THE STORY

About Me

Harris Wood Creative Studio is the creation of Kathy Smith in Bayles, Victoria (Australia).

Hello - I'm Kathy Smith.

Working out of our red 2-storey barn behind our home, I have created a huge range of items over the years.  In mid 2022 I decided to change direction and bring Memorial Jewellery into my offerings and it has become the main focus.

The reason for this change was a very personal & traumatic one.  In Nov 2017 I lost my adult son suddenly.  I saw him the afternoon before and hugged him and told him I loved him.  Then the next day I couldn't get him on the phone and you know that scene on TV where you get a knock at the door and you find police standing there - it was that kind of passing.  Just over 12 months later my mum passed - that was due to the complexities of age yes, but I was with her for 3 days & nights before she passed.  I remember being sound asleep at 6am on the final morning in the arm chair and feeling like someone had shaken my shoulder to wake me up.  I opened my eyes and instinctively knew it was time and it was.

Less than 12 months later my husband and his brothers went through a similar thing with their mum.  To say it was a tough 2 years is an understatement, but after a couple more years of still feeling lost and dabbling in different creative endeavours, I asked the universe what I should do and suddenly the image of Memorial Jewellery came to my mind and I agreed there and then (I was driving at the time mind you) to make a commitment to follow that path.  

So I found an amazing person in the UK who created Solid Silver Jewellery and took the leap.  It has been a huge learning curve and I hope I never stop learning how I can do better and create new things like these.  What I didn't expect was the amount of requests for Breastmilk stones so I have trained in that field as well and love creating them for mums who want to celebrate their time breastfeeding their babes.

To be asked to handle the ashes no matter if it's someone of age, someone who passed too young or of a still born baby, is a humbling experience and I treasure each and every one I do.  I have trained in Reiki in my earlier years so I feel I bring a sense of mindfulness & good energy to what I am doing.  

I have recently set up a Client Room in my home so I can meet with individuals or families to discuss what they'd like in person.  This has proven very popular and I love it when my clients open their hearts to me and share stories about their loved ones. 

I truly love doing this work.  It is so good for my emotional well being and I hope what I produce is good for yours.

Kathy xo

This is my crew at home in 2024

___________________________________________


How did the name come about?
I chose "Harris Wood" because I wanted to acknowledge and give thanks to my mum who always had creativity in her life through an assortment of crafts and later art. She was an incredibly talented artist late in life with pen & ink, oils, water colour and pastels. She was also a talented musican and taught many young and not so young the keyboard - this was passed onto her by her mum who was a concert pianist in England in her single days.

All through my childhood, she supported & encouraged me to follow my path with creative hobbies. I remember using & creating with resin in my late primary years when we lived in Sunshine and I also remember Holly Hobby creations with Puff Paint to name just two.

"Harriswood" was the name of my parents' property in Trentham, which when they bought, it was a 5 acre piece of farm land alongside the Bunyip State Forest. Mum loved this property to her dying day and she always wished she could go back during her years in aged care. She created a magnificent botanical park like garden which we all loved and truly didn't appreciate it until we looked back at photos and saw what she had created.

The name Harris Wood is derived from 2 surnames. Harris being her mother's maiden name and Wood being half of my maiden name Curwood.  I used the words Creative Studio because I never wanted to be restricted to what I produced.

Kathy Smith