[00:00:00] Geraldine: Today I’m speaking to the Wandering Goldsmith Leika Hartjes. So can you tell us a little about you and how you came to be the Wandering Goldsmith?

[00:00:15] Leika: Yes thanks for having me by the way. So it kind of started all after my Goldsmith Apprenticeship. So I did my Apprenticeship in Germany for like three and a half years and then I instantly moved over to Ireland to Dungarvan.

The place to be, I know it’s a, it’s a little, no, it’s so bizarre because people like even Irish people look at me and they’re like, but I just happened to get a job there since my boss there, Alan, he has a connection to the area I’m actually from. And he gave me work after my apprenticeship. So I moved over.

And I worked for him for four and a half years, and we became great friends, and he taught me so much. And then I went on the Pacific Crest Trail. I threw everything away. I gave up my flat. I quit my job. I stored everything away. thinking I might be hiking for four to six months which ended up being six weeks.

And then I came back to Ireland, moved to Clonakilty and I didn’t have a job. I kind of had to figure out, is it still Ireland for me? Will it be a different country? But since my partner’s from Clonakilty and we kind of wanted to see how things go and where they lead us, I stayed here. Okay. And Yeah, I think my outdoor adventures kind of, they started back in Dungarvan, but I never had outdoorsy friends.

So I started sharing it online on Instagram just to kind of show people what I’m doing, what I’m up to, and also to have company in

[00:01:52] Speaker 3: some,

[00:01:52] Leika: some ways. It sounds bizarre, but it really was kind of also to not feel as alone while I’m out there. And like I got a lot of encouragement and people felt a bit inspired.

So after coming back from the Pacific Crest Trail, Not having anything, like I started working then for Keanes just also to make some money and pay the bills and fill the fridge and do all these things. But like for me, my heart was then set on building something a bit more meaningful and something that would actually suit me and the life I want to be living.

Because I feel like a nine to five is great. And that’s what most people work, like that’s their life, but it takes a lot from you and leaves you very little freedom and very little kind of wiggle room, you know, it’s very kind of, it’s nearly like a corset for your life.

[00:02:41] Leika: And then you have like two days where you’re allowed to enjoy yourself and you have to do all the chores.

I don’t know. It just didn’t sit right with me. And also I wanted something where if I turn around and I’m like, actually I will move to Italy for. two years or a year or six months or whatever, you know, that people can look at it and be like, kind of makes sense. She’s the wandering goldsmith. So of course she, she goes to a different place now and will have stories to tell and jewellery to make.

[00:03:07] Geraldine: And what drew you specifically to jewellery making as an art form?

[00:03:11] Leika: It’s actually a funny one. I was thinking about the jewellery as an art form for a while, like, Because originally I think it wasn’t an art form for me. I come from a very traditionally craft background, you know, like it was very crafty. I think like, this is how I was trained for like three and a half years.

And you wouldn’t look at it as much as art. I’ve only come to look at it as art in the last couple of years. And it’s really more like allowing myself to lean more into that and look at myself more as an artist, I guess, and have a less practical approach to it. I mean, of course, still I’m a crafts person.

My stuff will be practical and wearable and all that, but I’m leaning more into design process and enjoying it more. And originally when I was thinking about becoming a goldsmith, Because I didn’t have this art connection. It was also a very practical approach. I just wanted something that ticks the boxes from kind of what I want from a job.

So I wanted something that would stay a traditional craft for a long time. That it doesn’t get like all of a sudden totally taken over by machinery. And there will no more crafting involved, just like kind of programming machinery. And I thought to myself, okay, if you are in the luxury sector, you know, which jewellery is a luxury, you know, it’s not a necessity.

You don’t need it in your life necessarily. So I think there will always be a niche for handcrafted high quality items, you know. Because it’s a luxury item, it’s not a necessity. So yeah, and that’s literally how I got into it. It’s also kind of like delicate, fine work. It’s not heavy lifting. I thought about carpentry for a while, but then I was like, girl, you’re not going to put together a whole wardrobe and lift it up by yourself.

You know, this is not going to happen. It has to be a little bit on a smaller scale. So yeah, jewellery is that for me, or was that at the beginning.

[00:05:06] Geraldine: Okay. Your designs often reflect nature and personal stories. Can you talk to us a little about your biggest influences and how would you choose which stories or elements to incorporate?

[00:05:18] Leika: So yeah, I think biggest influences for me. would always be, or like currently are always nature themed things. I love being out and about and like roaming around a little bit, you know, backpacking, hiking, you name it, you know, I’m, I’m there for it. And it’s a nice challenge, you know, to take something that is not glamorous and try to encapsulate it and like put it into a piece of jewellery.

how I choose which stories to tell, you know, because it could also be like sometimes personal stories or something. It’s just, they stick with me and they do. don’t quite let me go, you know, like it’s like they, they pop back up constantly. For example, at the moment I’m working on a new collection and I’m obsessed with ferns and I can’t even explain why, but they’re so fascinating and they’re everywhere here.

And then you get those multi layered ferns that you don’t even get in Germany, you know, because it’s so humid here all the time. And like, So much rain. So they literally, they go mental. And then if they unroll their leaves and they have all those little segments and then the bigger segments make up smaller segments.

And you know, the more you look, the more detail you see. And I was just, I wanted to do something so badly around fern that is not just the fern that you stick on your ear, you know, because in jewellery also stuff usually already exists, you know, you can probably find five different brands on the internet now already who sell a little.

Her ear stud or a pendant or something. So I like to kind of zoom in more and take more like little elements from that. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:06:52] Geraldine: Yeah.

[00:06:53] Leika: And then try to turn them into jewellery. Okay.

[00:06:56] Geraldine: Okay.

[00:06:56] Leika: Yeah.

[00:06:57] Geraldine: It’s transforming the everyday into kind of your little, little pieces of few things.

[00:07:01] Leika: I’m trying.

[00:07:02] Geraldine: And can you walk us through the creative process for one of your pieces from say concept to completion?

[00:07:11] Leika: Yeah, it can be a bit. Wild, I guess, the wild is a very out there word for it, but like maybe unconventional. I don’t know. I just feel like I’m not traditionally, like I’m not, I’m not, not a designer, you know, like I haven’t been trained as a designer. It’s more like something I do and that I’m apparently not too bad at, but like, it’s not my trade as such, you know, I’m craftsperson.

So of course I had design classes in school. But I found it so abstract and I don’t know, I wasn’t too hot on it. So I had this idea, okay, fern jewellery, how can I, can I do it? What could I do? And then I have little snippets that pop into my head and I choose an element that I would like to work on, which was kind of like a navette shape in the fern.

I started like drawing little things out and I didn’t like any of them and I scrapped them and I didn’t think about it for a few weeks and then I got back to it and drew something else and I absolutely loved it. Went to my workshop. Made it out of silver, absolutely despised it. I think it really did not work well whatsoever.

In my head it was way better. Yeah. And then I laid it out and I was like, well, this is just like a lotus flower, you know, like you can get this in any kind of yoga related jewellery. Yeah. And I was like, this is awful. And then I tried something else, didn’t like it either. Put it to rest again for like a week or two.

And then I was like, Oh, my mom had those 80 earrings that were like with long chains and dangly bits. I would love to do something like that. And then I went back to the workshop, made it in silver. And it worked quite well. And then I just had to adjust a few things to assure that it’s wearable and will last long, you know, because that’s also really something you have to think about a lot.

But I think I have it now. Yeah,

[00:08:54] Geraldine: yeah.

[00:08:54] Leika: But it’s literally like it’s going back to the drawing board, trying something. Doesn’t work. Okay, something else. And

[00:09:01] Geraldine: so on. perfecting it through a series of errors as such, but you got it to be the end product that you wanted then.

[00:09:08] Leika: Yes. But I think also you have to be okay with things not working out sometimes and just put them to rest and be like, okay, this is not it.

This is not it.

[00:09:18] Geraldine: It must be frustrating though when you have an idea in your head and you’re like, oh, this is going to be brilliant. And then it’s like, when you make it, then it’s like,

[00:09:27] Speaker 3: Oh,

[00:09:27] Geraldine: it’s not the way that you had envisaged it.

[00:09:29] Leika: Sometimes it’s a bit heartbreaking, especially, you know, I think naturally you are just sometimes more in a creative flow and other times you’re not at all, you know.

Geraldine:  And what materials do you enjoy working with the most and why?

[00:09:45] Leika: That is an easy one. It’s definitely 14 karat gold compared to silver, for example. It’s a lot more forgiving. Silver in a technical sense has a lot of issues that come with it when you work with it. For example, you get something beautiful that’s called fire stain, which is oxidations under the surface when you heat silver up and they show up in like dark spots and you have to sandpaper them all out again.

And that can happen every time you heat something back up. So literally you can go around in circles for a good while until you have something really up to a polished finish. And it’s just loads of little bits like that, that makes silver a bit more painful to work with. And if I could choose, I’d rather not, but it’s like, it’s a price point, you know, gold is expensive, especially now the prices have skyrocketed lately.

So yeah, 14 carat would be my choosing, even over 18 carat, because I also think. Just 14 carat is a bit more accessible for people because of the price point. If you know anything about alloys, 14 carat has a bit over half particles of gold per thousand, while in 18 carats is like three quarters, and that’s also what you see price wise reflected in it.

So of course it’s that much more expensive then, so it makes it more accessible for people and I also like the colour. It’s a bit paler in colour. So yeah.

[00:11:09] Geraldine: Okay. And how does sustainability play a role in your sourcing and production?

[00:11:17] Leika: Well, it’s an ongoing thing where I think you’ll never be fully done in the world we’re living in, and it’s very hard to do it perfectly.

It’s something I’m trying to pay close attention to, but I wouldn’t think I’m perfectly there yet. You know, I think any business who thinks, oh, we’ve done it, we’re completely sustainable. They’re not. being honest to themselves, because it’s very difficult. You know, my gold, for example, or my silver is all recycled material that I’m getting.

My boxes are harshly recycled as well. And I try to have little to no plastics in my packaging. When it comes to gemstones and diamonds, then that’s the topic I have been staying completely clear off so far, because it’s very difficult to know where they come from. Was there child labour involved? Do they fund terrorism with these diamonds that I’m buying now?

And those are all things a lot of people are not even aware of that are a big problem in jewellery. So I think Once I’m there and I will have little diamonds in my collections, I will go lab grown diamonds because first off, there’s no nature being destroyed to source them. You know exactly how they are produced and where they’re coming from and that they’re not supporting any kind of terrorism, child labour, sex trafficking and all these awful things, you know, like that are realistically being funded by the diamond trade, you know.

[00:12:44] Geraldine: Mm. It’s obviously very important to you, so that’s asked, I suppose.

[00:12:47] Leika: It is. Yeah. And I’m always open for suggestions. You know, if someone is like, I think you could actually do that a lot better, then I’m also open to listen to it. Because as I’ve said, I think it’s being ignorant if you think like you have it figured out because you probably have not, you know.

You figured it out to the best of your ability, but that’s not it’s all about having conversations and getting input because otherwise you’re just stuck at the same level, you know.

[00:13:13] Geraldine: Yeah. So how do you find a balance between honoring traditional techniques and embracing modern trends?

[00:13:19] Leika: That is a bit of a tough one sometimes.

My traditional craft background or my trade background is very important to me. Like, and I do think that I’m at an advantage point here because I am a maker who is also designing things. I think a lot of problems in jewellery that we see now in new makes are because of a disconnect between designer and maker, because there’s no understanding in often the modern jewellery.

about like longevity of the piece, even wearability, sometimes practicality, like user friendliness. And I think, You cannot design a good piece without keeping these things in mind, because otherwise, like, it’s not worth anything, you know, like, and I’ve seen in a lot of cases, like a little granny buying a hollow bracelet for her granddaughter that she hopes will become like a family heirloom, but realistically, this will be worn down in a couple of years.

And it’s, those pieces are still not cheap, you know, like people pay like several hundred euros for them, not knowing what they are buying. So I always try to keep all my trade background on speed dial when I design pieces, kind of like, and make sure to really have to focus on these things, you know, to make sure that they’re going to last, that they’re comfortable.

All these things, I think that are just more prevalent for like a traditional crafts person, you know, why a designer is often just focused on how does it look,

[00:14:52] Geraldine: you know,

[00:14:52] Leika: how does it look and is it cheap enough? And it is always like a balancing act, you know, because of course I also want my pieces to be affordable.

Gold is expensive and like jewellery in general is expensive. Yeah. I’m also. Cool. Trying to put my seal of approval on that. You know, it’s going to last, you know, like we’re lacking that in more areas today than just jewellery, you know, like in general, I think in clothing furniture, like there’s such a disconnect between designer and maker where I really think there’s a lot of issues.

From that, you know,

[00:15:26] Geraldine: you’re very open and honest on your social media platforms. How has social media like Instagram and Tik TOK impacted your business and connection with your audience?

[00:15:36] Leika: I think we’re living in a very interesting time at the moment where social media is kind of the new advertising platform, and it also makes it possible for people.

To buy from people again, like, you know, how it was probably back in the day that like in the village, you knew your local craftspeople and all that, you know, this is kind of falling away more, but it’s still here on social media. Like people are buying from people like I’m not some tasteless brand, you know, like it’s very much me and my life and then I make jewellery as well, you know.

I have found actually that I get a lot of lovely connections with people who aren’t even customers, you know, like they’re just there for the wild ride I’m on, you know, and they just want to join the journey. And I love that because I also think me as a woman, And like the outdoors, you know, going on solo adventures for like 150 K backpacking on the bare peninsula or something, you know, on my own.

We’ve always been told we’re not supposed to do these things because they’re not safe for us, you know, and I want to tell stories where these things work out fantastically, you know, and where things are fine and you can figure things out. And of course you’d want to be smart about it. But in general, the world is not.

As a dangerous place for women as people like us to believe, you know, and I think there’s not even malice behind it. You know, it’s just how things were. Yeah. People just can’t believe that I do these things on my own. For example, I had a lovely interaction with someone who’s following me along on Instagram.

But she was like, Oh, I was so inspired by your latest hike that I signed up for this. Course for women, outdoor leaders, and I brought out recently stickers and she was like, I’d love to have a sticker and I’d love to give one to every woman in the course. So I sent her a bundle of like 20 stickers for all the ladies involved in that, you know, and a little thank you and a little note to tell them to stay wild and disobedient, you know, and, you know, I really enjoyed it.

And I really hope to kind of foster also a little. community instead of just selling to people, if that makes sense. Yeah,

[00:17:50] Geraldine: no, that makes sense. Yeah. So you’ve got your own little wandering ghost community.

[00:17:55] Leika: I would love that, you know, I mean, I think I’m far away from this yet, but I would love that if this could also empower other people, you know.

[00:18:05] Geraldine: Yeah. Give them a little bit of an inspiration, so.

[00:18:07] Leika: Yeah, you know, and even just to be like, I think I actually can do this, you know. Yeah,

[00:18:10] Geraldine: yeah. Very good. And can you tell us about any jewellery pieces or collections that were particularly challenging to create?

[00:18:18] Leika: I think it’s always the collection I’m working on at the very moment, you know, when you’re in the thick of it, it always feels like, oh, I can’t see that really coming together, you know, and it’s just kind of chipping away on it, like going back to the drawing board over and over again and then setting things aside and maybe going for another walk.

The difficulty about designing jewellery is always that you have nearly like different things pulling constantly. As I said, you want it to be like affordable. You want it to last. You want it to be wearable. You want it to be pretty. And all these things usually can’t all coexist at once. Like if you lean towards one side too much, then it gets really expensive maybe, or maybe it gets too heavy and you cannot actually put it on your ears because there’s so much gold on there.

It drags down your earlobes, you know, like It’s a whole can of worms. Yeah. Once you open it up, you’re like, Oh, I might just put the lid back on for a while, you know? So I think I’m, I’m always struggling with designing first. Making is then like, just goes like in a factory, you know, like I, I can do three of them then in one go once I have to design them.

But designing is always a bit challenging for me. And how do you approach work life balance while running a creative business? So I came to the point where I was like, okay, if I want to enjoy this, I have to follow my joy. And this has to be like the leading theme. And what that means for me, for example, is like, I mentioned earlier, I made some stickers for my business that I can just put as freebies into boxes.

There was absolutely no need to have stickers with misprints and designs. And I must’ve spent like 500 quid on just getting stickers, but they brought me so much joy and I really wanted to have them and I made them and I’m so happy with them. And. It just, it keeps you being excited about things and also now working on this new collection and pushing my boundaries again a little bit and my limits and being like, Hmm, this is going to be good.

You know, I can, I know it’s going to be good. Takes a bit of work, but it will be great. But that also means to me, then if I’ve spent a day in the workshop and at four o’clock, I don’t want to look at anything anymore. And I just want to go for a run and I’m going to do this as well, you know, because I feel like we’re in such times where like being busy and overachieving and all this, this is all so glorified.

How about you’re just happy, you know, and you’re just enjoy it. And of course you need to pay the bills and everything, but as long as that is taken care of in some way, shape or form, you know, Let’s do what makes you happy, you know, follow your joy. And things will fall into place. I really do believe that.

Where do

[00:21:10] Geraldine: you find inspiration when you feel crazy? We’ve got just the outdoors

[00:21:15] Leika: or I think so going outdoors is always good. Like it just helps to literally air the head. It’s like, you can nearly like you open one window. on one side of your head and then on the other side of your head and then just the wind blows through and clears everything out a little bit.

And yeah, since nature is so connected to my designs, that always helps as well. But what I found recently also helps to go back to old designs that I already drew when I was like an apprentice. I found a few of my old drawings. I was like, actually, like my drawings are terrible, but like I still understand the design ideas behind it.

I’m like, the idea is actually not bad, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, I think sometimes it’s also good to, to take a step back. If you can go for a walk, maybe take a step back, you know, and see. But yeah, getting out is always a good recipe because it kind of disconnects you from your. daily struggles.

You know, there are no daily struggles when you’re on top of a mountain. You can’t feel your toes because it’s way too cold and your socks are wet. You know, like you have different problems then.

[00:22:22] Geraldine: Yeah, exactly. You know what I mean? Which piece or collection are you most proud of? I

[00:22:29] Leika: think it would be the Be Your Own Daddy collection, because it’s so bold.

It’s kind of out there, it’s still wearable, but I can definitely understand why not everybody would wear that, you know, I’m currently thinking about adding onto it a little bit because I just enjoy it for. it being so sassy. It’s not for everyone and it can go either way. If they see that, they can be like, Oh my God, what are you wearing?

Or, Oh my God, what are you wearing? It really divides. And I do enjoy that. It’s just, yeah, it’s, it’s sassy. It’s out there and it was just fun to create it, you know? How would you envisage your work evolving over the next year? I think I have a lot of work to do in general. Like the nice thing about being a goldsmith is that it’s such an old trade.

There are a million different skills that you could acquire. So I think you’re never. really done being a trainee in this field, because if you mastered one skill, then there are 10 more lined up that you could look into. So I’m excited to look more into this part of things, you know, to kind of grow as a, as a craftsperson, also kind of fit my workshop a little bit more out as I go.

You know, it’s also, it’s also something that’s never going to be finished. You know, you have to be okay with that. It’s also beautiful to have a limit, you know, to create with what you have at the moment. because it challenges you to be a bit more creative in different ways. Because what’s the fun in having everything at your hands, you know, start slow, have your limits and try to work around them.

And I think that’s fun to work like that and grow into things, you know.

[00:24:14] Geraldine: And are there any jewellery making techniques you’d love to master

[00:24:18] Leika: in the future? Oh, loads. So I’m a traditionally German grain goldsmith and the stone setter or the diamond setter would be a different profession in Germany. So we would have not been taught stone setting in Goldsmith College, basically.

Because it’s like asking your electrician if he can do the plumbing, basically, you know, in, in Germany, at least. Different fields, yeah. Different fields, you know. I would love to acquire that a bit more. Because we all love sparkly things, don’t we? Like a little diamond here, a little stone there, you know, it just adds another dimension to jewellery, I think.

And there are like courses, for example, in Italy, I looked into, you know, maybe I sneak off for like six months and go to a getting a scooter.

[00:25:03] Geraldine: A little bit of hiking there, yeah.

[00:25:06] Leika: Wouldn’t it? No, I would be like, and there are loads of little skill sets you can look into. beautiful things like filigree and jewellery that’s mainly made out of like twisted little wires and like little elements.

You have to be super careful how you solder it because you will melt it all down if you’re not skillful. And yeah, there are many cool techniques. I really want to look into and hopefully grow into them a little bit.

[00:25:31] Geraldine: Sounds like it’s going to be a bit of a fun journey, isn’t it?

[00:25:34] Leika: And it’s fantastic because I always think like, what is the fun in your craft, when you have acquired all the necessary skills, you know, like where do you go from here? You know, I’m, I’m 33. Like I have a lot of work life ahead of me. I have no interest in stopping now and settling for the skillset I have because there’s so much more out there.

[00:25:59] Geraldine: And what advice did you give to aspiring tutors or artists who want to turn their passion into a business?

[00:26:05] Leika: In general, like for all passions, I would say, be careful what you wish for, because it is a lot to ask from your passion to pay your bills. And it might not be your passion anymore. After you do it for a while for me, for example, when I started my goldsmith journey, when I started my apprenticeship, it was not a passion at first.

I had nothing to do with jewellery. I didn’t even wear jewellery back then. It was just not my thing. Like no one really wears jewellery in my family. It was a job I started. So kind of like it was from the beginning. It was like, okay, this is how I’m going to earn my money in the future. And I think you have a different approach than, you know, yeah, I feel like if someone is making like pottery on the side or they do gorgeous drawings or paintings or whatever, you know, and that’s kind of how they switch off and how they recharge their batteries.

Careful if you want to turn that into a business, because this can become your problem and not your passion and anymore, you know? So I think the best advice I could give someone is to have something that pays the bills, that your passion can be the passion, and maybe it grows into your business then, you know, but maybe first have a little job on the side that pays the bills, and then you might lean a bit more into your passion.

making money and see how that feels before you jump. It takes the pressure off, I suppose. It does. It’s tough because running like a small business, there are just a million little things to it that have nothing to do with painting. goldsmithing. So if someone thinks about getting into making jewellery, I’d say absolutely go for it.

There has never been a better time because the goldsmith is basically a dying craft. As all trades, we suffer a shortage of young people coming into the trade. Yeah, in Germany, for example, it’s a huge problem. It’s a dying craft. And here as well, I know that people are looking to employ goldsmiths for their businesses and there are just none out there.

So I’d say, yes, if you want to get into jewellery making, go for it, but go for it properly. Get a proper education. Don’t just thread some beads at home on a piece of string or collect some seashells and Call that jewellery making. You can, I’m not saying that is not okay, but I think if you really want to go for it, go to college, you know, get a proper education you can build from there, you know, and you can start working for people because they are looking for you at the moment.

And then that might evolve into your own business at some stage, you know, after you have a few years experience under your belt, but the time is right at the moment. We need more tradespeople.

[00:29:02] Geraldine: Leika thanks for joining us today. If you want to find more about Leika, you can find links on corkcreative.ie.