Christine Terrell

Christine Terrell, owner of Adaptive Reuse | jewelry for intrepid women, takes lonely and abandoned decorative tins and creates new lives for them as contemporary art jewelry and accessories.

“When I was a kid, I used to laugh at my mom for her drawer of ‘gently used’ tin foil. It seemed excessive at best, but more likely just a bit loony. Now, of course, I have a little stash of my own and I ‘get’ why she did it. It wasn’t about the money. It was about using things up.”

-Christine Terrell

“Love the polka dots! Clever idea to recycle tin, and very well made. Outstanding transaction, good communication with the seller.”

“Can’t even begin to describe how happy I am with this custom pin and what a delightful person the seller is to work with. Her intention of reusing metal is laudable and the execution is just the right balance of good craftsmanship and heart and soul. She cared so much, down to the reused comics and Sassy green paint sample cards she uses for wrapping and mailing. I will glow every time I wear it.”

Christine Terrell, jewelry creator, and owner of Adaptive Reuse | jewelry for intrepid women, currently resides in San Marcos, Texas. Christine grew up in a small town in Maine and comes from a long line of frugal Yankees that taught her a lot about utilizing limited resources, using things up, and making do. It wasn’t because her family didn’t have enough, it was more about being mindful and responsible. “This instilled in me a habit for seeing value in things others overlook, or dismissed as trash. I often think the biggest influence in my childhood was being able to see the people in my family make things. The people around me created things all the time, yet they would not have considered themselves makers or artists. I wore mittens and hats they knitted for me. I ate vegetables from the gardens they nurtured and tended. I slept under quilts they sewed by hand. I savored the delicious baked goods they created from scratch—often with foods they foraged nearby. I even got to help them create grand things like regulation size hockey rinks on our lake each winter!” Her natural Yankee tendencies have informed this entire endeavor and everything she does.

Christine received a BFA in Graphic Design from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. She also took welding and smithing classes at Austin Community College which minimally prepared her for the vast and intrepid world of upcycling metal. After taking the courses at ACC, she wanted to work with metal at home, but had limited space, time and resources. Jewelry was the obvious place to start because it was small and functional. She came across the book, “The Fine Art of the Tin Can," in the library and realized that her background as a graphic designer, long love affair with thrift stores, and her natural Yankee frugality was about to “create the perfect storm of a new endeavor.” She bought her first few tins that week and within a couple of months she knew she had found her next career. 

Focused on sustainability, Christine sources the tins locally and chooses to use no precious or semi precious materials in her work. It’s exclusively steel and surgical stainless steel. Christine also makes all of her processes and packaging as close to zero-waste as possible. She has also recently partnered with One Tree Planted, because “I think the evidence is clear that reforestation is the first step to dealing with the climate crisis. I donate $1 per order, and their thing is that $1=1 tree.”

She mostly uses hand tools, and only picks up an  an electrical tool now and then for specific tasks.. Tin is naturally lightweight, so even  large earrings are very comfortable to wear all day. One of her favorite aspects of the material is  the surprise factor—when people connect the earrings to the tins they remember seeing on their mom or grandmom’s kitchen shelves. Never content with doing the same thing repeatedly, she has also started a line of jewelry made from hardcover vintage books under the moniker Ex Libris. 

Her designs are exclusively handmade and one-of-a-kind pieces. She works alone in her home studio making jewelry every day for people and places all over the planet. She likes to say that adaptive reuse creates new lives for lonely and abandoned decorative tins  by transforming them into contemporary art jewelry. Christine loves the mid century modern aesthetic and is drawn to shapes and styles reminiscent of that era, but she is also constantly dreaming up new designs drawing on inspiration from nearly everything she sees around her. As her tagline says,  she creates ethical adornment for bohemians, mavericks, individualists and iconoclasts. Twice a month she sends a newsletter to this tribe of women featuring 6 Good Things she thinks are worth sharing. 

Originally part of the East Austin art scene, her family was one of many priced out of Austin. She feels fortunate to have landed in San Marcos and to have  found a thriving and supportive art community.  She is a founding member of 218 Co-op Gallery, a Board member of the San Marcos Art League and former Arts Commissioner.  The Co-op Gallery where she has joined forces with a dozen other area area artists has become a hub in the historic downtown. The group is committed to showing a vibrant mix of fine art and craft and the endeavor is teaching her first hand how a robust creative economy is an integral part of thriving communities.  

You can find Christine’s jewelry on-line at the links listed below.

Links:

Website:
christineterrell.com

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/christineterrell
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adaptivereuser/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christineterrell/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/adaptivereuse/boards/
218 Co-op: https://www.218coopgallery.com

Stockists:

Austin: Parts & Labour
San Marcos: 218 Co-op Gallery
Johnson City: Echo
San Antonio: Mockingbird Handprints
Boise: Mixed Greens
Brevard NC: D D Bullwinkel's
San Francisco: Wink SF

Press:

Austin Texas Gov Blog:
http://www.austintexas.gov/blog/tin-can-fine-jewelry

Annie’s Artist Lookbook:
http://www.anniesartistlookbook.com/2014/04/adaptive-reuse.html

Insite Magazine:
http://insiteaustin.blogspot.com/2010/01/upcycled-art-art-of-christine-terrell.html

Austin Flea:
http://www.austinflea.net/2011/04/featured-flea-friend-christine-terrell.html

Video:
https://video.gpb.org/video/klru-collective-christine-terrell-east/

Articles:

Facet:  Jewelry making start to finish:
http://tinyurl.com/y9w9ex34