Caroline Brogden
From Waste to Wearable – Jewellery for the eco-conscious lover of wide-open spaces, rolling waves and the colour and joy of the British coast.
Sustainability is an area that interests me greatly and the idea of producing something entirely new from a waste material is central to what I do.
It’s about creating truly unique, one of kind pieces with a low carbon footprint, from a traceable source, and in circular economy with another artist. But it is also about just making people smile with the tactileness (is that even a word? If not it should be!) of the product and the bright colours and patterns.
Surfite is my passion and it brings me such joy experimenting and working with it. The material encompasses so many things for me.
Surfite is the surplus and waste resin leftover from production of custom surfboards. The Surfite I work with comes in 2 distinct varieties – stripes and swirls. During the production of a custom surfboards; liquid resin is poured over the fibreglass in order to add strength and colour. Excess resin drips away and hardens into large slabs creating the striped Surfite.
The swirled slabs are made from surplus resin used to repair a surf board which has been `dinged` (damaged). These slabs of Surfite would normal be broken up and sent to landfill. I only use Surfite from one custom surfboard shaper; Jay Burnett in Edinburgh, Scotland. Making the Surfite fully traceable and sustainable.
Each piece I make is hand carved from the raw material to the final piece, before being finished with precious metals