Bouyant Bertie!

This is going to be one of those blog entries in which I heap praises on a particular artisan -if you are, at best, indifferent to jewellery, you may therefore wish to click away hurriedly rather than risk getting drawn in...

Some months ago, I chanced upon the work of a very distinctive metalsmith in the great wilderness of Etsy jewellery listings. "I'll heart that pendant", I thought, "and buy from that chap at a later time".

Famous last words.

If an Etsy item which you have saved to your favourites list is sold, you will still be able to see the details of the listing.

If, on the other hand, the item has expired or been withdrawn, you are left with a box of frustrating blankness. Which is what happened to me with this seller.

Armed with nothing more than the knowledge that he was Australian and that he works in copper, bronze and silver, I embarked on a frustrating two hours of increasingly-desperate searching. I finally tracked him down by searching under the term, "rhinoceros".

Since which nightmare, I have taken great care to favourite shops as well as individual items. In this instance, the shop name is davidloong.

Moving forward to my most recent payday, I decided it was finally time to buy the dear little flying cat pendant I had been hearting for so long because it was so reminiscent of a certain young Master Bertram. But it was gone!!

Reasoning that David sounded, from his listings, like a very decent chap, I ventured to send him what Etsy cringe-inducingly refers to as a "convo".

He explained that the original flying cat had been sold at a craft market, but that he would be happy to make another one for me. The new cat is much more Bertie-coloured than the original, and even came listed with his own poem:

"Bertie was a lively boy
Who loved to leap around.
With fur of curls
And wings with whirls
He rarely touched the ground."

Bouyant Bertie flew over from Australia with surprising speed, and arrived - sewn in to a tiny, protective package - on Tuesday morning. He is gorgeous.

How David can work on such a tiny scale with sheets of metal, I know not: although you can learn more about the techniques he uses on his own website. Given the hours of work involved in creating each piece, his prices are absurdly low.

Whether or not you could envisage yourself wearing an original, miniature artwork round your neck, please do visit David's Etsy shop, even if it's for nothing more than the pleasure of reading his listings: it's rare to encounter such gentle, whimsical humour in a commercial setting. David's work is peopled by mythical beasties who inhabit a world of his own creation: it's a truly seductive vision for anyone brought up on the books of Messrs Tolkien, Pratchett, etc.

David being far too diffident and retiring to market his own work sufficiently aggressively for it to get the exposure it so richly deserves, I am doing what little I can to increase the number of people who are familiar with the magical pieces he creates.

The Editor