– If I'm lucky, I'll also see the northern lights.
Because when she gets ideas, she forgets time and place and works late into the night. Such magical moments inspire, says the renowned jewelry designer from Hemnes, known for a number of designs with themes from the nature around her. But sometimes she lets others decide the theme for the design.
– Then I get challenges, and have to get out of my little bubble at Hemnes. The tasks are extensive and the “prize” is often participation in various exhibitions, she says.
Merete Mattson was one of twelve who participated in Galleri Format in Oslo in 2018. She presented the LUNA collection during the Norwegian Handicrafts Association's national meeting in Molde that same year, one of ten during the Goldsmiths' Guild in Bergen's 400th anniversary, and one of twenty who exhibited at Brand New Copenhagen 2011.
And in 2015, Merete Mattson won the international competition to create Queen Sonja's tiara.
Hard work over many years has thus been worth its weight in gold for her reputation in the industry.
– Now I work mostly in silver, but I have used shells, gemstones, wool and leather, recycled plastic from the aquaculture industry and I make gold to order. I actually once made a piece of jewelry out of plastic bags and fishing lines, she laughs.
Mattson seeks the stylish, but she often hides meaningful details from nature, culture and local history, almost hidden in the jewelry.
Other times, these objects constitute the jewelry itself. Like the collections; KAMKAKE, LUNA (moon), OKSTINDAN, HAVMANNEN, and BISSIE (/Saiva/Holy mountain in Northern Sami and Norwegian).
Otherwise, waves and movement are a kind of signature for Merete Mattson.
– It just happens. There are ups and downs in life and at sea, and after all, I work right by the fjord.
