2008 Crafty Bastards Vendor Spotlight: Eric Burris Jewelry

Get to know this year’s Crafty Bastards vendors! We’re posting a series of interviews of crafters who will be at the CB festival Saturday, June 28, at the Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center in Silver Spring, MD.

Eric Burris exploits his talent in metalsmithing by creating pristine pieces of jewelry from start to finish. The value in his jewelry is not only in its beauty but in his ability to turn raw metals into pieces of art through a special technique called Mokume gane. The technique is born out of japanese sword-making and into english as “wood eye metal”. Check out photos of the fascinating and time-consuming process at his official website.

1. Using just three words, how would you describe your work?

archaeological, metaphorical, industrial

2. What are you doing to prepare for Crafty Bastards? Are there any new products or techniques that you will be trying out for this show?

Most of my jewelry will be new, but there will be some oldies too.

3. Is your craft widespread in the handmade community? What makes your stuff different from others in your craft genre?

Jewelry is popular, but mokume gane is not very well known. It’s one of my goals to make it more popular.

4. Starting an independent shop takes a lot of dedication, planning and hard work. At what point did you realize you had the chops to start your own indie craft business?

I’m still working on it actually.

5. Where are your favorite places to find your supplies?

I pretty much buy from jewelry suppliers, except for copper. I use recycled copper tubing, melt it and make my own sheet metal.

6. Crafting is a grassroots revolution of sorts. It’s catching on as people appreciate all things handmade, original, recycled and environmentally/socially conscious. Does this influence/inspire your work? If so, how do you incorporate it into your craft?

It’s definitely important to me. I try to buy “green” silver as much as possible. I’m also a produce buyer at a coop, so the handmade movement goes right along with our ideals at the coop.

7. After seeing your work, many would-be crafters are inspired to start their own creations. Will you have any DIY kits available for sale at Crafty this year? Could you provide any simple how-to’s or tips for readers who want to get started on their own designs?

I won’t have any diy, but I will have info on how I make the mokume gane.