Launching Maliny
before I was a restaurateur I was a jeweler
Hello!!
It has been some time since I checked in, the summer has truthfully been a blur. Here I am with some news!
As someone with untamed adhd I deeply enjoy a side quest, but after reopening Roses and remembering my purpose I vowed to myself not to quest too hard, lest I get distracted. Life, in its long and twisty nature sometimes does not honor our declarations…
A few months ago in a fit of inspiration I began to make jewelry again. I hold a degree in fine art/metal smithing and worked as jeweler for years before opening the restaurant so its not out of the blue but it was far from my routine of cooking, gardening and restauranting. It was, of course, just what I needed.
Sometimes running a business can make you forget that you have a totally separate human existence outside of the day to day. You hear small business owners talk about the stress, the missed time with family, the sleepless nights, the scary bills and unplanned repairs, it is all true. It can be the first thing you think about when you wake up and the last thing before you fall asleep (if you are lucky enough to fall asleep haha) I have spent years of my life with a laser focus on all things business, even more so during the pandemic. I see the scars of this era in the faces of small business owners who made it through. It was awful. Despite what I had been through I was so excited to reopen Roses. It was one of the happiest years of my life rebuilding this little place. One of the most important realizations I've had over the course of this short year is that I need to live as a whole person. Even when things go wrong at the business, which is a guarantee lol.
This brings me back to the beads. I have found going to the bead store, especially Dabl’s bead museum, selecting and making beaded jewelry for myself and friends has been incredibly freeing! The meditative quality of designing, stringing and clasping the necklaces is so grounding. I started running to my jewelry studio every morning before starting the day to make something to slip around my neck. Before long friends and family noticed my ritual and requested pieces! I was thrilled others loved them as much as I do. I use coral, bone, glass, jade and other earthy materials. Some of the beads sourced from Dabl’s are hundreds of years old. The necklaces feel powerful and personal and I am so happy to have an opportunity to share them at a pop up hosted by Eugenie this Sunday 11-5pm. If you are in town please come see what I’ve been working on! If you aren’t local you can see my work here
This doesn’t change my passion for my restaurant, food justice or any other thing I’ve worked on in the past 10 years but it does round out my experience and allows another avenue for expression, which we all need! I hope you too are making time for exploration:))
xx Molly