While crafting has been an important part of my life as long as I can remember, I have never dared to seriously consider it as anything more than a pastime activity. I’ve done beading since a young age, I still remember anxiously waiting for my baby brother to fall asleep for his midday nap so I can take out my beads – at the time considered to constitute a serious hazard in the presence of a toddler. I would always come back to making jewellery, be it using beads, embroidery thread or wire. While at university, I made an incursion into copper enamel jewellery making, and perhaps for a brief moment dreamt of turning it into something more than a hobby, but went on to do some “real” work instead.
One morning a few weeks ago, for some unknown reason, I decided to put on a pair of beaded earrings I hadn’t worn for years. When I walked into a cafe to grab a bite, the two girls at the counter spotted them and looked surprised as I said I made them myself. My partner, who was standing next to me, smiled in satisfaction and announced “see, I always tell her she should sell this stuff”. True enough, he as well as others had said that quite a few times, but I had always felt this comment coming from people who do not do crafts to be superficial or somehow missing the point. Why could I not make things just for the sake of my own enjoyment? Why did people feel the obligation to advice me to turn my hobby into profit? Who would buy my creations anyway? This time, however, a different thought popped into my head: Why not try?
So, I decided to take the leap and árbore·do·fogo was born.
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