When you shop with us, you are buying a product that has been created with the utmost care and attention. From the designing process to the craftsmanship to landing in our stores, all Artisans & Adventurers products really are made with love! That is why this Valentine's Day we wanted to celebrate the stories of just some of our incredible artisans who pour their heart into every product they make...
Anton & Benta
Anton and Benta are the talented husband and wife team behind our collection of Kenyan jewellery. They have been married for 32 years and have nine children together. Benta loves gardening with her children and grandchildren, and the garden surrounding their workshop always looks beautiful! Their eldest children, Dominic and Bruno, work with Anton and Benta as part of the family business. They also employ 5 members of staff who Anton trained from scratch and have been working with the pair from six to ten years. Their dream is to move to a larger home in the countryside and expand their workshop at its current location, creating more job opportunities as well as accommodation for their staff.
You can read more about Anton & Benta here.
Julious
Julious is the talented weaver who makes our Kenyan Wall Hangings. We first met Julious in 2016 and he has been a joy to work with ever since! Julious lives with his wife and two beautiful children. He is passionate about teaching young people and women the traditional craft of weaving to help them earn an income. Amy describes showing Julious our first design for him to work on;"Julious's eyes sparkled when he saw the brightly coloured felt tip dog drawing, he carefully took the design from me and said, "I can do this!" When I went back a week later he proudly showed me what he'd made. It was perfect. Julious is still weaving for us five years later and his enthusiasm for new challenges - the more weird and wonderful the better - never ceases."
You can read more about Julious here.
Ruth Nasimbe
Ruth is one of the talented women weavers that we work with in Uganda after Bee met her on a trip in 2019. Ruth has four children, two of whom she adopted. She grew up with seven siblings and family has always been very important to her. She lives in a rural village near the town of Fort Portal, a famous part of Uganda for tourists hoping to see gorillas and chimps. Ruth is an incredibly compassionate woman, telling us; "As a creative art maker, I earn a small living and love to help those who have less than me." Ruth dreams of building her family their own home with an Arts and Crafts Gallery attached to sell what she and the groups she works with make.
You can shop the range of Ugandan baskets made by Ruth & the artisans she works with here.
A huge thank you to all of our artisans who continue to work hard, pouring as much love into our products as we do. We couldn't do it without them! Happy Valentine's Day.