A limited re-release of the classic Tin House Collection by Kat Cole- handcrafted jewelry from iconic vintage American tins.

  The simple house form was the spark in the earliest years of my studio practice. This was the shape of the row houses that were built up the many hillsides of my home at the time- Pittsburgh, PA.  Because of the hilly-ness of the city, you could see buildings in a unique way- be quite a distance away but still at eye level because you were on one hill and it was on another.  The houses looked like you could pluck them off the ridge line and put it on- just what I did.    The houses were snuggly built one up next to another.  Each seemed to have its own personality- some shabby, some tidy, but each was connected, dependent, on its neighbor- it looked as if you took down one and they all might fall.  

Tins- cookies, coffee, cigars, spices, biscuits, band-aids, and just about anything else you can think of were sold in a tin at one time or another starting in the mid-1800’s to today.  Tin is a very thin, tin-plated steel container with a durable exterior coating of color and text to advertise the product it contains.  The vibrant colors and patterns used to catch the customer’s eye in the grocery store in decades past  are recontextualized in this work.  Perhaps a bit of a logo or color looks vaguely familiar, maybe it even reminds you of a childhood memory.  I search for interesting, colorful and iconic tins and up-cycle them into new jewelry-sized shapes that are lightweight and vibrant- perfect for adornment. 

When I began making these little houses out of tin 14 years ago, I did not realize it would be the start of a love affair with architecture and the built environment.  A sustained interest that has driven my work in so many different but connected ways over the years. And while my materials and designs have evolved and look quite different now- a direct line can be drawn between this earliest work and my interests today.