“I have often been asked to explain who I am and how I express my creativity,” says Simona Rotaris, from Italy. “Today I can summarize that I express myself through color!”
Over the years, Simona became passionate about different techniques, all related to handmade jewelry, from macramê to weaving with beads up to the most long-lived love, the soutache. Over time she realized that it was not the technique she used that fascinated her, but the chromatic potential that allowed for experimentation.
In 2017, after having embedded cabochons of every shape and material in soutache, Simona felt the desire to develop new shapes, which would allow the creation of jewelry outside the classic models. After a period of experimentation, she decided that polymer clay is the perfect material to make her wish come true. She was so caught in the process of making focal stones that she no longer had the time to work them as finished jewelry. “The more I did, the more I wanted to do,” she recalls, wanting to experiment with new techniques, new colors, or finishes, and a real job was born.
Today, Simona makes cabochons for anyone who wants to have unique focal stones for their handmade jewelry. Each element is a unique piece and will give life in the hands of the artists to an absolutely unique jewel. "It is always a strong emotion for me to see the creations that were born from one of my cabochons," she says, "to see how the artists who buy from me interpret my ideas. It is mind-boggling to think about how many unique jewels have been born in recent years from the synergy between what I create following the mood of the moment and the creative hands that embellish them with pearls, crystals, and elegant embroidery: not even in a thousand years I alone could have created so many jewels and experiment so many techniques."
There are aspects of this job that Simona dislikes. The administrative part, shipments, and the management of social media, are all aspects that she would gladly delegate to others. But as far as the creative process is concerned, at this stage, the first axiom is to do something that gives her pleasure.
“If you want to get closer to clay, do not lose sight of a fundamental point: you must have fun and allow yourself to express yourself,” the artist advises. “Watch tutorials, study the recipes, then when your hands can manipulate the clay without the brain piloting them, forget all the rules, recipes, and models you have studied, and start experimenting: it is a material so versatile that creating something new and innovative is simple,” Simona shares her advice.
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