Britta Boeckmann moved to Australia for love. When she got here, she fell in love all over again with its beautiful wood.

britta boeckmann - pink resin pendant with wood

britta boeckmann – pink resin pendant with wood

Combining Australian native timbers with translucent resins and semi-precious stones, her jewellery looks a bit architectural with its bold, simple shapes. I love how the clean forms let the rich colours and natural textures shine through; sometimes she adds in bits of twig, flowers or gold leaf to make lots of intriguing details. Britta loves the landscape of Australia too, but is also especially inspired by the organic and modernist furniture of Nipa Doshi & Jonathan Levien (it’s on my wish list as well!).

 

britta boeckmann - pendants in teal blue resin wood

britta boeckmann – pendants in teal blue resin wood

 

britta boeckmann -pendant with sheoak pod in resin

britta boeckmann -pendant with sheoak pod in resin

She studied Industrial Design in her home country of Germany and there discovered her  passion for wood. After moving to London, she had a stint designing jewellery for a brand in Oxford which ignited a desire for further study. “I finished my studies in September 2013 and moved to Australia with my partner. I started working in a woodworking group in Wangaratta straight away, happy to find a place to explore my ideas. The lovely members there always supply me with stunning pieces of wood to work with and that’s a credit to them.” She loves working there: “They always tell me interesting stories about the history of each piece I get.”

Her time is currently split between three work areas. “Most of the work is in the Wangaratta Woodworkers workshop which has a great setup with all the tools you could image. I also have a table with tools in a garage, where I make the moulds and cast the pieces, and then I finish off my pieces on a desk in front of a big window. This is where I glue hooks on, attach the chains or cords and oil the pieces. The last two are a total mess most of the time.”

 

britta boeckmann - wide green pendant with redgum

britta boeckmann – wide green pendant with redgum

 

All her work for the Oxford brand was built on CAD and sent out for manufacture, and that is very different to how she works now – completely handmade, mess and all.  “There are several steps involved in the process of making these pieces. I colour resin with oil based colours and then pour it into moulds which I make from clay. Then I embed flowers, branches, gold leaf or mostly wood in the resin. A couple of days later I take the cured block out of the mould and I sculpt the shape on the belt sander. After the piece gets its final shape I sand it with different grits by hand to get rid of the scratches. Finally I oil or varnish the pieces and sometimes add additional elements like metal tubes or gemstones.”

 

britta boeckmann - ring - wood with light blue resin

britta boeckmann – ring – wood with light blue resin

 

britta boeckmann - ring wood resin gold flake

britta boeckmann – ring wood resin gold flake

 

Like many jewellers I know, Britta says she never wears much jewellery (although she admits she has one special piece that she has kept for herself).  “I love jewellery, but I am just doing so much physical work that it would disturb me wearing it.”

 

wangaratta workshop

wangaratta woodworkers workshop

 

 

Her best best of advice comes from her partner, who told her “Not to take life so serious, to do what I love to do and not to think about money all the time.”

 

You can find more of Britta’s jewellery in her Etsy shop, BoldB.