Emma Mitchell

Author, designer-maker, naturalist, illustrator, mum

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The Shadow Year – honesty seedpod necklace

I’m always honoured when I receive a commission request. No matter what the design or occasion might be it’s a good feeling to be able to make something that might have some meaning for the recipient. A few months ago Hannah Richell contacted me enquiring about the honesty (lunaria) seedpod necklace I first made in the Autumn of 2011 as part of my Nature Table Series. She told me that she had written a novel in which honesty and in particular a necklace in the form of an honesty seedpod played a pivotal role and that she was interested in commissioning this design to coincide with its publication.

Hannah writes: I stumbled upon Emma’s ‘Silver Pebble’ jewellery designs while developing the idea of an ‘honesty necklace’ within the novel. I wanted one of my characters to give a gift to another character and the idea of a silver seed head pendant struck me as perfect. It was amazing: a quick Google search instantly brought up an etsy photo of an almost identical necklace to the one I had imagines in my mind’s eye.

I felt connected to Emma and her work on several different levels and, unable to stop thinking about the silver honesty necklace on etsy, I knew I had nothing to lose in asking Emma if she would take on a special commission for me.

Honesty seedpods remind me of my Grandfather’s garden. I would pick them in the late summer and separate the thin papery layers to release the tiny penny-like seeds. My daughters love to collect seeds,  especially the littlest, and she discovered honesty herself last autumn. She asked specifically to be taken up to a spot on the path leading to our village wood where we had discovered some that had self-seeded. I kept finding the seeds in her pockets.

They have nostalgic associations for Hannah too: I loved the idea of featuring lunaria in the story because half of my novel is set in the early 1980s and for me, it’s always been a plant steeped in childhood nostalgia. I can still remember my mum’s dried flower arrangements dotted around our house in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, vases filled with stems of silver honesty seed heads that shimmered and rustled as you passed by. I can hear the papery crackle of them under my fingertips, and recall how they would split, or crumble like ash if you pressed too hard. They were so delicate and fragile, like iridescent paper moons. To my mind honesty just seemed to fit with the era I was writing about.

It also married up neatly with a key theme of the novel, for buried at the heart of The Shadow Year – a tale about a group of friends who decide to drop out for a year and try to live self-sufficiently in a remote, abandoned cottage – lay the idea of truth and lies, and the deceits we sometimes tell ourselves and each other to justify our less honorable actions.

I made two honesty necklaces for Hannah, each with three seeds. I do love the design of these seedpods, especially the little lines (funicles) that connect the seeds to the edge of the pod. They are satisfying to make. Very excitingly one of the necklaces has been part of a giveaway organised by Hannah’s Australian publishers. You can read more about the premise of Hannah’s novel and her story-telling process on her blog.

Note: I have long been a fan of Richard and Judy’s bookclub so I was excited to find out that Hannah’s first book, Secrets of the Tides, had been selected for their book club last summer (the interview with Hannah begins 1 minute in). It was so good to put a face to the lovely emails that had flown back and forth between us. I ordered a copy of Secrets of the Tides and became so engrossed in it over the Easter holidays that I read it in just a day or so. It’s engrossing and an excellent read.

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Comments

  1. What a super commission. I think almost everyone has a deep connection with Honesty, I can't be without some in the house and I grow a lot of it in my little patch.

    The pendants are beautiful, well done.

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  2. Seed pods of all kinds are wonderful inspiration for jewellery, and your honesty pendants are especially beautiful. And the sketches are equally beautiful!

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  6. This is such a lovely design emma, it's such a beautful delicate plant and your pendant reflects this wonderfully. Love you drawing too 🙂 xxx

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  8. These are beautiful … the funicles are especially lovely, as is the little projection at the bottom. In the US we call this plant "silver dollars" but Honesty is so much nicer. What a wonderful commission and perfectly executed. 🙂

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  15. So thrilled to read of this wonderful partnership.

    I've grown Honesty for the first time this year – the seed pods always remind me of my Great Nanny Dean.

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  16. Love the necklace, so very pretty. Thanks also for your sea glass post. Inspired us to take a visit there this morning and we all had a fabulous couple of hours hunting for treasures on the beach! My two girls were very impressed by mummy knowing all about the glass and where to find it! I did explain how I knew and said I would pass on their thank yous!!
    Nic x

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