Fiann Anna Fidecka

Anna, you come from a very different artistic background to that of making jewelry. What brought you to metal clay?

I started my adventure with the creation of jewelry from polymer clay work. That was in 2004 - for me a very interesting time of many changes. I gave birth to a child and then I slowly began to give up my job as a journalist. So far I have expressed myself through words - as a journalist and as a poet. But suddenly I felt a great need for the creation of things using matter. My hands really wanted to touch, form, shape... I became more sensitive to the color, my perception sharpened, I started to pay more and more attention to how great a designer nature is. So the discovery of polymer clay at first really hit the spot, because that material gave me the opportunity to implement bold projects - both in terms of color, as well as form. At the beginning, I considered it only as a hobby, but very quickly it became clear that this was my true life passion.  Roughly two years later I started to look for other solutions. I discovered by internet Art Clay Silver, but at that time in Poland this material was not possible to buy - so in order to achieve my dream of working with ACS I waited until 2008. Then as one of the first people in Poland I graduated from the ACS instructor course at Planetart Poland. It was love at first sight! Silver clay extremely stimulated my imagination, bringing me new opportunities. This is something that fascinates me the most - an infinite number of combinations! The unlimited possibilities give me a real sense of freedom...

You draw a lot of your inspiration from travel and meeting people. How does that inspire you?

I often draw my impressions and emotions. One could even say that it is drawing that takes place without the participation of my consciousness – as if something had just moved my hand. This is a kind of meditation, when I let my hand do what it wants and at the same time I observe my thoughts and let them go. Usually the result of this process is total abstraction, but I clearly feel what kind of emotions or issues that concerns me - are hidden in the picture. My drawings are often the starting point for working with metal clay.  Sometimes my metal clay's technical capabilities are still too small for me to do everything as I'd like it. But I hope that I will constantly develop and improve my workshop skills.

You have your own studio in Warsaw. What is the local artistic community like?

Yes, I have a cozy studio in the city where I live. I work here and run ACS workshops in small groups or - my favorite -one-on-one instruction. With great pleasure I host in my studio all people: students, clients, friends, but to tell the truth - solitude is a condition that is most conducive to my work. Many external things are my inspiration, but first they have to go the way through my inner world,  so that I can finally materialize all in the form of jewelry. By choice I stand a little out of the way of all groups of artists. But of course I remain in contact with the majority of other Art Clay artists in Poland. And I have to say that we have many excellent, very talented jewelry artists in our country.

You have said in your biography that making jewelry is for you a way to create a "dialogue with the world". Can you tell us more about that?

I think that I have partly answered this question, talking about my drawings. For me, everything we do is some kind of dialogue with the world. We all the time give and receive, we attract and repel - such is the energy in the universe. Also, when I make jewelry, I tell my personal story - about how I see the world, what is my sensibility... I send some kind of silver statement. : )  I like to include in my work everything that flows through me during my travels around the world - when I have the opportunity to meet with other people of a different culture, and with wild nature... I use sometimes known symbols, but also I often make my own, that come to me during various states of consciousness, for example - in dreams. During the work I insert some of my energy to matter and then, when someone is wearing my jewelry, this energy goes into the world ... circling somewhere ...

Two very important qualities for you when creating are patience and humility. Why are they important to you?

I think these are the characteristics that are in general very important in life. When you are patient and humble you have more mindfulness. This allows you to build better relationships with other people and most of all – with yourself. You can estimate your own abilities, and when you do that, you honestly can exceed your own limits, without arrogance and without the need to compete with anyone. And being alone with matter it is a great lesson. For example - when a component of silver clay once again breaks in my hands and I have to fix it - patience helps me win with myself. ;)