22/04/2026
Last night saw the return of supper club 🎊🎉 and I was delighted to be invited back to deliver a jewellery make and mend session for the community.
Jewellery Make and Mend falls within Civic Square's Re_ Club programme which aims to 'bring together the best of our shared practices around care, repair, creativity and connection in our homes, streets and neighbourhoods from over the years; from Neighbourhood Trade School and Room To Grow, to Neighbourhood Repair Club, Retrofit House: Open House and everything in between.'
The session not only looks at what can be repaired and remade but also what can be repurposed and this was the key goal for last night, where I supplied participants with wooden and acrylic lasered offcuts, paint pens and jewellery findings to let their creativity flow and see what they can make.
As you can see participants were truly up for the challenge and created some awesome pieces, with their artistic and creative talents shining through. In return I learnt about original characters from a teenage boy, and that Ryu of Street fighter is still going strong 💪🏾 (I got Street Fighter when it first came out in the late 1980s 😄). I may have also found a mini apprentice... she's 7, always creates great pieces, loves repairing, sings whilst she works and helps me out👌🏾
Why Re_Club works for me...
With the nature of my work, especially the laser cutting and engraving, I often prototype ideas using scrap pieces of wood before finalising pieces in acrylic and other materials. In other cases I create pieces that leave blank cutout shapes and designs or when pieces do not meet the quality required to send to clients/customers they are thrown on the scrap heap.
These processes lead to a growing pile of random offcuts that I hesitate to throw away but end up cluttering the space, so it is great that Re_Club has helped me find a solution for decluttering, repurposing and reducing waste in such a creative and fulfilling way.
Thanks again to Civic Square for the opportunity to be part of Re_Club and more thanks to all who take part and use the opportunity to repair, remake and repurpose to make such beautiful pieces.
