The Maker
Hiya, I’m Christie. I’m a self-taught artisan that has always been fascinated with how things are made. I moved to Wiltshire in 2014 and fell in love with the landscape and history of this ancient county and by proxy, the cultural heritage exhibited only a stone throw away at the likes of Avebury stone circle and West Kennet long barrow.
This got me exploring historical crafts and the notion of artistic creations and customs that still live on to this day through cultural ideology. This gave me the inspiration to re-examine historical crafts that are still prevalent within our society, how they were originally made, and how you’d do it now without mass production and artificial materials.
So I started exploring Dream Catchers, they were something I always remember having in my room growing up, but I’d never looked into the why. I set about researching and learning about the myths and legends behind them, the importance they played within the society that carried an artistic creation imbued with an apotropaic magic into the 21st century as we see today. I loved the expression and the notion behind them, but at the same time wanted to respect the original creation so I opted to explore materials I considered to be vastly different and gave a new dimension to the art.
I didn’t have experience with weaving or fibre arts, so it was a lengthy process of learning different material types, exploring the capabilities, and finding the right medium. It took quite a bit of experimentation, but somewhere along the way it all started to fall into place.
That’s how it all started, since then, I’ve expanded into exploring different issues faced in modern day making that are important to me, like ethical and environmental materials, responsible purchasing and supply chain transparency. Alongside developing new skills, techniques and knowledge that allow me to delve into different handmade mediums, I’m also lucky to have a such an available breadth of histories and cultures to learn from and be inspired by.
The Company
Our Mission at Roanate
Create Responsibly
All products are designed and handmade in Wiltshire with entirely natural bio-degradable materials.
Source Ethically
We only source supplies that are ethical, like non-mulesed wool, certified gemstones, and recycled beech.
Provide Provenance
We like to know where everything comes from to ensure quality, and responsibility – and we think you’d like to know too!
Set Standards
By making products with these goals, we can set new standards for ethical purchasing and kickstart a natural revolution.