The art of up-cycling
My name is Anna Lise, and I'm a jewelry maker from Denmark.
I like the idea of second hand materials coming alive in new pieces of art.
I think we need to rethink the traditional jewelry business.
I come from a creative family full of music and crafts. As a child, I was in love with nature and spent most of my time outside daydreaming in the tall grass or collecting stones on the beach.
A biologist in business
Later I graduated as a biologist and soon started to working with environmental optimization in manufacturing companies. For many years I was Vice President for sustainable development in international companies, such as Novozymes and Brdr. Hartmann.
Along the way I received a European environmental award and several here in Denmark. One was for starting up the first Danish network for exchanging knowledge about proactive environmental work (160 companies).
The award was an 11 pound pure silver bar. The silver was -
in a completely new process -
extracted from the wastewater of processing photos. It was refined and turned into a silver bar.
But after 30 years in the corporate world, I wanted to try something else.
Wanted to take my creative side more seriously, creating jewelry. For almost 12 years now, I’ve been doing that. Meanwhile I have taken the necessary courses.
Rethinking the jewelry industry.
The traditional jewelry industry creates lots of beauty and innovation.
Nevertheless, it also has negative social and environmental impacts.
Mining, waste, environmental problems like toxic chemicals and heavy metals are common. Also poor working conditions like child-labour or forced labour is common in conflicts countries, where many of the mines are situated.
I know because I’ve worked in the industry for years looking for ways to make it more sustainable.
But, luckily, it doesn't have to be like that.
There's a whole movement of designers, jewelry makers and artists
that create only from up-cycled materials and try to change the challenges in the value-chain of jewelry-making. I like to be part of that movement.
My raw-materials are recycled
My work in international companies has often sent me abroad. On these trips I enjoyed looking into local cultures. For example, at local flea markets where I handpicked defective necklaces, small gemstones, antique pearls, silver cutlery and attractive pendants.
In Denmark, I find or buy left-over brass or copper cuttings from local factories, or
I chop up old cables that are high quality copper.
Furthermore I collect beads on flea-markets, collect stones, amber, lava and mother of pearl on hikes and beach walks.
The beauty of old stuff
For me, beauty and concern for resources and the environment go hand in hand. I would like to contribute to changing our traditional notions about what beauty in jewelry is. For example, copper and brass can be just as beautiful as gold. And the unique old Venetian Murano glass beads impress me as much as diamonds.
I hope that my one-of-a-kind jewelry can help showing the beauty of recycled and up-cycled materials.
Thanks for reading my story and showing interest in my journey.
I named my company after the 11 pound silver bar,
where it fits perfectly into the idea of using upcycled materials
in making new jewelry in my shop ✨
Thanks for helping me change the world one earring at a time.
Anna Lise Mortensen
