Tanel Veenre

From the sea to cosmic clouds

• Tanel has created many designs and pieces
• He searches for deeper meaning with his creations
• He masters both traditional and innovative techniques

Tanel Veenre is one of the internationally awarded and skilled Estonian masters whose work stands out amid common Nordic crafts. His colourful contemporary jewellery designs search for a deeper meaning. He believes there are so many stories to be told from bookshelves to table corners through jewellery design. His body of works are formed in the flux of the mind, mediated by the materials at hand. Tanel believes it is important to distance oneself from personal work and view them from a distance to see where one stands in the bigger picture. With passion he has paved his way to teach, exhibit, and publish internationally, but also he has introduced innovative techniques such as velvet coating and colouring to the field of jewellery.

Interview

©Tanel Veenre Studio

©Tanel Veenre Studio

What do you love most about your work?

I love to work hands-on with various materials, but also the process of creating the pieces from scratch to finish on my own. Many crafts such as ceramics and glass have an interruption in the process where they need external help to achieve the end product, but not in jewellery.

What materials and techniques do you use?

My favourite materials are reconstructed stone, horns, bones, jet, silver, and some exquisite unconventional materials like bird heads, prosthetics, dried fish scales, and horse fish. Besides basic goldsmith techniques, I am an expert in wood and reconstructed stone engravings.

What don't people know about your craft?

I polish thin layers of animal horns and boil the small pieces in hot water to create forms. Once the horn is boiled, I can easily mould it and change its form for instance into petals. After taking the moulded piece out of the water, it hardens back into its original state.

Is your field of craft endangered?

Currently in Estonia jewellery craft is still alive! Working in this field, I know how easy it is to cut off traditional techniques, but reviving a lost technique is very hard. Keeping up skills and techniques helps artisans to also innovate the technique itself.

Tanel Veenre is an expert artisan: he began his career in 2001

Works

©Tanel Veenre

©Tanel Veenre

©Tanel Veenre

©Tanel Veenre

©Tanel Veenre

Where