I'm Susanne, maker behind Una Artesana. You might also know me as the jewelry designer behind my namesake brand, Susanne Verallo.
I've always wanted to be a jeweler, as in someone who actually makes jewelry, not just design. I'd planned on taking metal smithing classes last year, but unfortunately couldn't push through because of the pandemic. Then I thought to myself, just because I couldn
't do metal smithing, that didn't mean I couldn't learn alternative jewelry-making techniques. So I started dabbling with the beads I had at home and eventually found out about bead weaving. I taught myself different techniques through video tutorials and started designing my own pieces from there. The Philippines, my home, is an endless source of inspiration to me. While I was teaching myself bead weaving, I was also researching and learning more about our myths and legends. Eventually I brought the two together and started creating pieces inspired by Filipino folklore. That eventually became the first volume of jewelry, titled "Langit".
Una Artesana has since evolved from personal project to small business. I plan on learning more jewelry-making techniques and telling more of our ancestors' stories through meticulously handcrafted jewelry. Thank you for coming along with me on this journey!
• MATERIAL & TECHNIQUE
For Una Artesana’s first two collections, I explore bead-weaving as a jewelry-making technique with glass beads, the material I had available during lockdown. There are two types of bead-weaving methods: loom weaving (left) and off-loom weaving (right). The method used depends on what the design calls for. All the earrings are done off-loom with a combination of different bead weaving stitches, while the necklaces are done on the loom. Depending on the complexity of the design, it can take anywhere between 2 to 8 hours for me to complete a single piece as everything is done completely by hand.
