Two—Bo
S
even minutes to three. Plenty of time. Pliers arranged in alphabetical order: bail forming, bent nose, chain nose, crimping, round nose, and split ring. Files lined neatly on the other side of my work area. Top center is where I keep my chasing hammer and anvil. Other essentials for this afternoon’s project: spool of bronze wire, container of glass beads, tumbled and hand-polished yesterday. I stand back to take in all this precision, instruments as sterile as any surgeon’s. It’s a glorious sight. Four minutes to three. My glass has been chilling since two, filled with water filtered by my Royal Berkey. No ice. Three o’clock. I sit down and get to work.
I made my first bracelet when I was seven years old and found the perfect vehicle for my tortured creativity. That my mother loved it proved to be my baptism into a world I would never leave. I make jewelry. I am a creator, curator, and connoisseur of wearable art. My goal is to create a piece a week that can be replicated with slight deviations. However, a personalized commission can sometimes take longer. I work four hours a day hands-on, plus another two or three for sketching—I draw my ideas out in elaborate detail and experiment with shapes and colors long before the project ever reaches my worktable. I also devote four hours a week to journaling and bookkeeping. There are beads to order, findings to keep stocked, precious gems to track down, and found objects to study for inspiration. In addition, I do my own fulfillment, so packing and shipping must be attended to every morning. I keep meticulous notes on every piece, from concept, to sketch, to its unique supply list—a lineage of sorts. Then once I bring the piece to fruition, my sister takes a series of studio-quality photographs of the finished product for my website. I get between 500-600 hits a day on Sutton— a name I obsessed about for well over a year, which is my nature. I actually liked the shortened, more visually appealing version of Benjamin Oliver Sutton Signatory. I’m Ben Oliver Sutton, owner of said website. Signatory was where I had to sign—which resulted in a label I could live with—BOSS—until my sister pointed out that I’d have to share it with a brand of underwear. So, I opted for the rather unimpressive Sutton . I don’t know if my sister really loved it or if she just got tired after about—not about, but exactly—forty-seven lesser possibilities. Mia gets like that—tired. But she’s a good sport.
What I really wanted to name my company was Precious Bane , after the 1924 novel by Mary Webb. The book has layered meaning for me. I love the story, of course. I love the idea of ill-defined beauty which is the premise, and I love finding wonder in ordinary things. Plus, the name represents the bane that is me, which demands perfection of every piece I excruciate into existence. I’m proud or possibly ashamed to say that some of me bleeds into each of my creations. To bring it all full circle, I even wanted to include a passage from the book with each of my designs, some unintentional wisdom from Prudence Sarn or Kester Woodseaves. I thought it would have made for a highly personal piece. But Mia didn’t think the average jewelry consumer would appreciate my attention to such details. I’m pretty sure what she really meant is she didn’t think most people would know who the hare-lipped heroine of that remarkable novel was, or the weaver who adored her, which I find terribly disturbing. So, I settled for Sutton .
But, it did take a bit of Xanax to do so.