Meet a Maker: Edition 5

Meet Anna Rennie

1. What is your craft and how did you get into it?

The two crafts that I do tie in really nicely together. I’m a silversmith and a maille maker. The silversmithing I got into by doing a ring in a day workshop at a local college. I’d never ever done any metalworking before, but I went along and I came away with a silver ring. I still have the ring with my name stamped on it and it sits in my workshop as a reminder of that first thing I made. When I came out of the class, I saw a sign on the notice board saying BA Honours, silversmithing and jewellery. I thought why not apply for that? What’s the worst that can happen? So I did it! I applied, got a place, and did my BA Honours.

During year two of the course, one of my modules was to create a suite of jewellery for a hypothetical client, which led me to the maille making. While working on this project, I chose Warwick Castle for inspiration because I love history and looking at Warwick Castle with its armour collection (obviously a lot of maille in there as well). I thought to myself, I don’t know how to make this, so I need to learn. It took me about two weeks to teach myself the absolute basics of maille making, and I just loved it ever since. I think to me, maille making is almost like a ‘marmite craft’. You’ve got to love it to actually want to carry on with it.

2. What is one interesting fact about you?

Mail and tools I have several interesting facts I want to share. First, I’m a real avid cyclist. I’m absolutely passionate about cycling and do it quite a lot. The most important thing I want to mention is that I’m the first professional female maille maker in the UK. I’m so excited to be on the list with Heritage Crafts and to see myself listed! Lastly, my great granddad was a jeweller for Queen Victoria. I think there is a bit of a link coming down on that side of the family, which is quite interesting.

3. How long have you been making?

Since the one day ring workshop, eleven years.

4. Who is/are your favourite maker(s) in your craft? Anyone you admire in the craft field?

I don’t actually have one particular person, but more of a handful of people I admire. I love the arts and crafts movement. William Morris is a massive passion of mine and his daughter, May Morris. C R Ashbee, who was one of the silversmiths alongside William Morris, is just phenomenal. Filippo Negroli, an Italian armourer from the 15th-16th century, is wonderful. I do not know how he did the things he did with hammers and punches. It’s just mind blowing! Nick Checksfield, a.k.a. the guru of maille making, is another amazing maker. He is my maille making mentor and an incredible source of information, patience and talent. I also wanted to mention all my close maker friends, because they all inspire me every day. Every time they make something, show it on social media, and we have a chat about things, they are all so supportive of each other. I think it’s really nice to recognise those around you, whether it’s in your craft or not, because that circle of good friends that you get from doing these crafts is lovely.

5. What is the most challenging skill/technique you learned in your craft?

There is not one single skill that is the most challenging, it is all of them. When you’re a maker, even when you’re starting and you make something like a ring, it’s the best thing you’ve ever made. Then you go on and each time you’re challenging yourself to push your skill set further. I think it’s all of the techniques and learning the new skills, because it doesn’t matter how good you get, you just keep pushing forward. When I think about making another vessel like the one I’ve just made, I think this time around it’s going to be better, or I’m going to do something different to it, which is good.

Silver cups

For example, I made a plate in silver where it had a dished out centre, chasing and repousse over it, as well as an image of a tree. It looked beautiful. I soldered a lovely silver rim, but it needed something else. I’d made it a few years ago and there were a couple of things that I needed to alter before I included it in an upcoming show. However, while adding a bit more soldering on it to clean it up it cracked and melted. Luckily, one of my good friends was in the studio with me, so she picked up the pieces of me and assured me it’s fine. So I put it away for a bit. I always say to people, if something like that goes hideously wrong, make it into something else. So I have, and I’m really excited about the piece. I cut out the melted section and it’s now going to be a bowl. It was a massive learning curve, but I know that I can salvage what I’ve got left and I’m impressed with myself. I think soldering is one of those really big issues for me, as it’s a very challenging technique. Yet, I learned so much from this experience. I can take this project and pass it on to my students as a lesson. If you learn from it, then it’s got to be a good thing.

6. What is your favourite part of your craft?

I love talking to people about silversmithing and maille making. I get really passionate about the crafts and I feel really lucky that I’m doing one critically endangered and one viable craft. I have this sense that I’m doing my little bit to help those crafts by spreading the word.

I also love teaching. In my evening classes, I have a couple of students who are lovely retired ladies. They have this new-found love for silversmithing and have been coming for four years now. For those who haven’t done silversmithing before, you need a lot of space for all your equipment and your tools. So for these older students of mine who come in once a week, three hours on a Tuesday evening, it’s their time. The best part is that they’re starting to convert their garages now into silversmithing spaces. I love it because these ladies are pushing their husbands out of the garages and creating a space for themselves. To me it gives a sense of female empowerment, which is absolutely brilliant! Additionally, just seeing the look on someone’s face when they’ve been trying to make something really challenging and it’s gone right is amazing. They’re in their own little world, and then you see this look on the face like, “Oh, my God. I’ve done it!” That’s the moment that’s so nice for me as a teacher.

Silver pear vessel with spoon.

There is so much I love about my two crafts, but lastly I enjoy meeting new people. My partner and I do craft shows where you meet so many people. I have fun being outside doing demonstrations where I can really engage with people ranging from in the pram up to 100 years old. It’s accessible for everybody. For example, for people to be able to hold a piece of maille, which is generally seen it in a museum behind glass, makes a world of difference. People are actually engaging with the craft, especially kids. I’ve had a lot of parents email me about tools for their kids to start maille making, which is brilliant. I feel like I’m sowing the seeds for future generations and that’s really important.

7. What project are you most proud of and why?

For silversmithing, one piece that does stand out for me is a silver teapot I made for a client I met quite a few years ago, who now lives in Hong Kong. He bought a few pieces from me, including a tea caddy, but later commissioned me to make a teapot to match it. I’d never made a teapot but my old tutor convinced me to take the commission because learn how to make it later. So, I made the teapot and the feeling of filling it with hot water and pouring it into the cup without a dripping spout was amazing! I think that’s probably one of my biggest achievements.

In terms of maille, I’m working on an Aventail piece, which is a helmet with maille coming down it (I aiming to create the helmet too). I’ve got a bit of an obsession for Persian maille with its different beautiful colours and patterns. I’ve done about a third of the maille. I think once I finish that and make the helmet I will sleep for a whole year! It’s quite a full on piece that incorporates both sets of skills, the silversmithing and the maille making.

Mail making

8. If someone who knows nothing about your craft could know one thing, what would it be and why?

I say this in the most respectful way I can, but people mix up jewellery and silversmithing. For diehard silversmiths like me and a few of my friends, the mislabeling is quite annoying because they are very different crafts. If you’re a jeweller, you make jewellery. If you’re a silversmith, you make vessels like cups, plates, trophies, etc. Silversmithing is also incredibly physical. People think the blacksmiths are the strong ones. However, when you’re raising a vessel, you’re hammering for hours and hours. So silversmithing is quite a tough craft.

For both of my crafts, I would say that they teach you so much. I have learnt a ton about myself as a maker from both of these crafts. You might not like what you learn, but as long as you take from it and move forward, you’ll become a better maker from it.

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Meet Anna Rennie