It started about 10 years ago, the summer after I graduated from high school. As a graduation gift, I got a trip out west. We drove from San Antonio to Phoenix to Las Vegas then to LA, and I loved it. I spent about two weeks away, and while I was in LA, of course I spent some time at the beach. Santa Monica to be exact. While I was there, I was strolling along the pier, and I noticed a guy on the side making and selling hemp jewelry. Back then, I was really into the whole summer-west coast-surfer look, so his jewelry really intrigued me, and I thought, "I want to do that". I bought an anklet from him and wore for several months straight, but when I got back home to San Antonio, I started to inspect it to see how it was made and from then on I was hooked on the process of creating. Since then, the majority of my technique has come from trial and error based on going off what I see, whether it be visual imagery or text. I've never taken a class, or been formally taught on any specific process.
That August, I entered as a freshman at UT-Austin, and in my ID, I'm actually wearing one of the first hemp necklaces I made that summer. I couldn't put the stuff down, and I worked with hemp almost exclusively for two years. Knotting and working in this medium really laid the groundwork for how and what I create today.
While I don't really work with hemp too much these days, I have made an occasional bracelet here and there. I did come up with these earrings though, and in my store, they've been a bit of a hit. In the past month, I've sold about 1/2 dozen. These earrings are made with hemp, knotted on wire, then attached to a Tahitian coin pearl at the end. They hang from sterling silver ear wires.
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