Michelle Hynes is the creative powerhouse behind My Tribe, a Tuam-based jewellery company showcasing bold and timeless wearable glass jewellery. We caught up with Michelle about how My Tribe came about, the steps involved in creating glass jewellery and what challenges she has faced along the way. Keep reading to discover more….
Michelle began jewellery-making as a hobby but it was quickly getting noticed, “people started to see it, they were like, ‘Oh my God, wow, where did you get that?’ So [I] just thought, [I’m] going to have a shot at it”.
January 2025 was when Michelle took a leap of faith and launched My Tribe at a showcase and she “got a fantastic reaction”.
“I was delighted because I have an art background, I love modern art, I love Kandinsky and Calder, all of those bold colours that they used and the dynamic shapes, but also the lines and the dots from tribal markings”, explains Michelle.
Galway is renowned for being the City of Tribes and Michelle’s Galway founded business makes everyone feel a sense of belonging and “the notion of us all having a tribe”. She adds, “they’re so powerful, and the notion of us all having a tribe, be it your local football team, your friend group, whoever”.
Every ounce of these pieces are handmade with love, sweat and tears: “I handpaint the pieces and it's a very technical process depending on what you want to achieve as regards shape, texture, if you just want something to be sitting on top of something or melted down into it. It’s a labour of love, she's a hard taskmaster, glass, there are days when I open the kiln and there's tears because it's just gone completely wrong. But I suppose that makes the wins all the sweeter”.
My Tribe is unique and special. “I like to think it's more than jewellery, it resonates, it has a meaning, if somebody's looking for a gift that means something, that is special, it's more than just beautiful colours and shapes”.
The pieces epitomise timelessness and everlastingness. The process is slow “but they're forever pieces”. Michelle believes, “they're sort of heirloom pieces. you buy it now and you're not replacing it again. It's not something that's going to come in or out of fashion. It's not a throwaway”.
Quality is very important to Michelle. She only uses sterling silver with the jewellery “because it's the only thing that's compatible with the glass”. “I couldn't put all of that work and gorgeous glass together then put it on some sort of a cheap material. it's important that it's quality from start to finish”, Michelle says.
Michelle explains the creative process behind her gorgeous glass creations: “I start with the colours and I just sort of pick colours that I kind of think will work well together, or if I have a kind of an idea for a piece, I'll cut, grind and polish the glasses then layer them and I'll fire them in the kiln”.
Originally, Michelle expected younger age groups to resonate most with the pieces “but believe it or not, the people who are really connecting with the pieces are women like [herself] from 40- 70 age group ladies that aren't looking to follow trends. They see what they like, they're not afraid to wear it, and that there needs to be an element of that with the pieces, because they're unapologetic, you're going to see them”.
When it comes to making the pieces “the sky's the limit” but you also need to be cautious: “The fact that it's glass, you've got the weight of it and you've got to be mindful of that. It is large, but it's not anyways heavy, and it sits nicely on the skin. But if I was to go very big, I need to tailor my design to my material. To a degree as well glass won't fade the way a lot of other things”.
Trying to make decisions on what suits a collection is what Michelle says is the trickiest part of her job: “they need to connect with one another. There needs to be a story or a sense of continuity across the range”.
To check out My Tribe you can visit their website mytribe.ie or follow their Instagram @mytribeglassjewellery.
