raic, f. wreck, wreckage.
1. ~ (mhara), wreck of the sea; flotsam and jetsam.
2. Fear/Bean ~e, beach-comber.
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Hi, I'm Jess, and I run the raic studio.
I live in a little house on the south coast of Ireland, with my lovely husband, our magical little boy, and a lunatic puppy.
I've always had an interest in the natural world, particularly the ocean - growing up right on the water meant summers spent stone-skipping, raft-building, crab-fishing, and shuffling apologetically into the house dripping when we 'accidentally' fell in after swearing blind we wouldn't get wet!
I grew up on a steady diet of David Attenborough and Steve Irwin, and when I finished school, I went on to study zoology in university. I also completed a masters in marine biology, and was lucky enough to get a dream job in environmental education out of college.
I've been doing beach cleans since we moved from the city to the coast in 2016. Part of my work involves teaching people about plastic pollution, and it's impacts on marine ecosystems, so I was acutely aware of the problem.
I had always done my best to sort and correctly dispose of what I collected during a beach clean, but while looking for a creative outlet during the lockdown in 2020, I thought why not try to reuse the plastic I collect (since reusing is almost always better than recycling!). After some nice reactions to my earrings, and a little encouragement from family and friends, I set up shop - and so the raic studio was born.
Sustainability is at the heart of what I do, and so as well as using recycled ocean plastic, I use jesmonite and a bio-based resin for all my pieces, and all my packaging is reused or recycled.
All of the ‘raic’ is scrubbed in hot soapy water to remove sand and sterilise it, then left to dry in the studio for several days, before it’s made into jewellery.
I endeavour to get all orders in the post the next working day, but please allow 3-5 working days for delivery.
My hope for the raic studio is that the pieces I create will prompt conversations around marine pollution, and plastic waste in particular.
Happy shopping!