I WAS 40 WHEN I DECIDED WHAT I WANT TO DO WHEN I GROW UP

Let me start telling you my story by: I was 40 when I decided what I wanted to do when I grew up.

I have always loved art. Any form of art: painting, films, photos, theatre, books, architecture… I used to flip through my mum's architecture magazines when I was 10, daydreaming about floorplans and thinking of how interesting Oscar Niemeyer and his concrete buildings full of swings were. I was also quite a big fan of Miró and was so happy when my grandmother gave me a T-shirt printed with one of his paintings. And I still remember the first time I learnt about Tarsila do Amaral.

I am saying all of that so you can get an idea that I was really into any artistic expression from a very young age.

However, I was always the audience. My sister was the artistic one. She played the flute, took painting classes, had drawing books, and many pencils and brushes… I was the sporty one who couldn't even draw a simple square.

But there was one thing I could do: make jewellery. After all, I just had to put some beads in a piece of string, right?! I started, maybe around 12 years old, making colourful beaded necklaces, and slowly, I understood that I could do more with those little pieces. I still remember how happy I got when I finally transformed those beads into little flowers. From that, I moved to weaving jewellery, leather, metals… whatever I found interesting, I would just give it a go. 

But it was just a hobby. 

So, I 'put myself in the right place' as someone who can not make anything artistic but could appreciate it.

And that's what I did for a long time. 

I went to a more or less traditional university to study hotel management and started working with hotels and travel agencies. 

It was okay, but it was not my thing.

Maybe I could try something else. Being a producer seemed like a good idea. Well, I could be in the artistic world but not an artist.

Slowly, I started a career move; I first went to cinema school and then drama school until I graduated and became a producer, as planned, but also an actress. And I ended up working with theatre and film productions for over a decade. 

I absolutely loved my period in theatre, but I must say my favourite part was always experimenting and exchanging ideas. Funny enough, being on stage was never my favourite part. I would dread the applause in the end. But if that meant I could be in that art environment and experience the richness of all the exchanges with my fellow artistic friends, I was okay with that.

I was finally starting to tap into what I wanted to do with my life.

Nonetheless, during this whole period, since my 12 years old, I never stopped making jewellery, and now and then, I would make a necklace, a ring or a bracelet for myself or for a few friends, and even some commissions. 

I also understood that I could express myself better through my jewellery pieces and that they could say much more about me than any clothes I wore, so of course, jewellery became a massive part of my life.

I just love playing and experimenting with my accessories. To get an idea, I always decide what jewellery I want to wear first, and the clothes come after to complement the protagonist, the jewellery.

And then, as we can all remember, in 2020, the year I turned 40, the pandemic hit us, and, in that crazy time, we all began to reevaluate our lives.

Locked inside the house, baking all types of bread, making yoghurt for the first time, gardening, and making AND eating nonstop brigadeiro, a Brazilian sweet, I found comfort in my old hobby, jewellery.

Once again, I started creating earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings. I wasn't thinking much about why I was making them; I was just doing it, and it was so good.

After a little while, I realised I had quite a few pieces that I was really pleased with, so I started making them more consciously, and the Everyday Small Pleasures collection was created, and Pinah was born.

It is strange how our lives can take an 'unexpected' turn. I can say it all happened by chance, and maybe it did; however, another way of seeing it is that perhaps I have been preparing myself for the past almost 30 years to finally take this turn. After all, life starts at 40, right?!

Whatever it might be, I am happy I did. I love jewellery, and expressing myself through them is wonderful.

Thank you for being here and for coming on this journey with me.

X

Joana