Venita shares her passion for jewellery design
She loves being different and it shows in not only the jewellery she wears but also those she designs and makes.
POLOKWANE – Venita Botes is the part-owner of Piet my Vrou, a shop at Farmyard, and also owner of her brand, Venita’s Jewellery.
A few years after school she started working for a jeweller in Tzaneen. It was there she decided to study jewellery design and manufacturing at Tshwane University of Technology.
After qualifying she worked for a while for Karolien Maarleveld before working on her own for about four years.
“Karolien and I then decided to open Piet My Vrou, a place where we can work on our own jewellery as well as sell other items.
“If I have to say I specialise in something, it would be earrings, but I cannot really pick anything in particular. The best part of my job is being creative and the most difficult is to help clients with difficult requests. Both Karolien and I can create jewellery from a child’s drawing or photos.”
Their online shop recently launched and they both work from home and the shop.
“The difficulty of the piece I’m working with depends on the piece itself. It is very difficult to find a solution for a product. For example if you make a ring and it just needs that one thing to get it perfect, that is often one of the most challenging things.” She says that although it only takes a few hours to make a product, the designing takes time and that is why their orders take several weeks to be completed. “Art is in my blood because my mom is very arty. I wear most of my own designs, and my husband often spoils me with jewellery so I alternate between wearing my own designs and the ones he gave me.”
maretha@nmgroup.co.za
