This is one of the cool stories that make our jobs at Makers Connect so special and fulfilling so we thought we’d share:
It begins on the day that one Robin Ayres came sweeping through our door in her energetic way, having decided to attend our Thursday Makers Meetup. She was wearing a giant necklace composed of hundreds upon hundreds of pieces of black plastic which upon closer inspection, were a combination of dominoes and retro celluloid charms layered on top of one another. She took it off to show me how much it weighed; That thing was HEAVY.
After we learned about our mutual commonalities through her day job as the sole product namer for the Richards Group, we delved more into her photo books. It was then that minds were blown all over the place. Her body of work as seen on Pinterest is nothing short of Amazing, Prolific, Colorful, and NUTS! https://www.pinterest.com/foundcolors/my-jewelry-creations/
Robin explained that she has synesthesia, and can taste the colors she’s using as she works with them. There are therefore certain colors that you’ll never see in her work.
Fast forward a few months, and a few meetups later, and we were able to talk her into letting us carry Robins’s amazing watch-case necklaces and upcycled globes at Makers.
As far the necklaces she showed us at that first meetup; no, they were still not for sale. To anyone. She explained they just took so much time (both collecting and making) that she swore she’d never sell them, but might consider lending them for a museum or gallery show.
But what she said was heard by the universe, because about 8 months later… a museum shop came calling… and it wasn’t just any shop. It was Kohei Tanaka from Trading Store Comme des Garcons in Tokyo. Whoa.
He had located her online via her Pinterest pages. Both shocked and honored, she wrote to us saying that she had finally found what felt like the right match in a retailer that would truly be able to showcase these incredible art jewelry pieces.
Best of luck, Robin! We hope they fly off the shelves – we know you’re already busy making more.
Below: Photo from Comme des Garcons in Tokyo. Robin’s work is showcased in plexiglass boxes, inside large glass vitrines flanked by black balls. So mod.
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