Travel With Colour.

Nembe [Nem-Bay] coming from the Mayan dialect K'iche [Key-Chay] meaning travel, was born from an infatuation of the infinitely beautiful materials and textiles that Central America has to offer.

I fell in love after my first trip with the beautiful country of Guatemala, the people, places, and culture and have returned many times to this part of the world.On my second trip here, I was lucky to meet with a couple of local artisans that showed me their work and design process with leather and stones.  

In 2017 I travelled with my partner at the time from Guatemala to Colombia.  We funded this trip by selling jewellery whenever and wherever we could.

We learned some basics techniques of macrame and metal work.  

When I returned to Australia in 2018 I decided to continue my exploration of metal work, I found it was something I actually really liked.  

The best ‘happy accident’.

So I dedicated my spare time to experimenting and practicing different techniques with wire metal and stones.

In 2019 when I returned to Guatemala again, we continued selling and making jewellery and travelled some more.  

It was on this trip that I met Don Luis.  Don Luis is from Nicaragua and works primarily with leather and stones to create the most beautiful wallets, purses and bags.  

Luis has been travelling Central America to sell his products for many years and when I saw his work I very much wanted to try to promote it, as it was like nothing I’d seen before and wanted to be able to share it here in Australia.

Everything is hand stitched with so much patience and care and is made to be durable.  Don Luis uses materials local to Nicaragua and incorporates minerals and textiles from different parts of Central America.  

With the onset of Covid in 2020, limitations on travelling meant travelling and selling to continue to earn a living became practically impossible for a lot of artisans.  Luis was limited to trying to sell only in his town of León, Nicaragua.

I’m grateful I’m able to at least support him in a small way by sharing and promoting his work here in Australia, so he can continue to do what he loves.

Buying handmade wherever possible, allows small businesses to thrive and support communities locally and internationally so they can continue their crafts and traditions.