I’m delighted to introduce you to Artist Rain Hannah from “Honey and Ollie” today. Rain is an amazing artist who creates beautiful pieces of jewelry. She has her own booth at CRAFTED, and also has another space in which she curates other artist’s at the CRAFTED location.
Hope you enjoy the interview, and one lucky winner will GET to win a custom creation from her!!
Tell me about your business Honey and Ollie?
Honey&Ollie actually started as the name for my blog. It was focused on my knitting and handspinning in the beginning. When I began selling jewelry, I wanted to name my creative business something that folks would recognize and associate with me. I had a nice audience of readers from the knit blog already, so it seemed logical to go with that for the business. Honey and Ollie are actually 2 of my cats – Duchess Honeytoes von Crankypants and Professor Oliver Rumblestein Plumpypants, PhD. At the moment, we have the distinction of being the only business at Crafted named for cats. Perhaps it’s a dubious distinction, but, I’ll take it!
Trinidad Necklace
I run Honey&Ollie out of my home studio. I have a shop on Etsy, and a small brick and mortar shop at Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles. I do mainly beading and wire wrapping, working primarily with semiprecious gemstones and sterling silver. I make a lot of my own fine silver charms, closures and components for that line, working in PMC. I also do a bit of work in bronze, copper, textiles, fiber, art glass and artisan ceramic beads. That’s a smaller line for me, but I really have fun making it.
This last year, I started working my way through the Open Study program at Revere Academy in San Francisco, learning traditional metalsmithing techniques. Ideally I’ll see that through to their Graduate Jeweler degree. Really looking forward to adding more rings, bezel set stones and other traditionally fabricated elements to our line. My partner (known to my blog readers as Captain Sexypants) is also taking some Revere classes with me, and I’m excited about having his creative input and help with the new stuff!
Do you have a favorite piece that you enjoy creating?
Aside from my fine silver focals and charms, most of my beaded pieces are one of a kind. If I had to pick one, I’d say I love to make my gemstone cascade necklaces. They’re kind of a signature look for my line and terrific fun on the design end. They are the most like play, for me, and are very freeform. We do have one necklace in that line that is not one of a kind, Trinidad. It is really popular and I just love making it so much. I’m almost out of the stones that I use for it, so it will probably not be coming back till I can source some
Bruinen Necklace
How did you get your start in jewelry making?
A few years ago, I took my birthday money and treated myself to a class in basic metal clay technique, from Delia Marsellos-Traister of Phoenix Magyk. And I walked out of her super inspiring and fun class thinking, “Holy cow. This was the first class of the rest of my life.”
Beautiful Piece by Honey&Ollie
I was so excited about jewelry making, I dove into every tutorial I could find. I took every online class I could find and within a few months I’d started the business. I just knew it was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. People ask me how long I’ve been making jewelry – and the actual answer is, not very long. Two years. But, I’ve been an artist – knitter, handspinner, weaver, painter, ceramic artist, needleworker – for much of my life. I tell people that it’s taken me 42 years to learn to make jewelry. A lifelong journey of self-study, through color and design and form.
Where can we connect with you? Facebook, Twitter, Website, or elsewhere?
Where do you find your inspiration?
Anywhere in the world around me, but primarily it seems to stem from books, art, and nature. My work tends to have a very vintage, fantasy feel to it. The Art Nouveau and the Pre-Raphaelite movements were both huge influences on my style. And then, there’s nature. “Trinidad” and “Kelp” were both inspired by the colors of the ocean and beaches around Trinidad California, near where I grew up. “Coast Range”, a piece that recently sold at Crafted was inspired by the redwood forests near my hometown. I also get a lot of inspiration from books – we’ve got a bunch of pieces on hand right now which are totally inspired by Tolkein’s Fellowship of the Ring, and then there was “Fox Woman” a piece that I just loved from last year, which was inspired by a novel by Kij Johnson. The other biggie for me is fairy tales and children’s stories, which both figure pretty heavily in my work.
And now ONE lucky reader gets the chance to win a customized bamboo tile necklace based off of their favorite fairy tale. The piece looks similar to the necklace below, however, will be CUSTOMIZED just for you.
Honey&Ollie
a Rafflecopter giveaway
No purchase necessary, void where prohibited. Must be 18 years or older and reside in the US. Winner will be chosen through the use of rafflecopter and will be notified via email. All other rules can be found here.
San Pedro has their own Fort MacArthur army base, so it’s only fitting we had a real Colonel apart of the parade!
Councilmen Joe Buscaino made an appearance with his parade of dogs. Aren’t they adorable?
