I am so excited to introduce you to Undring Studio, offering jewelry made with sterling silver, precious and found stones, and glass beads. Each piece is handmade by me and completely one-of-a-kind.
Soon, you’ll be able to shop Undring’s first collection: a range of color blocked necklaces made with Japanese glass seed beads called Summer Strands. It’s this collection, and the feeling behind Undring, that’s motivating me to put Undring out into the world now, even if some of the more business-y things like the brand and website aren’t ready just yet.
A few of the Summer Strands that will be available, ready for sterling silver clasps.
So welcome to the not-quite-ready-yet-but-I’m-putting-it-out-there-anyway beginning of Undring. It’s a little scary and a whole lot exciting, and I’d really love for you to be part of the journey. And in the spirit of that, I want to start by sharing a little bit with you about how I settled on the studio’s name.
When I first started thinking about names for this creative outlet, I wanted a name that describes the wonder I experience almost daily for what are often everyday or ordinary things: like finding a really good rock on the beach; the way water and light play and dance; finding a beautiful color in nature or a human-made setting; seeing something silly my dog does; feeling inspired by a detail in a woodworking piece my husband is working on; or even just seeing random things on our daily walks.
Moments like these inspired the colors and patterns in each of the Summer Strands, and offer almost daily inspiration for other pieces I’m nudging along in the background until they’re also ready for the world.
I was also looking for a name that could describe the wonder I experience in the process of bringing an idea and a piece of jewelry to life.
A favorite early piece: sterling silver statement ring cast from hand carved wax.
I also wanted a name that felt a little foreign and a little familiar — something that invokes a little wonderful curiosity in anyone who comes across it.
Searching around for a more compelling word than “wonder”, I kept coming up empty-handed. I started to think maybe English was failing me and if another language might offer another word more rich in meaning and mouth feel.
I can get by reading some Spanish and French — and my German Duolingo is in Flammen — but I have no personal connection to these languages, no reason to pluck a word from their lexicon and use it honestly. But I do have a connection to Norway and an inner longing for the place where I was born: Oslo. Not to mention a recent interest in finally learning the language of my birthplace.
So I started looking for words in my non-mother-but-still-first-tongue-ear language that might hopefully match the feeling I treasure when being surprised by the details of each day.
It turns out the Norwegian word for “wonder” is “undring” meaning a “ a wonder, a question, a wonder in the sense of something one wonders (in a pondering manner)” and ultimately, according to its Old Norse etymology:“to love”.
a few recent moments of undring
Undring is a contemplative form of wonder, and also a kind of love. It is an invitation to pause, to contemplate something wonderful, to be astonished, to question, to see.
To me, to have undring for this moment and all moments, our connection to them along with other people, places, and things is to have love for it all.
And it perfectly captures that previously-unnamed feeling I have been treasuring.
Under the banner of Undring, I aim to make pieces that call out to you, catch your eye, your soul, that tug on something inside you and invite you to stop and wonder a little bit more about it, how it feels, and how you feel with it.
I will mostly be making jewelry — but I also aim to leave space for writing and photography, and future collaborations with other artists, creatives, and craftspeople.
I’d absolutely love for you to join me on the journey of building Undring.
If you’d like to follow along behind the scenes, find me on Instagram @undring___studio.
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Thank you so much for reading and welcome to Undring Studio!
With love,
Morgan
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