About VW Gypsy
VW Gypsy Jewelry is my avenue to creativity and healing. Here I can follow my calling to be a silversmith as I continue to heal and rediscover who I am on life's journey after a Traumatic Brain Injury. Connecting with nature and pursuing my passion come together in each piece I create. Working with natural materials and sharing my spirit along the way. Join my on my journey of discovery and growth and healing.
I love creating jewelry from raw materials that the earth has gifted to us, each piece precious and with a story of it’s own.
I make this jewelry in the hopes of sharing a piece of myself, my love of life, and my newfound energy. My jewelry is a symbol of survival, triumph, achievement, and acceptance.
MY HISTORY
I grew up in the western US with my Air Force family in some amazing places, from Arizona to Alaska and then some. I never really stayed anywhere long enough to establish roots, a gypsy from the beginning. This helped to shape my character. I learned to be courageous and bold and always looking for the next adventure.
Alaska was an amazing place to be a kid, running though the woods everyday after school and on weekends, ice skating at recess, moose in our yard, the northern lights, and the beautiful stillness of the snow. We were part of nature, camping, hiking and cross country skiing, life was not only good, it was great. I will always cherish my Alaska memories and know that my experiences there are a big part of who I am today.
It was in high school in Houston, Texas, where I discovered my love of handcrafted jewelry. I was part of a 3 year professional fine arts program that accepted 30 freshmen a year out of thousands of students in the district. Paint, paper, and clay never really talked to me; it was playing with fire & metal, the cutting, soldering, hammering, deconstruction, and recreation that fueled me. There was that one teacher that inspired me, that challenged me and I know I challenged him too, thank you Bob. I found what I wanted to do with my creative outlet, jewelry making, it was my calling.
Unfortunately, I never found the opportunity to followed through on this dream. Life, as it often does, took over. I moved to Seattle, got married, had a child, moved to Arizona, and had my second child. Life got very busy. Being a full-time mother, and wife was demanding.
Nonetheless, somewhere along the way, I found my way back to creating with my own hands.
I started my own company, recreating vintage VW camper upholstery because I could not find anyone making quality reproduction pieces I desired for my own bus. My company expanded rapidly, and I was selling all over the world. It gave me a sense of empowerment and, to some extent, an identity. I was creating beautiful things with my hands to share with the world.
I was no longer just a wife and mother, which are both beautiful and precious identities, but there is a sense of self that sometimes gets lost within these identities. Outside of mom and wife, my business allowed me to reclaim a piece of myself, a piece of my soul. I created something on my own that lit me up inside and rekindled the fire I once knew as a child. I felt on top of the world.
Abruptly, on my way back from a car show one dark night, I was in a tragic accident, run over by a semi in my VW bus. My life was forever changed, I suffered a TBI, or traumatic brain injury, which caused irreversible brain damage. My brain function had deteriorated to the point where I was unable to run my business and struggled with life in general. They refer to it as the left and right brain... My left brain was damaged. The right brain is more visual, artistic and intuitive than the left. It is sometimes referred to as the analog brain. It thinks in a more creative and less organized manner. At the time, I couldn’t even begin to fathom how this would forever change me.
After the accident, it took me a long time to rediscover who I was, to accept the new me. It took ten years to overcome self-pity, loss, depression, and eventually come to terms with everything. In my mind, I understood the disconnect between the soul, the mind, and the heart, but it took time to put what I knew into practice. The mind and heart are part of the body, and my soul will forever be the same; that is the true ME.
So here I was, the same ME, but with a whole different set of tools, a different brain. Once I'd gone through what I needed to go through, I finally emerged, ready to give my old self a new chance to LIVE. I knew I needed to find myself outside of my previous identities. I no longer had a business, my life was turned upside down, my relationship was coming to an end and I struggled to be a mother, life was difficult.
I needed a spiritual awakening, a major reset, and a friend suggested I go to Burning Man. I had nothing left to lose, so I went. I'm so glad I went! My life changed once more, I met the love of my life and discovered a new loving, accepting community and family. Long story short, we jumped into our new lives together and onto a plane to Peru, we spent two years traveling in South America in a VW Bus-Kombi Wasi, met many other travelers who shared their jewelry skills with me, and I knew I had finally come full circle. I knew then that my long-held passion, my dream, would finally come true.
I now live in Northern California with my love. When we are not off traveling the US in our VW bus or adventuring amazing new countries, we live off the grid in our shack in the woods with our VW buses, where I have a dedicated studio and make my handcrafted jewelry. We live a beautiful and fulfilling alternative lifestyle surrounded by nature.
I make this jewelry in the hopes of sharing a piece of myself, my love of life, and my newfound energy. My jewelry is a symbol of survival, triumph, achievement, and acceptance.
No, life isn't perfect, and I still struggle with emotions and thoughts, as wonderful as my new world is. But now I know who I am, where I'm going, my soul has made peace with my brain, and I'm grounded in my beliefs.
Love is my religion.
Dawn Smyth