The Empire Of 'I' stands for singular power. It stands for ONE's insight, One's potential and ultimately, One's truth. I believe that we are all building our own individual empire throughout our entire lives, and for me, I build my world through the art of goldsmithing. I create jewellery for those individuals who want to wear their personal stories through symbols carried upon their body as a constant companion through life's journey.

My Story

Once upon a time - when I was 8 years old, I walked along the street of our small town to go to the local shops. As I strolled along the sidewalk, I distinctly remember saying to myself "I want to find a ring today". I remember always loving the idea of owning a ring and I never feared going to the dentist, because after every session of tooth pulling and needle poking, I knew that the dentist would present me with a tray of shiny colorful tiny rings for me to choose as reward for my suffering! The opportunity to select my own ring sealed the deal for me- so from then on, the trip to the dentist was not a trip to be feared- but a trip I looked forward to immensely.  But on this sunny day, I do not know where the thought to randomly just 'find a ring' came from, but while looking along the footpath, I found a shiny pop can tab that I thought might be close enough to make a nice ring and fit it onto my finger. I carried on along the path, only to discover another 30 paces further was a tiny silver and blue sapphire ring on the pavement beckoning me. I picked it up with such astonishment and excitement and I carry this ring with me to this day. Perhaps this was a premonition for what was to become a life long journey of learning to hand forge and create my own rings of all shapes and styles for others to enjoy without having to suffer the agony of the dentist's chair!

On another memorable day, I received the most unexpected gift from the most unsuspecting giver. It was a late spring afternoon, I sat enjoying the sunshine, sitting next to the sliding glass door inside my home. All of a sudden a masked face popped into view through the back garden. It was a raccoon- he was looking straight at me and had something in his mouth. He came directly towards me to where I was sitting on the other side of the glass pane. He looked with intent at me and dropped the item out of his mouth at the foot of the door and turned around and left. I was flabbergasted! I slid open the door and picked up the small pouch that had a string attached. It was a necklace pouch! And inside was a stone pendant, some Mexican coins and a Mexican bus ticket! Wow! what a gift, and from what an adorable creature!! It would be many years to come, before I received any gift of jewellery from any man, so I can truly say my first jewellery gift was not from a man-- but a raccoon!!!!! And here it was prophesied that my life was destined for the art of jewellery making- the raccoon told me so!

Many of my pieces are influenced by true events and moments in life that inspire me. I look forward to the opportunity to portray Your Story, as every life story has a unique perspective waiting to be illustrated through the art of goldsmithing.

Ingrid kaddatz-- goldsmith.