Metal Atelier, a featured vendor at our Holiday Market, is a one woman show, creating jewelry using precious and non precious metals in Greenpoint Brooklyn. Anna Butwell strives to make pieces that stand the test of time.
We interviewed Anna about her love for jewelry making and Greenpoint.
GP: Why do you make jewelry?
Anna: I make jewelry because I enjoy the creative process and the satisfaction of the finished products. I make what I make because, really, the world needs more animal print baubles. I strive to create products that can stand up to time and abuse by the wearer. I have taken a few pieces out my line because they were too fragile.
GP: How long have you been making jewelry?
Anna: I took a silversmith class a few years ago and just ran with it.
GP: How did you come up with the shop name?
Anna: Metal Atelier is a play on metal shop, to me a room in ones highschool where you learn to make shelf brackets. I think I make slightly cooler items though.
GP: What else do you do?
Anna: This is not (yet) my day job. I also work in the prop department on the CBS show Elementary. Lucy Liu wore some of my rings in a recent episode, that was pretty cool.
GP: Can you speak about your production process?
Anna: All of my products are hand made by me in my Greenpoint studio, although the casting is done in Manhattan. When possible I buy scrap silver and melt it to use in fabrications, I also up-cycle silver spoons and other interesting silver pieces. As the sole employee of my company, I think I treat myself alright.
GP: Why are you excited to participate in Greenpointers Market?
Michelle: I am excited to showcase my wares in my home territory that I live and create in.
GP: Let’s talk about your favorite spots in Greenpoint.
Anna: Vinnies vegan pizza sustains me more than I would like to admit. And it’s one of the only places that delivers to me. I also spend a lot of time at Boulevard Tavern, where the bartenders have great taste in music, you can smoke in the yard, and the cocktails are strong and cheap.