in silver jewellery making at this time and had started buying my own equipment and working away at night, and when Give Up Yer Auld Sins was over I decided to try to set up my business – that was in 2003.
What inspires you ?
Animals really inspire me – I prefer animals to humans actually! I know how bad that sounds but animals are so straight forward, they just get on with it. And dogs in particular I love. I have two rescue dogs of my own and they are the best friends anyone could have. No matter what evidence there might be to the contrary, dogs see their owners as the most talented, most beautiful, most intelligent and most successful person on the planet. Who wouldn’t want a friend like that!?
I also love colour and love making stuff. Making stuff for a living sounds idyllic but actually there is a lot of stress involved unfortunately…such is life!! You have to be able to sell your work in order to keep going…and that is a totally different thing altogether.
Describe for us your process, how your product is made?
Well, I use a few different materials but primarily sterling silver, copper and enamel.
For the silver work, I usually make new designs straight from sheet sterling silver. I apply the hand drawn design to the sheet with glue, cut it out with a piercing saw by hand (like a hack saw but with a very thin blade), then I file, solder, sand, texture, polish and assemble it – whatever needs to be done to make it look the way I want. Then if people like the design and it sells I’ll make a pattern and have a casting company make moulds and then multiples. Those castings all need a lot of sanding and finishing too so I use a lot of sandpaper in my work! And it is pretty noisy too so I wear earplugs as much as I can. But that can be dangerous too…you have to be able to hear some of the equipment otherwise you might get hurt.
For the enamelled pieces, I currently use copper rather than silver. You can get such amazing colours in enamel – and they often react in a really beautiful way with copper oxides. Again, when I ‘m designing something new I always make everything from sheet – copper in this case. I cut out the design, dome it, drill it then I use liquid enamel on the back of the piece. This applies to both jewellery and wall hangings. Copper and glass (enamel is powdered glass), expand and contract at slightly different rates when heat is applied (when they are in, and then removed, from the kiln which is set at 800 degrees), so the copper needs to be sandwiched between two “sheets” of enamel in order for the enamel to be stable. It might crack or chip otherwise.
I normally sift the enamel onto the copper cut-out using a variety of specialised sifters, sometimes I use liquid on the front too – which can be applied in a variety of different ways. Sometimes I add glass beads or chips as well. Each item is fired between three and 7 times I’d say, before it is ready for assembly.
When the design is right and people like it, then I usually get the copper sheet cut out by water-jet.
What is a normal working day like?
Well, I get up at whatever time I wake up – I find using an alarm clock really stressful and since dispensing with it years ago (other than for flights and that sort of thing), I sleep much better. Normally I get up anytime between 5.30 – 7.30 am. Get ready, give the dogs a small bowl of milk for breakfast then take them for a walk on my way into work. I live only a few hundred yards from the river Dodder so that’s where we walk every morning. My workshop is in Kimmage and thankfully my landlord is happy enough to allow me (and quite a few others), to bring dogs into the building.
Every day is different really. If I have orders that need doing, that’s the first thing – making stuff. I get way more work done in the morning so I try to do the making and production then. I check emails throughout the day, check the internet, one of my best friends works in the unit next door so I go in there to chat. I get bored very easily and I have to keep on changing what I’m working on otherwise it drives me mad. I don’t think a management consultant would be very impressed with the way I organise my day. I tend to do design work at home so that the equipment, paperwork and other things don’t distract me.
What do you find most rewarding about running your own business and what are the challenges?
The freedom is what I find most rewarding I think. But when I am stressed about work, whether it is financial or designer’s block, or whatever it is, I sometimes think I should have just gotten a job with someone else…let them worry about finance and sales!! But the grass is always greener isn’t it?
The other thing I find rewarding is when I know something I have designed has a lot of meaning for the person buying or wearing it. A shared interest I suppose, shared experience and perspective. Because I design so much animal related stuff my customers tend to have a similar viewpoint on the joy and inspiration animals bring. And it is really nice to have someone wearing Saba Jewellery or owning one of my wall hangings because it tells their story, it says “this is me”! That’s really nice.
What are you working on right now?
I’m working on three designs for World Rugby (it used to be the International Rugby Board). They are based in Dublin and I’ve been doing high-end gifts for their special guests for the last five years. They recently changed their name and brandmark and I’ve designed new cufflinks which are being given as gifts during the Rugby World Cup 2015. I’m also designing some necklaces and bracelets for the ladies. This range should be finished by the beginning of August.
Future plans and dreams?
I want to start using the enamel on silver soon – and I also want to start designing more Ireland-inspired pieces. I love Dublin, it is a great place to live so I’m starting there and have a few Dublin ideas at the very initial stage of design (mostly in my head that is). I’m also trying to sell more directly to people these days too – through the internet, so I’m really trying to make that happen. And to spend more time collaborating with other Irish designers…and there are some new things starting to happen with that which is exciting. On a personal level, I just started beginner’s tennis yesterday at Trinity College (my old haunting grounds), so the muscles in my legs are killing me!
Where can we find your products ‘in the wild’?
Online at www.saba.ie
House of Ireland at Dublin Airport Terminals 1 and 2
Lisbeth Mulcahy Weavers Co. Kerry
The Bushmills Gallery Co. Antrim
O’Reilly Turpin, Co. Mayo
Tuckmill Gallery Co. Kildare
Iapetus Gallery Uk
Other stockists are listed on www.saba.ie
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