Kat De La Mare

MARIPOSA CREATIVE DESIGN

Genuine Jersey Member Kat De La Mare has always been creative; having started her creative career as a professional musician, she is now a master of micro-macrame. Twisting fine cotton strings into delicate, tiny knots, she interweaves them with wire and crystals to make beautiful intricate pieces of wearable art.

Can you tell us what inspired you to start your makers journey?

I've always been around creativity in various forms, and was a musician (mainly the cello), for many years. I spent a lot of years travelling amazing countries in Central and South America and Asia but it was during my travels across Colombia with my baby cello playing with local musicians that I was finally handed a pair of pliers and some wire by a group of artisanos who sold their art and jewellery on the streets to tourists. I would sit with them every evening learning Spanish and wire jewellery techniques. It was a massive burst of creativity and such an inspiring chapter of my life! Colombia is bursting with art, colour, music, dance and culture so it wasn't surprising that this was the roots of my creative path.

Can you tell us about your process?

I'm inspired by nature mainly...natural shapes, spirals, crystals, colours and flowers. Nature is just so perfect in all of its imperfections, which I love. I try to not always make my pieces symmetrical to really honour the natural elements. I work either starting with a crystal that I've collected that I choose how to decorate and hold it onto the body. Or, I get a design pop into my head that I sketch out and then decide on colours and crystals afterwards.

What part of what you do do you enjoy the most?

Oh, all of it! Sitting in my studio is pure therapy to be honest and I just love my creative bubble. I home educate our daughters alongside my husband (aka The Jersey Showman), so there's a lot of tag-teaming between our self-employed journeys. I don't have hours everyday when my kids are in school, so every moment is precious! All humans are creative beings, but with the pace of life nowadays it's hard to carve out the time, but I feel it's vital for all of us to do just that; whether it's knitting, colouring, drawing, painting, jewellery making, music...whatever it is, put that time aside and mark it as precious!

And the least?

Oh definitely having to make a decision about the direction of a piece and having to cut a set of macrame strings and then realising I chose wrong, haha, and having to bin the whole thing. I can always save the crystals, but macrame is a long process....you can literally waste days!

Where can we find your products?

You can find me on Instagram @mariposachicka where I always pop up new pieces, or Facebook @MariposaCreativeDesigns. I also have an Etsy shop MariposaCreative where I have a selection of jewellery too. I do occasional markets here in Jersey too (which I always advertise ahead of time on Instagram and Facebook!), and I'm always open to commissions, so if people have a piece in mind, they're always welcome to message me!

What's your favourite thing to make?

That very much depends on the way the wind blows, but I'm a sucker for a big statement macrame, metal and crystal choker or necklace. The pieces that really blow open new creative pathways for me and to be honest, the bigger the better!

Do you have anything coming up that we should keep an eye out for?

Yes! I will be at a few St Aubin markets coming up on 22nd April and 13th May inside the hall, which I'm really looking forward to.

Our Genuine Articles are drawn from the ranks of Genuine Jersey, the organisation that supports local producers who create products on the island. Learn more about the organisation and how you could become a member and get featured here in future at www.genuinejersey.com

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