We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cassandra Wahuhi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Cassandra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

My passion for creation is rooted deep down inside of me. Growing up I always wanted to be an artist of sorts. A singer, a dancer, a fashion designer. Because it is what I was born into. Thankfully my family is one of musicians and artists. I spent a lot of time as a kid watching my family perform on stage, bedazzled, in awe. We were always painting or crafting or singing together. There just was never an option for me to pursue anything other than a creative path.

It was my cousin Christina who really made me feel I could pursue a career in the arts. At the time she was in school for fashion design. She really inspired me to live in my uniqueness. I was very much an outsider and loner. I never fit in. But I started making my own jewelry and clothes with her encouragement and it helped me come out into the world.

After I started wearing my pieces to school and receiving compliments (at the time I was making jewelry with hemp, clay, feathers and other materials.) I realized I could actually make money doing it. Classmates started putting in orders for jewelry or having me sew costumes for them. It felt good to make money from art made with my hands.

I wanted to take my work to the next level and started to learn about silversmithing. I was very much into the 70’s when Navajo jewelry took a boom with the whole bohemian movement, and it became my biggest inspiration. I went on to pursue an apprenticeship in fine jewelry, picked up leatherwork along the way and then started making silver jewlery under Wahuhi in 2013.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Cassandra Jazmine and I work under the name WAHUHI. Originally I’m from Stratford, Connecticut but have been a resident of Tampa, Fl for over 13 years where my home studio is located. Out of my studio I work as a silversmith, jeweler, and a leatherworker and sell my work online on my website wahuhi.co. Most of my work is custom design but I also make my own one of a kind pieces. Aside from jewelry and accessories I dabble in other art forms including music.

My journey began in 2013 working on fine jewelry as an apprentice although I have always dabbled in jewelry making. I left the apprenticeship to travel and after months of traveling and touring around gazing at jewelry and old crafts I officially started my business Wahuhi selling my silver work. It’s been a quite the journey but I feel it has only begun.

Most of what I create now is traditional style silver jewelry. A lot of turquoise with a southwestern feel. My leather bags have a lot of fringe and silver embellishments. Although I have a “style” I do get a lot of clients that want a custom or bespoke piece and I really love to be able to get creative with those clients. I also offer repair work and repurposing of old jewelry. I love to make and work on meaningful pieces. Create timeless heirlooms that can be passed down. I’m always happy to talk to anyone about jewelry or leatherwork no matter the idea.

My plan for the future is to expand into high end fine jewelry working with gold & precious gems. One of my many goals within the next couple of years is to attend the Gerardi Setting School in Rome to take their lost wax casting and stone setting course. I’d love to be able to design anywhere in the world immortalize ideas in precious metals and gems as I go. Although I love traditional silversmithing, I also love high end jewelry in particular ancient fine jewelry so to have the opportunity to repair old work would be fun too.

The biggest advice I give to those trying to pursue any type of old craft is to read the basics and to read actual physical books. Out of all the classes and resources online there was one way that helped me refine my skills the most and it was through reading the right books. If you’re interested an expensive trade like silversmithing or leatherwork getting all that extra info in that a book provides helps you save a lot of money and heartache. Start small, take your time and don’t doubt yourself.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When you have to start over multiple times there is this sort of doubt that lingers in the back of your mind on whether or not you’ll be able to succeed, but the very simple fact is, if you’re still actively working towards your goals, in small steps eventually you will get there.

This is something I kept in mind while I was trekking in Nepal in 2016. I spent 10 days trekking thousands of meters sun up to sun down to get to Annapurna Base Camp. It felt like I would never make it and although it was physically exhausting, mentally it was more challenging. We as creators tend to mentally sike ourselves out and is why many may give up or feel hopeless on their journeys.

But what I learned on that trip and how I got through it was by looking in the distance and setting small goals for myself. Ones I knew were hard but accomplishable. “If I just get to that one spot I’ll have reached my goal, and I can set out on the next” Eventually with small steps I made it to the top! I have always carried this with me as I often times feel like Sisyphus on this journey having had to start over so many times but personally my resilience lies in my patience and understanding that the small steps are important.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Very much so! Titles to books, references about classes, schools, or apprenticeships that I could have gone to earlier in life! I never really knew how to get involved when I was younger otherwise I very much would have. There just isn’t enough emphasis in schools about these types of old crafts and how there is a possibility for a careers in them. At least I never knew about it nor did we learn about it in my school. It wasn’t until I was older and started getting into Indigenous Arts that I learned about silversmithing specifically.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wahuhi.co
• Instagram: @wahuhi
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassandrajwahuhi/