When Harini Rao was in school, she used to make bracelets out of her mom’s precious jewellery. “When I was in school, I would often redesign the few pieces of precious jewellery my mom had, much to her consternation,” recalls Rao, who quit her MNC job to follow her passion of designing alternative jewellery.
Harini’s taste in accessories has evolved considerably since she was a kid. Now she’s fond of terracotta. Rao says that even though this unconventional form of jewellery designing is in its infancy, the response from teenagers and high society folk has been very encouraging.
It took three years before Rao decided to pursue her passion. With an initial investment of Rs 20,000, which she borrowed from her mother-in-law, Hearth Treasures was born in 2011. Plenty of time and armed with no formal training, Rao embarked on a new journey of hand-crafted, terracotta jewellery.
But Rao’s success isn’t all about her eye-catching designs. It has just as much to do with her ability to turn her personal style into a brand that sells. And indeed, Rao says her career path is a happy confluence of circumstances and destiny. “Things just happened. I had my first informal exhibition at Deloitte when I was working there; all the stuff got sold out in the first half of the exhibition. It was a great encouragement,” she says adding, “I did not make very conscious choices. It just happened. A lot of people get exposure, but can’t funnel that into business.”
Rao’s work is sold everywhere from boutiques to web-stores across the country. Her designs draw from a wide range of inspirations from nature, including temples, flowers, leaves, birds and animals like peacocks, elephants etc.
The daughter of a dancer and artist Girija Rao, she always wanted to be an artist. She considers herself an artist, who makes jewellery and not a jeweller who makes jewellery.
With no formal training in jewellery-making, the designer says, “I used to create designs and send them to friends. I also worked with artisans in Karnataka; that is how I learnt the techniques. Then I started making my own in Hyderabad.”
Rao takes special care so that the pieces don’t break easily. “I like countering assumptions,” she says. “People assume terracotta jewellery is fragile. In fact, it’s strong,” she adds. Instead of the coarse orange clay, fine river-bed silt is used and sieved multiple times. In an effort to harden and make the clay stronger, it is baked in the kiln at extremely high temperatures. Painting is the next step. Using oil paint, each piece is individually painted and one can’t afford to go wrong with any, for if there’s a mistake, there’s no way of rectifying it. “There’s a lot more freedom to experiment in terms of designs when you are making terracotta jewellery when compared to other metals. Since it’s made with riverbed clay, it can be moulded well,” she says. The raw materials are procured from artists from Karnataka. Her jewellery line has jhumkas, earring and necklace sets, rings and anklets. The earthy tones and profusion of shades ensure they will go well with any outfit. “I use the skills of different artists from Hyderabad and Karnataka,” she adds.
Hearth Treasures cuts across all age-groups. “The age groups are expanding their taste,” Rao says, “Contemporary designs and innovative materials are no longer the exclusive preserve of the younger set.”
The price ranges from `150 to `3,000. One can get in touch with Rao through her Facebook page.