By Emily Chapman Laing
Narre Warren creative jack-of-all-trades and KB Crystal Design owner Katherine Bennett has taken her artistic skills to a new level with intricately crafted crystal trees.
Step into Katherine’s home creative studio and you will find filtered sunlight, pieces of driftwood, twisted branches, lacquered bonsai trees and most importantly, Katherine’s 16-year-old dog Tammy.
Craft tubs, crystals and art supplies cover the walls, and on the table sit glistening crystal trees in shades of orange, purple, pink and forest green.
Not only are the trees gorgeous, they allow Katherine to re-purpose dead bonsai trees, which she sources from local nurseries.
Some of the bonsai trees Katherine uses are decades old.
“I have some that are 40-50 years old, that died at a bonsai nursery,“ she said.
“So I go in there and I grab the dead tree and pay for the pot.
“They’re 50 years old, they’ve brought them up for 50 years and then all of a sudden they die, so I reboot them.“
Katherine’s biggest masterpiece, which she made for herself, is a large conifer-like tree, which took her an astounding 200 hours to craft.
“I just love art,“ she said.
The trees sit in thrifted or naturally created bowls, some brass, some wood, others ceramic, but all chosen to be harmonious partners of specific crystal trees.
The “ground cover“ comes from volcanic scoria rocks, fossicked from quarries in Mortlake, which Katherine crushes to look like grass or gravel.
More than just aesthetically pleasing, some of Katherine’s crystal trees have become treasures imbued with memories and love.
“I’ve had people use them for memory of their cat, dog or mum, where I drill a hole through the stump of the tree and I put the ashes in there,“ Katherine said.
“I call it the soul tree.
“It can go with you everywhere.“
Nine years ago, Katherine got a subclavian blood clot which left her out of work, so she decided to spend her time on a new creative endeavour.
“One day I looked at crystal trees and I thought, I reckon I could do better than that,“ Katherine said.
“So I taught myself, and I’ve been doing it ever since.“
Five years later, Katherine started KB Crystal Design.
“I wanted to be good at it before I put any sort of price on them,“ she said.
Teaching herself how to create the labyrinthine crystal trees came down to a lot of “trial and error“.
“I needed the leaves to look real,“ Katherine said.
“If you glue them on, it just doesn’t look real.
“So through trial and error I bunched them up and tied everything in, every bit- every bead is tied in with copper wire.“
Katherine soon began making trees laced with all different kinds of high-quality gemstones, from tourmaline, to onyx, rose quartz and citrine.
“The beads have meaning, the colours have meaning, the crystals have meaning and so the stones I choose are the best of the best,“ Katherine said.
“I don’t buy fake or dyed, I source my crystals from India, and if I even get a hint that it’s dyed I just say no.“
Not only does Katherine create her own trees, she teaches others how to craft their own.
“I teach people how to appreciate Mother Nature,“ she said.
“I love to teach because this is expensive and people can’t always afford to buy something that costs $1000.
“I thought if I teach people, that’s a packet of cigarettes per session, and they get all of their stones, all the bits and pieces.“
Katherine’s ten week course gives her clients the chance to deep dive into the world of crystal tree making and emerge with their very own handcrafted design.
“They are private lessons and I’m sitting right next to them if they have any questions,“ she said.
Katherine also teaches jewellery making, macrame and felting to pupils “very young to very old“.
“Everyone has an artist inside,“ she said.
Alongside her skills in crafting crystal trees, Katherine also makes copper dog collars, to help dogs suffering from arthritis.
Copper jewellery has been used to reduce the pain and swelling associated with arthritis, as the skin absorbs tiny particles of copper, helping regrow lost joint cartilage.
KB Copper Collars started at Katherine’s kitchen table having breakfast, where she watched her 16 year old pup Princess struggling with stiff joints, body odour and allergies.
Katherine herself was wearing a copper bracelet for her own arthritis, and figured Princess could benefit from the same solution.
After a short stint wearing copper, Katherine noticed a huge improvement in Princess’s coat, agility and odour.
Tammy also dons a shiny copper collar as she greets Katherine’s clients at the door.
“She wears copper for her arthritis and I’ve had 98 per cent success with that,“ she said.
KB Copper Collars are available online and have received many overwhelmingly positive testimonials from relieved dog owners.
KB Crystal Designs can be found on Facebook, where Katherine posts her remarkable creations as well as information for those interested in joining her classes.
Katherine’s artistic dexterity is truly mind-boggling, and the world is more beautiful for it.
