Joe Earley

Terrarium Maker / Rochester

Moving between his interests in photography and general love of handmade things, Joe Earley has used his green-fingered skills and keen eye for design and turned them to terrarium making. Earley set up Soil and Solder, his terrarium business from his family home in Rochester (which is, as you might expect, bursting with terrariums and plants) and regularly sells his creations at various craft markets in London.

My interests in plants has developed overtime, I got my first spider plant around 6 years ago, from this little house plant my collection just grew. I then started getting into bottle gardens, using demijohns and kilner jars and collecting wild plants to see what would grow. This evolved into learning how to work with glass. I built my first terrarium and I just got completely hooked after that.

Usually I work quite freestyle depending on my mood and commission, but I’ve made some interesting stacking pieces, which always get a good reaction with public – I think the pieces I make are quite different from what is out there already.

They usually come to me at 2am in the morning when I’m lying in bed - things go through my mind at about 1000 miles per hour, different shapes, sizes, patterns and ideas. I’m also inspired by buildings and shapes found in the city.

I try and build each piece to a certain aesthetic for branding purposes. I think it’s important to have a style that defines you. I pay attention to all the details, I don’t like imperfections - otherwise I start again, because it will bother me!