Description
Inspiration for my Apple Earrings
One of my favourite stories I tell, when at a craft show, is how I came to model my earwigs. It goes like this: At my regular arty street market, Best of Faversham, I do much more chatting about weird creatures than trying to sell jewellery! One such conversation happened to be with a topfruit agronomist*, who had an unusual respect for earwigs. Having spent my childhood picking apples in my family’s orchard and frequently sticking fingers into unseen earwiggy crevaces, I had to ask why. He explained how they are vital for pest control in apple orchards and how, despite appearances, they are very maternal. My misgivings for these quirky beasts instantly gave way to admiration – and I leapt at the chance to model one. My earwig earrings were born and a scrumptious apple to accompany them was only a short step away.
Actually, the real catalyst for these little apples wasn’t actually the link to the earwig, but a birthday surprise. A friend was looking for that special something for her brother’s 40th and so we got chatting over a Belgian beer (a necessity when in Brussels!). The fact that their surname was Applebee, and that I had already modelled my miniature bee – led to the creation of the apple-bee cufflinks: a miniature bee at one end and a miniature apple at the other. They were a hit… and I got the perfect match for my earwig earrings too. A true commemoration of my childhood.
*Specialist in fruit grown from trees, e.g. apples, pears, etc.
