rightbar
livemarks16.pngSubscribe to RSS
RSS FEEDS
  • Shift Blog
  • ShiftMag RSS
NEWSLETTERS
  • NEWSLETTERS
SHIFT BLOGGERS
  • SHIFT BLOGGERS
  • - Sun Ray
  • - Media Analysis
  • - Smart Money
  • - Aaron's Blog
  • - Jason's Blog
  • - Citybiker
  • - The Builder
  • - Greendesign
  • - Svenska
  • - Fashionblog
  • —  - First Person
  • - Enviroart
  • - Healthyfood
  • - Science Blogs
  •  
  • DOWNSHIFT
  • - Food
  • - Travel
  • - Hybrids Plus
  • - Style
  • - Pop Culture
  • - Politics
  • - Business
  • - Green Building
  • - Health and Beauty
  • - Science and Tech
  • - Profiles
  • - Odd and Amusing
  •  
  • ECO BLOGOSPHERE
  • - 3rliving
  • - About My Planet
  • - The Action Blog
  • - After Gutenberg
  • - Agroblogger
  • - Ailinblog
  • - Alternative Energy Blog
  • - Be Sustainable - The Weblog
  • - Jetson Green Blog
  • - Sustainablog
  • - An Inconvenient Truth
  • - Another Green World
  • - Baloghblog
  • - BIOconversion Blog
  • - Biodiesel and Ethanol Investing
  • - Black Bear Speaks
  • - BTC Elements Blog
  • - Celsias
  • - City Hippy
  • - Clean Edge
  • - Cleantech Blog
  • - Cleantech Investing
  • - Climate Action Change
  • - Climate Change Chronicles
  • - Eco-Chick
  • - Computers, Society, and Nature
  • - Conscious Clicks
  • - The Conscious Earth
  • - Cut Oil Imports
  • - Cycle Santa Monica
  • - Daily Green
  • - The Daily Score
  • - DeSmog Blog
  • - Earth Meanders
Main

First Person

Kirsten Muenster, Sustainable Jewelry Designer

I was always intrigued by jewelry. My mother was an antiques dealer and I started collecting vintage jewelry at a very early age. I have always been fascinated by the idea that throughout history, people have felt compelled to adorn their bodies with metal, stones, fiber and found objects. For me, choosing the materials is the most exciting part of the process. I'm drawn in by the color, pattern, shape and story behind them. I try to create wearable abstract landscapes.

necklace copy.jpgMy philosophy as well as my politics are definitely reflected in my work. I choose materials that have the least devastating impact on the environment and its inhabitants. I don't use diamonds, tanzanite or other questionable gem stones because it is virtually impossible to assess whether the Kimberley Process is preventing conflict diamonds from entering international trade and the sale of these stones has been proven to aid terrorist organizations. I only work with stones whose cultivation does not promote unfair labor practices. Most of the stones I use are found in the United States and acquired from rock hounds and dealers I've come to know and trust. The agates and jaspers are found in gravel pits, along lake shores and riverbeds. I do a lot of my own stone cutting from rock found in the 40's, 50's and 60's. I also recycle many stones from vintage pieces and the fossils in my work are only acquired from privately owned land.

keychain copy.jpgI'm always exploring more conscious and sustainable options for my jewelry materials. I'm currently designing pieces that feature recycled "Fordite". This bizarre material is the end-result of the automotive assembly paint plant process. It's made up of dozens of layers of automotive paint, baked over and over as each car went through the assembly line and was spray-painted. Automakers began tearing out the paint booths in the late 1950s and 60s because of the way the paint had caked on the walls of the booths over the years. These booths were destined for the landfill, but some enterprising employees decided that there was some value in the walls of the old booths and began taking them home for themselves. Clever lapidarists saw the potential in big chunks of this multi-layered "slag" and started cutting it. The pieces have an additional meaning in that they are a part of American and British industrial history. It's really amazing to be able to wear that in a piece of jewelry!

2rings copy.jpgAnother material I'm currently using is copper fire brick; a byproduct of the copper smelting process. The copper fire brick comes from closed smelters in Michigan. I've heard that some of this stuff actually washes up in bits and pieces on local lakeshores.

Please note: "Fordite" is a nickname given to these pieces by lapidarists because they are made of automotive paint. They are not produced by the Ford Motor Company or its subsidiaries, nor is there any desire or attempt made by the cutters or retailers to represent these items as Ford Motor Company products.

----------------------
Kirsten Muenster is a jewelry designer living in San Francisco, CA. You can see more of her products and learn more about her at www.kirstenmuenster.com.
Posted on Friday, November 17, 2006 at 03:03PM by Registered CommenterShift Mag | CommentsPost a Comment | References4 References

EmailEmail Article to Friend

References (4)

References allow you to track sources for this article, as well as articles that were written in response to this article.
  • Response
    Response: Referer
    at Abigail on January 26, 2007
    REALITY, n. The dream of a mad philosopher. That which would remain in the cupel if one should assay a phantom. The nucleus of a vacuum
  • Response
    Response: mo money pawn
    at mo money pawn on October 17, 2014
    First Person - First Person - Shift Media - Smart Living Made Easy.
  • Response
    Response: wikipedia reference
    at wikipedia reference on October 17, 2014
    First Person - First Person - Shift Media - Smart Living Made Easy.
  • Response
    Response: wikipedia reference
    at wikipedia reference on October 17, 2014
    First Person - First Person - Shift Media - Smart Living Made Easy.

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author:  (forget stored information)
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
↓ | ↑
 
All HTML will be escaped. Hyperlinks will be created for URLs automatically.
  

PostLink an External Response

Have a response on your own site? You can either use the [Trackback URL] for this entry, or link to your response directly.

I want to leave a comment directly on this site »
Article Title:
Article URL:
Article Excerpt (optional):
Site Name:
Site URL (optional):
Author Name:
HOME|SUBSCRIBE|COMMUNITY|ABOUT SHIFT |CONTACT US|TEAM
Shift Magazine. All Rights Reserved.website designed by envisionit media