Day in the life of...Chanchala Ariyaratne
Chanchala Ariyaratne is a Brighton based jewellery designer, who cleverly works with upcycled antique and vintage oddities to create stunning handmade pieces of one of a kind jewellery. Part of the beauty in working with found objects is the uniqueness of each piece, and her customers always remark upon her high quality craftmanship on each piece. Her work is always very popular at our markets, and she creates wearable art for both men and woman.
"Most of my pieces are made from found objects which are old and unwanted. My line of steampunk jewellery began with a pile of old watch and clock parts which got caught in the 2004 Tsunami, courtesy of my Dad. He owns a shop in southern Sri Lanka which was badly damaged. There is so much joy in turning such a tragedy into beautiful pieces of history."
Steampunk Necklace from a Victorian candle base
"I combine handmade with upcycled antique/vintage odds and ends making mostly quirky one-off pieces of jewellery and accessories. My designs are generally Steampunk in style or Victorian - inspired. I incorporate (and cast and re-style) antique broken bits I find on my travels, and a large, and very enjoyable, part of my process is hunting out beautiful old ‘junk’."
Prior to being a jewellery designer, Chanchala was an experimental researcher in Engineering! This comes across in her jewellery – both in the mechanical bits & bobs she recycles, and in her range of media - she loves a challenge when it comes to turning junk into beautiful functional pieces you will adore.
Each piece Chanchala designs is unique, and her lines are transient, like her name, which means ‘ever changing’.
Below Chanchala shares a day in her life...
Last Thursday I travelled to London to buy semi-precious gems for my jewellery. I find that it’s better to hand-pick these myself to get the most beautiful and interesting stones.
The morning begins as always with me checking e-mails in bed. A couple of orders have come in overnight from my website & I need to pack these up before I run off to London. So I’m in my Studio first thing finishing off the orders and packing them up. We just moved here so the Studio/Workshop is a work in progress – no sari curtains as yet – but it’s functional and I love having a dedicated space for my ‘toys’!
I then make myself a flask of tea and grab a breakfast bar for the train & literally run to the station for the 10:04 (first off-peak train!) to Liverpool Street.
Wherever I travel to, I never miss the opportunity to hunt out antiques and old junk. So I’ve arrived at Old Spitalfields Market for their antiques market today. The place is always buzzing with friendly traders and customers alike.
There’s a wonderful array of bric-a-brac including small pieces of furniture and lots and lots of jewellery! I love looking at old designs for inspiration. It’s also a great place to pick up unique display items for my jewellery – like this broken Edwardian frame and Victorian ebony candlestick I’ve turned into a necklace display and earring stand respectively- now taking pride of place at IO Gallery in the North Laines of Brighton. If you’re ever in the Lanes in Brighton you can also see my jewellery in a large converted antique cutlery box at Bellis Gallery.
Everything I buy today must fit in my satchel so I pick up a few broken jewellery and antique bits. These are wonderful for making one-off pieces. My hoard includes – a broken filigree silver flower pin, a magnifying loupe from an old scientific instrument, some old gears, a circa 1910s watch movement, a tiny antique compass fob, and a quirky vintage map measurer. I sell the occasional hand-picked and rare antique piece in my Etsy shop along with my handmade pieces. All in all a good little assortment for a couple of hours in Spitalfields!
It’s difficult to tear myself away from the beautiful things on offer but so I must. I grab a bite to eat on the go and all of a sudden I’m subjected to some good old British weather – with hail too!
I get a little soaked but I’m off on the underground to Hatton Garden which is the ‘jewellery quarter’ in London. It’s not quite the hustle and bustle I enjoy when I’m hunting for supplies in Sri Lanka (and it’s a little grey to contrast the striking sunshine there), but it’s a great place to pick up jewellery-making essentials.
So off I go to a little-known shop to buy these beauties. I spend hours there looking through their gemstones & carefully picking these out.
I’m planning to make some special pieces with these for the Brighton Artists Open Houses. I will combine them with clock gears which were courtesy of my Dad who has a shop in southern Sri Lanka. The gears are from old clocks that were damaged in the 2004 Tsunami so they have quite a history.
This is of course in addition to many other one-off pieces I plan to make like this Carnelian stone-set automatic watch movement ring.
It’s just after 5pm and I have to rush off & meet Rob (my husband) in Sloane Square (and I’m half an hour late!) to have a quick peek at a sofa we might buy (we just moved house and our current ‘sofa’ is a futon). After quite a long time sitting on sofas at John Lewis – purely for research purposes of course, we walk to China Town and have a quick bite to eat.
I never miss the opportunity to visit the Haagen Dazs bar on any visit to London – Mmmm..
Afterwards we walk back to Victorian Station for the 10 o’clock train to Brighton. A gust of sea winds greet us in Brighton & I’m glad to be home! There’s just enough time for a much-needed cup of tea in my little battered, but favourite, tea cup before bed.
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Artist: Chanchala Ariyaratne
Website: www.chanchala.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ByChanchala
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ByChanchala
You can find Chanchala trading at our 8th June, 6th July, 2nd & 23rd November & 21st December market at Brighton Unitarian Church, 11-5pm.She is also participating in the Artists Open Houses throughout May, or come visit her at her studio, email [email protected] for details!
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Goodbye, untill next time!
