Maker Marinea Heindel creates fascinating wearables out of natural curiosities.
Marinea Heindel has always been a fan of bugs. She remembers fondly growing up in southern Maryland and spending most of her time hanging out with the butterflies in her mother’s garden. She still regularly communes with nature, and these days she’s really into making jewelry out of it.
Heindel uses electroformation—the process of growing metal layers through chemistry and adhering them to a form—to create captivating jewelry made with ethically sourced botanicals, bones, insects, and more. You can find her stuff at Hoot & Howl in Morgantown, at the Emerald Tree Boutique in Davis, or in her stunning Etsy shop.
She has an entire IKEA cabinet full of curiosities just waiting to be worn. She collects things on walks, but, more often, other people find things and take them to her. She has “little spider guys, reptiles, leaves, mosses, and insects galore” in the cabinet. Perhaps the strangest thing in there right now are a couple of giant orb weaver spiders. “They’re pretty creepy looking,” Heindel says. “I don’t really know what I’m going to do with them just yet.” Rest assured it will be something mesmerizing.