In early 2008, I stumbled across a website featuring an artist that made jewelry from old camera parts. Encouraged to try making my own version of what I saw, I armed myself with a simple concept and some rudimentary tools and set to work.
I spent a sweltering May afternoon in a borrowed workshop grinding, filing and sanding away at a little piece of metal from a broken SLR camera lens I had found at a thrift shop. Two hours later I emerged from the shop with grime-covered hands and several minor lacerations, but I also had a few shiny new bracelets. They were comparatively crude—scratched from a few too many slips of the metal file and dinged by a few too many mis-strikes of the hammer—but I had accomplished my goal, and I had a ball of a time in the process!
A single experiment in making opened the door to a passion I never knew I had, fueled by my love for cameras, mechanical movements and assemblies. I couldn’t wait to take another stab at them! To this day I still wear the first bracelet I ever made, which is actually the only one made of two interlocking bracelets. It serves as a constant reminder of how far I’ve come in the last few years in developing a business out of a discovered passion.
I still consider Focal Length Designs to be a “lucrative hobby”, and I’m not certain if I’ll ever do it full time. I am entirely self-taught. New techniques are developed on a trial and error basis, and nearly all of my work is done by hand. That includes filing, grinding, sanding, polishing and shaping each piece.
In the Spring of 2010, I approached my friend, business mentor and wicked brilliant jewelry designer Betsy Cross (of betsy and iya) about collaborating on a line of necklaces and earrings featuring camera parts. We launched betsy + i shortly thereafter, and people love it! It represents the perfect geeky Venn diagram of her style and my own.
I don’t know what’s next in the future of Focal Length Designs, but I’m excited to see what new paths I can forge with my jewelry and what new shows I can sell at. In 2011, I’ll be heading out of Portland and exploring some of the larger shows like Maker Faire, Urban Craft Uprising and Renegade, so keep your ears to the ground (or just sign up for my newsletter) to find out where I’ll be next!
