You love making things. Crafting artifacts with your hands. Leather, metal, stone, wood – it doesn’t matter. Each material offers unique properties to be bent, polished, carved and shaped into something new. It’s the crafting of the raw to the finished that you love. Transforming one thing into another. Magic really.
Meet Mike Hill. A single father of two, he’s been making a living selling his wares in Victoria’s inner harbour for more than 10 years now.
A self-proclaimed rockhound, Mike collects rocks from all over – some as near as Dallas Road, others as far away as Madagascar. He combines his metal work with his love of rocks to create amazing pendant jewelry (among other things).
Talk about your carbon neutral commute. Mike pushes his cart three blocks from his home in James Bay to the inner harbour. Every day. It takes about 10 minutes there, and about 15 minutes on the way back. Two songs on his iPod. Not only does it save him hassles like parking, loading, unloading, but sometimes he even makes a sale along the way.
Check out Mike’s work, and some of his unique treasures, in the video below. He found an 80,000,000 year old ammonite fossil on Pender Island!
Mike also has a solar powered rock tumbler he uses to polish his rocks on a sunny day (it impresses the tourists at the same time).
Like most things in life, Mike’s craft has shifted over the years – from leather to metal to stone. Next up, wood instruments; specifically, ukuleles.
After that, it’s time to take this show on the road. Mike plans to travel, with his kids, around the world. Fueled by his craft and his passion, he’ll make and sell jewelry as they go.
“Three pairs of pliers and a blanket,” that’s all he needs to make his living.
Of course, the best way to learn more about Mike and what he does is to go visit him in the inner habour. If you can’t make it in-person, check out his West Coast Wire website which is all about his jewelry, or visit Stone Works BC to learn a lot more about rocks. There’s some cool rockhounding videos too, including footage from the 80,000,000 year old ammonite find!
Thanks for sharing your story Mike. It was a pleasure to meet you.
Nice post! I bought one of the Ear Huggers at the First Nations Festival a couple of weeks ago when visiting Victoria and am getting compliments all the time on it back here in Ontario. Great city you have, by the way. I’m jealous!
Hi Guylaine,
Thanks for the comment. Mike mentioned the Ear Huggers are his hottest selling item: happy to hear they’re being well received in Ontario too. You’re right, Victoria’s a great city. Come visit us again!
Cheers,
Lisa