Amanda DelaCruz - Artist, Designer, Maker

learning curves

2012-02-05T12:36:00.000-05:00

i was working on some new lichen rings in the studio a little while back. i really like seeing my drawings turn into something 3D and wearable. these are all one of a kind mostly because right after i draw them i decide to make them. and then i don't have a copy of the original drawing.

i've been in the dental lab at school a lot lately. fourteen hour days have become the norm for me. there is so much to do. like with most things of a technical nature, there is a steep learning curve. we are learning from our mistakes, and these mistakes are very time costly.

i was trying to wrap this piece up in tissue paper for a safe trip home, and then it fell. i lost about two hours here. *sigh*at least i'm getting better and faster all the time :)

what i need

2012-01-06T18:11:00.002-05:00

people asked me what i wanted as a gift last year and i surprised myself by not really having anything to ask for that i needed.

even when i think that times are hard or stressful, they're not so bad. i have so many things to be thankful for in my life. a year has gone by and i can't say i wasted it.

the things i need are mostly immaterial, they have to do with time - more time with friends, more time with family, more time for my art, more time to read, more time to sleep, and most importantly - more time for myself.

i got to go on an impromptu New Years Eve trip to Niagara Falls this year. i'm glad i made the time to see the fireworks.

presents

2011-12-26T20:18:00.006-05:00

hi readers! i hope everyone is having a great holiday season. i've been off school for a little over a week now, but i feel like i've only just recuperated from such a crazy month full of assignments and exams.

being in a hands on program is always tricky. you never really know when to stop working on projects and to start studying. in my head i always feel as if i can work on a project just a little bit more - make it a little more polished, a little more smooth. you start to learn when it's time to stop.

the worst thing is messing up something right at the end because you were impatient, rushed, or tired.

patience is a skill.

when setting stones into jewellery, you have to be careful. one slip of your tool and the stone can be damaged beyond repair. it can be a stressful, slow process. one that i want to love more someday.

i have so many stones that don't have a home in a jewellery piece. i better remedy that before i even think about buying new stones. the coral and turquoise ones became scarf pins that i gave to my mother in law, and the black obsidian earrings to my cousin who only wears studs because she's a dancer (ignore the polishing compound on the studs, this was before i steamed them clean).

it's the end of the year, and time goes by so quickly. i hope that we can all find the time to relax and enjoy the simple things in life.

big bows and mouth guards

2011-11-27T16:52:00.001-05:00

i still spend my thursdays at Organic Metal Gallery, and when i'm not working on my assignments, i sometimes teach the students who come in how to saw, polish, enamel, and solder. last week Cheryl was in the studio and really wanted to make this big bow necklace. when the enameling process works without problems, a lot can be accomplished in a short amount of time. unfortunately this was not one of those times. but she persevered, and in the end she had a nice 2 sided pendant - storm blue on one side, and lichen green on the other.

in my dental materials class we were learning how to make customized sport mouth guards. the 2nd year denturist students took impressions of our teeth and then we poured up molds to work from.

i'm always excited to learn how to make something new. and since i wear a night guard myself, this kind of thing is particularly relevant to me. my husband is already begging me to make him a sport mouth guard for when he's boxing - he's sick of the bulky ones you buy in the stores.

wires, drawings, and doodles

2011-11-16T09:05:00.001-05:00

i hate how i can't update this blog as much as i'd like to anymore, so please bear with me readers. but i'm learning so much.

it's a great feeling of accomplishment to make something with your hands. i love that moment of completion, of seeing everything come together and be worth it in the end. i was so happy to finish my first retainer. the wires are 18/8 steel - and very stiff. to fit the requirements of a retainer with that kind of wire made me want to rip my hair out - it was hours and hours of work, something i'm sure you wouldn't have guessed. the wire has to touch - but not push on certain teeth, it has to be a millimetre raised above certain spaces, it has to sit just so, dip here, twist here, be angled here. very aggravating in the moment. but my classmates and i are getting better and faster all the time.

i kind of liked this drawing assignment - drawing can be very soothing. we had to anatomically draw the teeth to scale as well as label all their anatomical features. compared to my classmates i was lucky - we used to have 6 hour drawing classes at OCAD. but i always feel like i can improve on my drawing skills, so it was good practice.

though, i do draw before i make my jewellery, but not to that detail. this little pendant is from one of the doodles in my sketchbook.

to do

2011-10-28T11:30:00.001-04:00

sometimes my to do list saddens me a little. besides trying to keep myself sane by having a few leisurely moments each day my plate always seems very very full. it's gotten worse now because i'm in school.

as of now until next week i have to:

study for 3 exams

finish the set up for some upper dentures

make a retainer

polish 3 acrylic plates for retainers

go to work on monday

go to classes from monday to friday

go to the studio on thursday

spot weld 2 space maintainers

finish 28 full page anatomically correct teeth drawings

prepare for a 10 minute presentation

drop off new jewellery for the devil's workshop

drop off commission work

pick up some findings for some pearl bracelets

do laundry

these are just the things i HAVE to do...not even the things i want to do...like go to yoga, or watch Dexter, or visit my grandma.

*sigh*

thankful

2011-10-25T11:32:00.000-04:00

"to begin writing from our pain eventually engenders compassion
for our small and groping lives.
out of this broken state
there comes a tenderness

for the cement below our feet

the dried grass cracking in a terrible wind.
we can touch the things around us we once thought ugly
and see their special detail
the peeling paint and gray of shadows as they are — simply what they are:
not bad, just part of the life around us
and love this life because it is ours

and in the moment there is nothing better."

- Natalie Goldberg

as some of you may know, i also work at OCAD University making study materials for students with learning disabilities. i love this job, because it allows me to audit classes - i've learned so much, about art, design, culture, film, and writing. i've gotten much more out of my degree there than any paper could say.

this semester i'm sitting in on a creative non fiction writing class. the teacher is fantastic and excitable, motivating and inspiring. i always come out with quotations to tuck away into my sketchbook, and an itching to try out her writing exercises or apply them to my own creative process.

right now the students are working on confessional writing. and isn't that what so much art is about? revealing something honest and true, something that is hard to say, and hard to put into words. how much to reveal, how much to keep in? this is something i always think about.

a new kind of palette

2011-10-22T04:05:00.000-04:00

it's news for some, but i'm back in school again - with a slightly new direction: dental technology. i like it because we use very similar tools, methods, and materials as in jewellery, but this time with a more utilitarian function. compared to all the art forms i've dabbled in over the years, i've found jewellery to be the most exact and finicky.

but dental tech is worse - i didn't think it was possible. in jewellery, pieces that are supposed to be soldered have to be filed so they fit perfectly together with no gaps, little scratches are huge imperfections, and solder blobs drive you crazy and make you instinctively reach for a small hand file.

in dental tech, if something is off a tenth of a millimeter the whole piece may be useless, it may ruin the whole tooth setup or cause someone extreme pain. it's far more challenging than i thought it would be. though i've been told it will get easier in time, which is normally true, so i'm hopeful :p

so now i will also be a maker of dental appliances, and they'll pop up in here from time to time. i can already see how it's inspiring new jewellery work from me, we'll see where it goes from here.

some of you who have had retainers may recognize these acrylic palettes. i had to make orthodontic appliances while studying for my ortho exam. it's been hard transitioning back into study mode, but i'm getting back into it (i.e. i'm drinking coffee again). i like how from this angle, the first picture kind of looks like a trio of swans.

lichen rings

2011-10-09T08:17:00.004-04:00

as promised, i've made some new sterling silver rings. these are two that i was working on for the Queen West Art Crawl. each one is unique, because i really enjoy the hand drawing process. i'd say they're really more one of a kind because i don't have access to a scanner in the studio, so i basically draw them, glue it to the silver, and saw it out with the original drawing lost in the process.

this was right after soldering and before polishing. and for some reason i decided to paint my nails that week, which was foolish - the polish doesn't last an hour in the studio with all the filing, sanding, sawing, and polishing going on. at OCAD we used to dream about manicures...and never have the time to get them.

i sold one of the thinner rings to the mother of one of the artists in my row of exhibitors. she was so sweet. she tried it on and fell in love with it right away.

it's always great to see the reaction of the people who buy my jewellery, it's something you miss when you just get an invoice saying you sold something at one of the shops that carry your work.

i think i'll make a few more of these to put in The Devil's Workshop soon. i also really want to update my etsy shop. hopefully i'll find the time in between everything i'm juggling at the moment.

beautiful people

2011-10-03T00:54:00.004-04:00

"the most beautiful people we have known
are those who have:

known defeat.
known suffering.
known struggle.
known loss.

and have found their way out of the depths.

these persons have an appreciation

a s e n s i t i v i t y

and an understanding of life
that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern.

beautiful people do not just happen."

- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

balance

2011-10-02T19:24:00.000-04:00

hi friends.

i apologize. once again i've been on a slightly long hiatus from the blogging world. as of now, my schedule is one of the craziest ones i've ever had. i'm trying not to let myself get too overwhelmed!

there are some things that i feel need to be part of my life and when they are missing, i feel all off kilter. i've written about this before - this need for balance, and when i have it, it keeps me going through the long days and weeks and months. it helps me when i'm tired, or frustrated, or just plain overworked.

so when i'm not updating as much, it's because i'm striving for that balance.

if you're familiar with my work, you'll know that i don't do too many highly polished pieces. i hate seeing scratches on jewellery, my eye never misses them. and if you're not careful, it's easy to damage the finish on a piece. but i forced myself to create a bunch of sterling silver jewellery that was high polished, and while my fingers have definitely become more callused, i like how they came out. i've been trying out some new polishing compounds with my new polishing buffs and they are doing wonders.

prepping for a craft show

2011-09-10T08:32:00.000-04:00

things you have to think about
(but don't really have time for) when prepping for a craft show

01. gift bags and boxes

02. how you're going to lug all your stuff down there

03. do i have enough business cards?

04. do i have enough helpers?

05. how can i display my jewellery better?

06. do i still have time to make new work?

07. did i make enough work?

08. is all my work clean and ready to be worn?

09. how can i package all my pieces so they don't get damaged on my trip?

10. inventory lists and pricing

this isn't all hypothetical. lol. if you can you should try to visit me next weekend at Trinity Bellwoods Park for the Queen West Art Crawl. i'll be there on the 17th and 18th from 11-6 at booth B18. this may be the last show i do for a while so it's a good chance to see some new and old wearable goodies from me :)

hope to see you there readers!

how bad do you want it?

2011-08-31T06:49:00.001-04:00

"when you want to succeed as much as you want to breathe

then you'll be successful...

most of you say you want to be successful but

you don't want it bad.

you just kind of want it.

you don't want it bad if you want to party.

you don't want it as much as you want to be cool.

most of you don't want success as much as you want sleep.

if you want to be successful, you've got to be willing to give up sleep...

if you go to sleep, you might miss the opportunity to be successful...

sleep is for those people who are broke.

i don't sleep, i have the opportunity to make a dream into a reality.

don't try to quit.

you're already in pain.

you're already hurting.

get a reward from it.

don't go to sleep until you succeed...

you will never be successful

until i don't have to give you a dime to do what you do...

you won't be successful until you say

'i don't need that money because i got it in here.'"

- "how bad do you want it?"

via thingsaboutlove

i've recently discovered stumbleupon, and it keeps giving me great links like this one. it has completely revolutionized my internet experience. i really liked this video because it makes you question your drive. success is a relative term. it doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. and it changes over time. i used to think i knew what i wanted, but if you had asked me 10 years ago, 5 years ago, 1 year ago - you'd get very different and sometimes opposing responses.

are success and happiness the same thing? i don't think so. and while i am not old, i am getting older. the last few years have allowed me to really understand myself - my habits and limitations. i am always asking, consciously and unconsciously, how much i am willing to sacrifice to get where i want to go.

advanced class

2011-08-20T06:09:00.000-04:00

i really do like teaching at Organic Metal Gallery. there's something very satisfying about seeing a student set goals for themselves, work through their problems, and come out with a finished product. Megan was such a great student - she was excited, hardworking, and ready to take on difficult jobs.

she tried her hand at some cloisonne, making these two christmas ornaments in just one class. she purposely matched up the red of the one dove with the red in the heart of the other. so cute!

and then she worked on creating a hinged locket, which i find a very challenging project for someone who had only been experimenting with jewellery for such a short time. hinges are very difficult to make. all kinds of things can go wrong in the process of soldering them on. and soldering them on neatly is even harder. while these hinges are not perfect, the fact that they're on at all is more than admirable.

fused

2011-08-12T04:35:00.000-04:00

i like to combine antiqued colouring and the technique of fusing when working with sterling silver - like in these earrings. it leaves an interesting texture, has contrast, and is not prone to everyday damage like highly polished silver pieces usually are. this is also why i like enameling. i can be a perfectionist at times, and seeing a little scratch on a piece after a little wear can drive me nuts.

i've been in the studio the past couple days. if you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that i don't use a lot of stones in my work. i've been trying to remedy that. my fingers hurt from trying to file and sand the silver around such tiny things.

predictability

2011-08-08T05:43:00.002-04:00

i just recently started using this golden rod yellow. it was one of the new colours i picked up in my latest enamel order. i liked how it turned out in this piece, so i wanted to use it again for some scallop earrings. for the most part, opaque enamels are pretty predictable once you know how they end up after firing, so i figured it would come out the same way as the pendant i had done before.

i was a bit surprised that the enamel reacted like this on the curved surface. in a way i kind of liked the effect. but at the same time, i really like predictability when i do my work, most especially when i'm trying to pair two earrings.

i'm sure i'll need this kind of aesthetic sometime, but maybe not so much for these kind of pieces.

preparing

2011-08-05T22:28:00.003-04:00

i've been slowly but surely trying to prepare for the Queen West Art Crawl show in September. like a lot of artists i know, i work better under pressure...in a way i think i've been given too much time, and that makes me work slower than i'd like to. i guess you could say that i like to move frantically with purpose. when i did the Toronto Outdoor Show last year i had six weeks to create dozens of new designs and pieces of jewellery. to say i was stressed out is an understatement.

for some reason, ideas for necklaces always come first to me. i always have way more of them than any other style of jewellery. i kind of struggle with designs for rings and earrings since there are always issues of weight and size.

isn't it weird how different things can look just by changing their orientation?

on the outside

2011-07-19T20:10:00.003-04:00

"all my life

i've felt on the outside

of wherever i am.

out ofthe picture.

the conversation.

at one remove.

as though I was theonly one

able to hear the sounds or words that others can't

anddeaf to the words that they seem to hear.

as if I'm outside theframe

on the other side

of a huge, invisible window."

- Delphine de Vigan

recuperating

2011-07-12T13:52:00.002-04:00

so my week has been pretty hectic. i was busy working, helping out my friends who were participating in the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition by running errands and setting up, made up some new necklaces, taught my advanced jewellery class, and went to two weddings. i basically spent all of yesterday in a half dazed/half recuperating state.

i was so proud of my friend Jon - his work looked super fab, and he got a lot of positive responses.

i really liked how he decided to suspend two of his pieces with fishing line. they were much more dynamic displayed in that way. in school, how we displayed our work was always emphasized since a clean and professional display can make a world of difference

my other friend Theresa Duong received Honourable Mention in the student category. she totally deserved it. i've known her for a few years now and her work is always well executed. it's so refreshing to see what she's up to.

summer colours

2011-07-04T13:01:00.003-04:00

i'm so happy that i can say that i'm faster at enameling now. i'm quite proud of myself :p this time last year, i was much more overworked with much less results. but you only get better with practice right?

i drew out some new lichen pendant designs last week, and now i'm making use of my more summery colours that i've barely or never used. i think if it was just up to me and my taste, i would enamel everything in greens or blues. but that's just me.

so here's some pieces in golden rod yellow, storm blue, grape purple, pastel blue green, and pastel pink. more to come soon!

coiled within

2011-06-29T20:53:00.001-04:00

"maybe great books were

coiled within him like springs."

- extremely loud and incredibly close

i continue to think about this book - because it is so eloquent, so thoughtful, and so relevant to my life at this point in time. i tend to fixate on certain ideas and i surround myself with things that remind me of them - songs, movies, novels, phrases, people - sometimes i don't want to let things go.

i like to reflect, to reminisce, to analyze things that have come to pass. everything i ever take note of, anything that you can find in my sketchbook, written or drawn, is something that has a pull to me.

recently i was asked if i ever get that itch to create. i think i answered before he finished asking me. i do. i get it all the time. and it's why, even when things are discouraging at best, that i can't bring myself to even imagine a world where i am not a maker in some way.

the quote at the beginning of this post initially reminded me very much of someone i know - but now it also reminds me of anyone who has something creative in them that is aching to be released.

if you're one of those people, i encourage you to react to that itch. the world is waiting to see the results.

hand drawn and hand sawn

2011-06-26T02:22:00.000-04:00

i have totally been lacking on the blogging front lately. sorry readers! my days can be so hectic. i can be out from 8:30am - 11:30pm at times working. also, my photoshop isn't working on my laptop right now, so it's hard for me to edit lighting in photos. so aggravating.

anyway, i really like these new lichen pendants i'm enameling, and i actually really enjoy sawing as well. so while these may look like too much sawing to some, it doesn't feel overwhelming to me at all.

each one is hand drawn and hand sawn, so they're all one of a kind - the kind of work i like best :)

i did add yellow transitions around the small circular areas...but i think i like the pieces more when they're one colour. we'll see what i feel like doing next time i'm in the studio.

new lichen pieces

2011-06-17T00:46:00.002-04:00

even though my schedule has been super crazy, i've still managed to squeeze in some studio time.

i just came back from a two day trip to the states, but i found myself so glad to come home. this made me think that i probably can't live anywhere else in the world - i'd get too homesick and keep trying to get back.

after locking myself up in my room for a while, i came up with these lichen inspired sketches that made me really excited to get into the studio.

i only managed to do work on this one yesterday before i taught my advanced jewellery class at Organic Metal Gallery, but for the others ones i definitely plan to play with scale and colour.

i like big jewellery...what can i say?

i'm still working on this piece - my day was far too long, and i was dying to get home. i couldn't keep my eyes open on the bus. that's when you know you're overworking yourself. for this one, i plan to add transitions of a lichen green enamel coming down from the top.

enamel painting part two

2011-06-09T07:51:00.002-04:00

here are two other pieces i was enamel painting that you may have seen glimpses of in this post. i bought a whole bunch of new enamel colours recently, but i still seem to work with my old favourites. i plan to bring my kiln home this week so hopefully i can start making a ton of new stuff.

my various jobs and commitments been taking over my life recently. i relish in my days off. while in toronto it's steaming in the sun - under the shade of trees in the park i find myself so happy and relaxed.

moving on

2011-06-04T00:10:00.002-04:00

i kind of hate moving onto a new sketchbook, but only because i feel as if i'm leaving ideas behind. so for a while i tend to carry around two so i can look back and continue working on ideas from the older one.

this is the first page of my book with a quote from Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet. those words sum up exactly how i like to work, and i like the reminder.

sometimes i'm messy and sometimes i'm neat. it depends on how desperately i need to get an idea out, or how long i'm fixating on it.

i used to worry about neatness when i was in high school but i don't anymore. my sketchbook is about working out ideas and making progress. it shows how i think. it lets me know what concepts i really want to work with.

a bear tooth pendant

2011-05-28T14:06:00.005-04:00

i got a little commission from Raylyn last week to turn a bear tooth into a pendant for her friend. for some reason, i had it in my head that stone setting was one of the most tedious tasks on the planet - and because of that, i never design jewellery with stones in mind. this is such a waste though since i bought a ton of stones while i was still a student at OCAD, and i'm sure i had grandiose plans for each one of them.

the thing with stone setting (tooth, in this case) is that the bezel (the silver strip that hugs the stone) needs to fit snugly around the piece. if you measured wrong somehow or stretched it too much, you have to cut it open and solder it again. if you overstretch it, the seam can break. it has to fit just right.

another issue is that you're pushing the bezel in around the stone with a steel tool that can easily scratch the surface if your hand slips. if a stone is a couple hundred dollars, or one of a kind, this can be quite a stressful task. thankfully this piece worked out very smoothly - i'm now encouraged to do more stone setting.

i forgot my camera for the next parts of the process, but i basically just soldered the bezel to sterling silver sheet, added a bale to string the cord through and then polished it up.

i hope he likes it!

painting with enamel

2011-05-24T15:39:00.004-04:00

i hope everyone in Canada had a great holiday long weekend! i spent mine the best way you can - with friends and family.

recently i decided to experiment with enamel painting. i tend to rely on using a sifter when applying the enamel powder - it's easier, but it's also limiting in how precise i can be with colour changes.

so instead of applying the enamel dry, i have it mixed with water in a painter's palette for the different colours i'm using. then i apply it to the piece as evenly as possible with a paintbrush. this may seem easy, but it takes FOREVER. the first one i did took a ridiculous amount of time, but the second one worked much more smoothly and quickly.

every spare grain of enamel that moves away from where you want it to will show up once its fired, so there's a lot of touch ups that need to be done. i had a stiff neck the next day from looking down and concentrating for so long.

at the same time, i found the process kind of soothing. though i can only do this kind of thing if i have a long day devoted to them. i'm planning on bringing my kiln home soon so i can do this kind of thing more regularly and paint the enamel at my desk with movies playing in the background or something.

these forms are a blend of a couple of ideas and imagery i've been working on in my sketchbook. so of course they have undertones of containment and growth. i also plan to work on some 3D forms similar to these soon.

fear of empty spaces

2011-05-19T00:58:00.005-04:00

just showing you all some new lichen pins i was working on recently based on some hand doodles done in my sketchbook.

right now i'm very interested in the idea of space - particularly negative space and empty space. these may seem like the same thing, but they're not to me.

i learned some new terms today: horror vacui, which is Latin for fear of empty spaces, and cenophobia which is fear of the empty - who would've thought there were terms for that? but they're interesting concepts, ones that i definitely want to delve deeper into.

fan necklaces in progress

2011-05-15T18:47:00.010-04:00

hi everyone! hope you're all finding fun things to do inside on this rainy weekend in Toronto.

lately i've been in the mood to restock and make some new jewellery pieces, but after i sprained my thumb, i also managed to suffer from multiple spells of vertigo - leaving me light headed and weak. it was not a fun time. nor was sitting in waiting rooms for hours on end.

anyway, i couldn't decide for a long time, but in the end i sent in my application to the Queen West Art Crawl show set for the third weekend in september. i hope to have a whole bunch of new, colourful work by then for everyone to see.

thistable is one of my favourite places to work - it's in my room, and itopens out to three times its original size. i love when it'sclear and i can spread out all my materials.

these are some process shots of my fan necklaces. i spent a day last week trying some new colours and fabrics. i made new ones in a wine red, forest green and grape purple that got picked up by The Devil's Workshop right away. for some reason i thought that the stiffer fabrics were no good for these pieces, but it turns out they work much better. time to buy more fabric!

i've also decided to antique the taco looking bits on the fan necklaces from now on since it's fairly difficult to clean the tarnish off the silver when there's fabric attached. i think it's a nice and practical change.

enjoy your sunday readers!

extremely loud and incredibly close

2011-05-10T00:00:00.009-04:00

whoever knows me, knows that i'm constantly in the middle of a novel. i live outside of Toronto so my average one way commute takes about 75 minutes, and since i read fairly quickly i've managed to read A LOT of books over the years. this is one reason why i don't mind traveling long distances - because then i have an excuse to get lost in a new story.

if i didn't love making things so much i know that i'd try to be a writer. i love how art can articulate indescribable ideas but i greatly admire when a writer/poet/lyricist can find a way to describe a situation perfectly, evocatively, or poetically. and i always LOVE finding new metaphors.

i had heard about Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close years ago, but my to be read pileis fairly long, and gets longer all the time. from the first few pagesi was hooked and completely fell in love with Jonathan Safran Foer'swriting style. the story was wonderful. Foer artistically described acoming of age - solitude, the struggle to understand yourself anddifficult situations, the process of loss and levels of acceptance, thedifferent kinds of love and bonds we have towards one another, as wellas the often forgotten importance of family history and memories.

some of my favourite quotations from the book:

"'Is anything wrong?'

I wanted to say 'Is anything right?'

I wanted to pull the thread

unravel the scarf of my silence

and start from the beginning."

"I left behind a thousand tons of marble,

I could have released sculptures,

I could have released myself

from the marble of myself."

"My life story was spaces."

"I couldn't speak the language of his feelings."

"What am I going to do?

I n e e d m o r e r o o m.

I have things I need to say

my words are pushing at the walls
of the papers edge."

"I regret that it takes a life to learn how to live."

"Sometimes I can hear my bones straining

under the weight of all the lives I'm not living."

"She saw through the shell of me into the center of me."

"‘That’s not true,’ I said,

not knowing what the next words out of mymouth would be, but
wanting them to be mine

wanting

more than I’dever wanted anything

to express the center of me and be understood."

just beautiful. you should all get your hands on this book. next up - his first novel: Everything is Illuminated.

thanks mom!

2011-05-08T02:03:00.005-04:00

i hope everyone has a great Mother's Day today.

it's not easy for some parents to be supportive of their child being in the arts - but my mom has been one of my greatest and most vocal supporters. she has faith in me even when i'm weary of believing in myself. she won't let me get discouraged, and she is a huge reason why i'm still doing what i love.

so thanks for all your love mama :D

this week has been kind of crazy. you can now purchase my jewellery at The Devil's Workshop in Toronto and i'm very excited to see my work in their display cases once it's all set up - they have a nice open showroom with a lot of natural light. thanks Sarah and Shawna for inviting me!

there are many instances where i find that i work on a pieceuntil it's about 95% done, and then leave the tedious bits unfinishedtil the last possible second - so i spent a few days enameling unfinished/broken pieces,soldering jump rings, sewing, doing repairs, and adding/shortening chains.

i was originally going to leave this piece in mint green but i was moving stuff around, dropped it on the floor, and promptly ran over it with my chair. after i filled in the cracks, i decided to add a sprinkling of butter yellow at the top - i'm more happy with it now and i think it became a happy accident in the end.

i also started a new job and managed to sprain my thumb - one of a jeweller's worst horrors. so instead of working on jewellery for the next few days i think i'll ice my hand and find non strenuous things to do - like breathe and watch movies :p

have a wonderful day readers!

ten things i love lately

2011-05-04T00:37:00.001-04:00

chai tea lattes .01

that it (sometimes) feels like spring here in Toronto .02

Adele's music .03

Game of Thrones .04

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer .05

almond chocolate chip cookies from Riviera Bakery .06

carrying a small purse so i don't break my back overstuffing my large one .07

seeing old friends .08

that some of my favourite songs are being played in my yoga classes .09

my new spring coat .10

what's in my bag

2011-05-02T07:52:00.001-04:00

it's kind of interesting to see what people carry around in their bags. these are basically my essentials, and it was obviously a rainy day when i took this picture. i don't go anywhere now without my e-reader and iPod, but i never leave home without a water bottle - i get dehydrated so easily, and have been known to faint in the past (:s) i also randomly have a spoon and a piece of silver i was working on in the studio.

a sketchbook is another thing i always have on me, i hate losing an idea because i didn't have anything to write it down in. i love the one i'm working in currently, i'll be sad when i'm done with my set of them. the AGO was getting rid of them and selling them for a dollar last summer! the cover is made from a thin layer of cork, and everyone who sees me with it wants to steal it from me. my husband already stole one :|

oh i forgot to include my phone...but i guess that's because i was talking on it while taking this photo.

the one ring

2011-05-01T15:53:00.000-04:00

i just came back from lunch with my family to celebrate my dad's birthday that just passed. happy birthday dad!

i always like to make things for those i love. but for some reason my dad and my brother always ask for the plainest, most simplest things. like plain band rings. like this one. some are polished, some are matte, some are textured, but they're all plain. guys can have such little imagination sometimes :p

extending a chain part two

2011-04-27T00:23:00.003-04:00

this post is a continuation from a few posts back. after i got the mold and wax injections for Wayne's bracelets made, i sent the wax pieces to the casting house. this is what they looked like once i got them back.

and then after i cleaned them up.

cutting through the sterling silver was waaay easier than cutting through the stainless steel of the originals. they were also much easier to open - i didn't have to hurt myself trying to hammer the links apart just to slide them into each other.

i did manage to hurt myself though - it was stupid really. we're taught in school to never ever, ever, try to polish chain on a polishing machine, because it will always get caught. we polish our jewellery with rotating buffs in a machine similar to a grinding machine. i don't know how fast it moves, but it's faster than your eyes can follow.

since Wayne's bracelet was made of such large links i didn't even consider it to be a chain really. so i was almost done polishing the first bracelet, and i decided to be silly and close the catch, and then polish that too. but the little button on the catch got caught in the machine and pulled the bracelet forward, whipping it around with the wheel and back into my fingers at lightning speed :( it makes me cringe just thinking about it.

the impact with the machine made an awful noise that alarmed my studio mate. i then turned off the machine to find that some of my fingers were numb-ish, swollen, and slightly bloody. i also later developed some nasty looking blood bruises. while this was great in itself, i also had the pleasure of having every jeweller friend i told lecture me on polishing safety :p

anyways...

my fingers are looking much better now and Wayne was uber happy with his bracelets. can you tell which links are sterling silver?

symmetry

2011-04-24T22:43:00.005-04:00

lately i've been in the mood to create very symmetrical and radial work. in general, i don't like my work to be too symmetrical, so when i do have symmetrical components i tend to organize them asymmetrically or have them in varying sizes like in this piece.

i had some fun with these forms by doing some metal forming and folding. it was an experiment to see how far the copper was willing to bend without awkwardly warping. it was also an experiment in how to make things without the fairly well equipped OCAD jewellery studio. (i miss having seemingly limitless amounts of tools at my disposal).

here's one of the pieces for now. i still love the combination of oriental red and black - they contrast each other so well.

the useless days

2011-04-21T23:31:00.011-04:00

"the useless days will add up to something.

the shitty waitressing jobs.
the hours writing in your journal.

the long meandering walks.

the hours reading poetry

and story collections

and novels

and dead people's diaries...

these things are your becoming."

- tiny beautiful things

there is a lot of process work involved in being a maker. it is more than just the doing - it is also the observing, the analyzing, the reading and writing - the living of life. my latest sketchbook mostly consists of writing. i've been spending a lot of time distilling my thoughts, honing in on ideas, pin pointing what it is i really want to capture. it is a process that is crucial to my work.

it is both easy and hard - it's easy in that writing introspectively is something i've been doing ever since i bought my first diary when i was 8. it's hard in that i may have ample time to be in the studio, but my idea isn't finalized - leaving me frustrated and unable to start that particular project.

to some people it may seem like if you're not physically making something then you're not actually creating, but it's not true. jotting down wisps of ideas, being moved by films, relishing in beautiful moments - these are all part of the process.

worth fighting for

2011-04-16T11:09:00.010-04:00

"what's the point of your existence?"

"to feel...

you've never done it, so you can never know it.

but it'sas vital as breath.

and without it - without love, without anger, without sorrow,

breath is just a clock...ticking."

- Equilibrium

i actually have a small obsession with dystopian novels and films. they can be so interesting, and besides my own life, they tend to be one of my greatest inspirations. whenever i hear about a new one that's coming out i'm always determined to read or see it.

in general, dystopias are depictions of a future society where some major element in human life is missing - literacy, security, the ability to speak freely, or love deeply. but overall, the inability to make your own choices tends to be a common thread.

all my work centers in some way around the idea of choice - of choosing where to go, or when to stay, or what to keep inside. i like my choices to be meaningful.

from restrictions we see what is worth living for, what is worth fighting for, and what is worth dying for. there is no other way to see it.

(image via Matched by Ally Condie)

extending a chain part one

2011-04-15T20:09:00.010-04:00

Wayne came by to visit me with the hope of elongating his two stainless steel bracelets. i had never seen links in a bracelet that were as huge as this. i was a little wary at first since i had no experience working with stainless steel before but fortunately for Wayne i was scheduled to attend Shao Pin's stainless steel workshop that weekend.

basically, i had to remove a link from the bracelet and make a mold of it so that i could cast two new ones in sterling silver. i didn't have the right saw blades for stainless steel, so it took me a lot longer than usual to saw through the link, and when i finally cut it i had to twist it open to remove it from the rest of the chain. unlike with a smaller chain, to twist a link this large required a lot of blows with a hammer with the piece clamped in place.

stainless steel is a much harder metal than sterling silver, so i anticipated that it would require more effort, but it was even tougher than i imagined.

once i got it out, i had to smash it back into shape which was equally as difficult.

and then after i got a mold made, i had some wax injections done to be sent off to the casting house.

more pictures of the process and a small injury =( later.

stringing pearls

2011-04-11T10:14:00.003-04:00

i am so sick right now. i guess that's what i get for having lunch with my (apparently very contagious) mom. but forced house arrest gives me some time to do some reading, drinking tea and generally lazing about :p

i was working on stringing a bunch of pearl necklaces last week for a client. surprisingly i had never really done that before. sure, i can use fire and hammers and hot ovens, but tying knots around pearls - that i hadn't done.

it was an amazingly infuriating process. my needle kept snapping, and the thread kept getting tangled, and i basically wanted to gouge my eyes out rather than continue. i now have a new found respect for people who do this kind of thing regularly.

enjoy the warm weather for me readers, i shall enjoy the comfort of my bed.

that which does not change

2011-04-08T08:34:00.001-04:00

"this story is that of adult Jack,

a lost soul in a modern world,

seeking to discover amid the changing scenes of time

that which does not change:

the eternal scheme of which we are a part.

- Terrance Malick on The Tree of Life

it's almost funny how i really want to see this movie. but only because after watching the trailer you still don't really know what it's about. apparently its plot is shrouded in secrecy for now. but i'm drawn to it because the trailer seems so poetic - full of evocative language, sweeping landscapes, and an eye for the ephemeral.

i like the slowed down moments and gestures - the emphasis on the beauty of every day life. the cinematography is breathtaking - so clear and vivid; i can only imagine what the rest of the film will be like.

i got more interested in the film after reading what the director said the movie was about (quoted at the beginning of this post).

i've always found the idea of that which does not change so intriguing. years ago i compiled a list of my favourite films, and looking back on them realized that many of them had something in common: they revealed the different paths that one could have taken in life and how that would have changed them.

while that is an interesting topic in itself, what resonates with me are those elements that are present no matter what path the person takes - things that are fated. i believe we all have agency, but i have to admit that i've always liked the romantic notion that some things are just meant to be.

there are too many ideas in my head right now, it's so hard to focus on one - my sketchbook is a whirlwind of thoughts.

stay tuned faithful readers...these thoughts will become tangible someday (soon, i hope!)

teaching my first workshop

2011-04-05T10:48:00.002-04:00

it's been a long time coming, but i've finally taught my first enameling workshop at Organic Metal Gallery this past weekend. we meant to schedule this two months ago but had many scheduling conflicts so it kept getting pushed back.

we all had a good time and got to play around with some new colours Robin ordered for the class. here's Leisa working with Victoria Red, a colour we all fell in love with and reminded us of ketchup chips in its powdered form.

Jose decided to make a pendant for his 7 year old niece that he's going to sew together at home. i'm pretty sure she's going to love it :)

and for his second project he made a curved piece inspired by my purple petal pendant. he almost didn't get the yellow on, but with a little encouragement he finished just in the nick of time. no one wants to go home with a half finished piece!

you can really only learn by doing, and my students learned many of the things that can go wrong in the process of enameling through their projects - things that i've also learned myself.

but what's not fun about your piece repeatedly falling off the trivet after you've painstakingly placed your dry enamel on it? for example :p

in the end it doesn't matter though, there's nothing like the joy of seeing your piece come out of the kiln finished and beautiful.

i should be running more weekend workshops in the near future, but i'd also really like to do a 6 week class for anyone interested. that way there will be ample time to experiment and learn more techniques. i'll be sure to keep everyone posted on my news page when i have the dates finalized.

have a good day readers!

absence

2011-04-01T19:17:00.003-04:00

"when i was young

i didn't understand

but now, i know, how

absence can be present

like a damaged nerve

like a dark bird."

- the time traveler's wife

i've been toying with the idea of how to represent a void for years now. it's very complicated - but intangible ideas always are. after all, how can you show that something immaterial takes up space and has weight?

my thought process is not linear. i find my inspirations from countless places and times, leaving my sketchbook filled with fragmented sentences and half formulated ideas. i can dance around an idea for ages because something essential - the cincher, is missing, and until i find it, that piece won't come to life.

(image courtesy of Morgenstemning)

there is more than this

2011-03-29T19:33:00.003-04:00

this is definitely one of the more laborious pieces that i've done since i've graduated. i showed you all in a previous post some process shots. A LOT of sawing and enameling went on here, more than i've ever done in one piece. i really wanted this necklace done and photographed for the Outdoor Show application deadline, so every spare second i had for a few weeks was spent in the studio.

there is more than this is about both secrecy and emotional baggage using the lichen form as inspiration. in my research i found some images of a form of lichen i had never seen before and was immediately drawn to its open spaces, gentle curves, and geometric forms that were so different from the other lichens i had created. so, from first glance i found myself planning and shaping a stylized form of them in my head for my own work.

i also liked how the combined forms are both broad and encompassing as a neck piece but also revealing in their negative spaces - similar to how emotional baggage is almost tangible on the outside by its overwhelming presence in the mind. but while it may suggest the problems underneath, it gives nothing more than that.

i think one of my favourite parts is actually the shadows they cast, they're so dynamic!

2011-03-28T10:33:00.000-04:00

"life's inside the hollow."

set the fire to the third bar

2011-03-25T02:07:00.013-04:00

i don't normally post videos but i have to for this one.

i love this song. A LOT. and most especially this live version.

i've always liked the sense of something building to a crescendo, but what i like most here is that there's something very honest and vulnerable in this performance which is not present in the music video. it's the way they move their hands, how their voices trail off, the times they close their eyes - it evokes a feeling that i long to capture in my own work.

i keep trying to grasp that feeling, but it seems fleeting - as if i can only really understand it in that moment.

nevertheless, i'm working around ideas in my sketchbook. things are slowly coming together, and this song keeps popping up in my mind (and my computer screen).

this is how it ends

2011-03-23T09:37:00.007-04:00

you may have noticed that cocoons are recurring forms in my work. they are symbols of protective containment, and to me, the ripped ones represent self imposed growth and change. i love the organic nature of cocoons and their bulbous, pod-like forms. and it's infinitely interesting to me how small changes in where i choose to saw my lines or how far i move my pliers can change the look of the tears.

when i first learned enameling i tried to make some ripped cocoons, but there were some small logistic problems that have now been solved. the cracks can be more detailed if it's just metal like in this piece, but if i enamel, fine cracks in metal lead to cracks in the enamel.

well, i'm always learning :)

ten things about me

2011-03-22T13:59:00.005-04:00

01. i can be pretty klutzy and often find mysterious bruises i can't remember getting.

02. my sketchbook knows more about me than anyone else.

03. i have a very strong compulsion to colour coordinate my outfits.

04. my most prized possessions are family heirlooms because they're beautiful and sentimental - two of my favourite things.

05. i love sweets but go to the gym enough that i don't feel guilty about eating them.

06. i have the most supportive family i know.

07. i enjoy my moments of solitude so i can wind down and think.

08. i can't do one thing at a time - i multi-task with all things.

09. i've gained almost all of my patience from working in jewellery and ceramics.

10. i've learned to see the silver lining.

from earrings to pins

2011-03-20T15:10:00.007-04:00

so i got another little project from Maha because she was so in love with the scarf pin i made for her before.

she owns quite a few pairs of earrings but doesn't wear them anymore since she now wears a head scarf. instead of rattling in her jewellery box it made sense to turn them into pins.

the earrings are 21kt gold - not something you see often in the west. the higher the karat, the richer the gold is. i think we're so used to seeing 18kt and 14 kt, so this colour was particularly warm and vibrant to me, making the lower karats seem very watered down in comparison. and there was some exquisite filigree details in the piece, a technique i rarely see in person - i assume because it's so time consuming. filigree is an extremely detailed technique, it's very delicate and i'm afraid their beauty wasn't captured properly in my photos.

but i enjoyed working with gold again since i normally work in copper or sterling silver. it's a nice change. first i had to remove the earring hooks, then i created a stick pin and soldered it in place. once it was secure i bent it into its proper form and tumble polished the whole piece.

Maha really liked how this one turned out and how it looks on. it's quite beautiful.

2011-03-16T10:23:00.006-04:00

"i want my own will

and i want simply to be with my will
as it goes toward action.
and in the silent, sometimes hardly moving times
when something is coming near
i want to be with those who know
secret things or else alone.

i want to unfold

...because where I am folded...i am a lie."

- Rainer Maria Rilke

bittersweet

2011-03-15T11:11:00.003-04:00

going to school at OCAD was kind of like living in a bubble. but only in the sense that when you come in all you do and know is art/design related. i got used to the point where i would leave for school in the morning at 7 am and come back around 11pm. long days where there was no sunlight and very little news of the outside world.

i have a similar schedule now, so i heard very little news about Japan, since my news intake consists of small tidbits from CP24 while I wait for the train.

i actually had time to sit and watch CBC last night and the images i saw were unreal.

my heart and prayers go out to the people in Japan.

i can't even really articulate what i'm feeling about what they're going through. one thing that freaks me out though, is that i live very close to a nuclear power plant myself...like 10 km away. sigh.

at the same time, hearing about this kind of thing makes me think about how blessed i am. it's very bittersweet, but most things are i guess.

on a side note, i recently learned about radiolarians and am very visually inspired by their forms. these images are making me itch to make some new jewellery pieces.

the story behind the lichens

2011-03-14T09:53:00.002-04:00

i was looking at my last post and i realized that i don't think i've ever given an explanation on this blog for the use of lichens in my work. this is odd since they appear so frequently as of late.

in my fourth year at OCAD i had to take a jewellery concept class. we were basically introduced to different media throughout the term and then had to create work in response to them.

for one project we had to respond to Alice Munro's The Moons of Jupiter. the narrator felt a sense of shame similar to that of a mold growing over her when she compared her poor upbringing in rural Ontario to her husband's bourgeois-like background.

from this i looked at the lichen to represent the shame and their relationship since a lichen is a symbiotic organism that forms a close and long term relationship with a different biological species. because the lichens' effects are widespread and long lived they represent her baggage - her upbringing, and they are not something that can be removed. the pins i made represent how the narrator has come to terms with the differences between her husband's family and her own as well as how she will carry that baggage for as long as she lives.

since then i've been drawn to this idea of emotional baggage - of it being tangible, far reaching and oftentimes overwhelming. but i'm simultaneously interested in the idea of resilience, of coming to terms with things, of accepting them as part of your life, wearing them openly, and moving forward in whatever way you can.

so whenever you see a new lichen piece from me that's what's on my mind.

all i ever think about is this

2011-03-12T16:23:00.004-05:00

this was the piece i was working on before my kiln decided to self destruct for a while.

do you guys sense a lichen theme? i can't get away from it for the time being. it keeps becoming relevant to me for varying reasons whenever i'm in the mood to make a new piece. you'll see more again soon but in different forms of course.

this one is called all i ever think about is this and it's made from enameled copper on sterling silver chain.

here's a picture of the pieces in process in case you've forgotten. it's crazy how enamel can change the look of metal so much.

how i became an artist

2011-03-09T11:18:00.003-05:00

it's hard to imagine now, but i wasn't very artistically inclined when i was growing up. i was actually very into math (my mom was a math teacher), english, and science. first i wanted to be a doctor, then an engineer, and then a journalist. in tenth grade i had to choose between visual arts, drama, or music. the answer was easy. i can't act at all (i SUCK at charades, never be on my team), and i'm not particularly musical (though my brother is amazingly so), so i picked art as the most tolerable option.

i took the class for a semester and i did well (to my surprise), but i wasn't passionate about it. then it came time to choose classes for grade eleven. i hadn't planned on taking art again since i had already filled my arts requirement, but i came across my teacher in the hall and she was very adamant about the importance of me continuing taking courses in the arts. so adamant that i actually immediately went and penciled in both visual arts II and photography and printmaking I into my schedule for the upcoming year.

and then suddenly i fell in love with the arts - with making, and introspection.

i burrowed into my thoughts and let them manifest themselves for the first time through my words, paintings, and sculptures. i captured them through collages and photography.

it was exactly what i needed. i found it to be both soothing and cathartic. and it very quickly became inseparable from my life. i carried my huge sketchbook everywhere i went and over time it became an art piece in itself. in a way, my sketchbook was my only confidante. i told it things that i told no one else.

in grade twelve i considered doing an english major, but then at the last minute decided that what i really wanted was to go to OCAD to hone my skills in the arts. going there made me more disciplined, knowledgeable, technical and professional in my executions.

but since i graduated i feel as if i've left something behind.

my thesis was so important to me because everything in it was a part of me. it was nurtured by my deepest and most personal thoughts.

that is really why i create - because i hate the feeling of things left unsaid, and because words are not enough to describe an experience, a feeling, a loss.

because there are things i want to share, but i can't find any other way.

to me, it was never supposed to be about competition, or making money, or winning awards. but somehow that started to happen anyway.

so i am going back to my roots. i am writing and thinking and analyzing all the time. i am confiding in my sketchbook again.

so my work may change, but that's only because i have changed.

nostalgia

2011-03-08T11:53:00.002-05:00

i want to write again

pour my thoughts out on paper -

read them again later.

i've missed the feeling of nostalgia,

of seeing how things have grown and changed.

when did i leave it behind?

2011-03-07T15:00:00.007-05:00

to grow is to go beyond what you aretoday.

stand up as yourself.

do not imitate.

do not pretend to have achieved your goal,

and do not try to cut corners.
just try to grow.

- Svami Prajnanpad

enamel earrings

2011-03-06T11:04:00.003-05:00

before i did the Cabbagetown show i realized that i had quite a few enameled necklaces but nothing else really. so i decided to make these earrings, i also did a pair in green. i still want to make some enameled rings sometime soon, i just have to play around with some copper forms a bit more first.

i made some more earrings in another style, more pictures...soonish :)

sawing lichens

2011-03-02T09:07:00.003-05:00

i've been pretty busy making making new work for the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition this year for the past while. when i applied last year i had only just learned enameling so i had no enameling work in my application. but since my work is now enamel-focused i knew i had to make sure that the photos the jurors saw represent that.

i just submitted my package on Sunday, just two days shy of the deadline. these images are the early stages of a new lichen necklace i just recently finished. there was A LOT of saw piercing, but after finishing the batch i realized that i've gotten so much better and faster at sawing, something that i used to grit my teeth through :)

2011-02-28T10:32:00.004-05:00

it would be easy if no one watched,

if no one could hear me.

if these walls weren't so thin

and my life weren't so transparent.

- matched

enameled stones

2011-02-27T18:06:00.002-05:00

i had planned to do this myself in the summer: making enameled pieces look like stones and then set them into jewellery. i had formed all the metal pieces and then promptly lost them :S

one of Robin's clients needs a whole bunch of sky blue coloured enameled pieces to be set. these pieces will be the "stones."

stainless steel workshop

2011-02-22T19:40:00.010-05:00

i was very fortunate to have the opportunity to attend a Stainless Steel Fabrication workshop with Shao-Pin Chu this past sunday. he was a guest speaker at OCAD three years ago and no one has forgotten him since then. his work is impeccable and his sense of craftsmanship is amazing. he also has a beautiful studio space that is insanely clean (for a craftsperson).

look at his bench, everything is so organized! remember mine? no comparison.

and here's his soldering station.

i'm so glad i got to know him since he is so knowledgeable and willing to share that knowledge. i learned so much in this one day class.

he was showing us this piece, and we were already amazed at some of the components that he employs in simple things like catches and then he held it by the bottom and twisted. i swear our mouths dropped open when it started spinning quickly and smoothly. it was unreal. to put it in one of my classmates words "it just doesn't stop!" - not the spinning, but his greatness. lol.

he's continuing to run all kinds of workshops at his studio, and i hope to take another one soon. it was such a good experience.

you should check out his website, besides being a jeweller, he is also an industrial designer as well as a furniture designer.

he told us that this chair here took him 10 days, 14 hours a day just to hand finish the legs. that is craftsmanship like no other.

2011-02-18T13:59:00.003-05:00

"she was possessed by an idea.

just one simple idea

that changed everything."

mold making

2011-02-16T18:33:00.005-05:00

this is my 200th post! in celebration, you can see how some items of jewellery can be reproduced.

this first kind of mold is a cold mold, and consists of pouring a certain liquid (i can't remember the brand Robin uses right now) around the object into a rectangular frame that is sealed off. after it sets for a day or so you can cut it open to reveal the piece again. this mold can be used on pieces that aren't metal since no heat is required. which means you can make molds of wax carvings and plastics, or organic materials such as twigs and leaves.

or you can do a silicone mold like this which is made up of sticky layers of a foam like material that is wedged into a rectangular frame and around the piece, and then sealed on both sides with aluminum plates. after being clamped together i baked it in an oven (used only for jewellery things!) so the layers melt into each other and form around the piece.

after cutting the mold apart very carefully with an extremely sharp scalpel, you can inject wax into the small opening (the area where the wire is sticking out) to get an exact replica of your piece in wax form as many times as you'd like. then voila! you can then use that wax to cast the copy into metal.

don't mind my disgusting fingers - this is how jewellers hands normally look until we leave the studio. gross right?

happy valentines day everyone!

2011-02-14T16:59:00.009-05:00

yeah, yeah, we all love our partners :p
but here are some other things that i love:

01. being able to talk to my friends while i enamel using my hands free headset (it can get lonely in the studio basement with only my toxic materials for company)

02. waterproof boots that combat Toronto's rampant slushiness

03. lentil soup

04. when one of my pieces comes out of the kiln better than i expected

05. cracking my back

06. happy endings

07. fresh air after i've been cooped up all day

08. when the underdog wins

09. hearing about my brother's ridiculous antics at Brock University

10. finding a quote/song/book/movie that speaks to and inspires me

2011-02-13T23:52:00.002-05:00

"things aren't all so tangible and sayable

as people would usually have us believe;

most experiences are unsayable.

they happen in a space that no word has ever entered."

- Rainer Maria Rilke

scarf pin

2011-02-11T22:57:00.007-05:00

i was commissioned by Maha to make a pin to wear with her head scarves a little while back. normally she just uses head pins but she wanted something more unique, dangly, and colourful. her Egyptian background makes her very partial to lapis lazuli's so we picked one out of my collection of stones and after looking at some sample images i started to get to work.

it was hard for me to pick out the chain for some reason - out of spools and spools of chain, only this one looked right. it was the only one that wasn't too large but also had enough of an opening in each link that i could fit jump rings to hang the tear drop charms from.

she was really happy with it and already got a ton of compliments :)

now i want one for myself!

repaired

2011-02-09T11:48:00.006-05:00

a big thanks to SeaFlowerStudios who curated this Hot and Cold etsy treasury and cestlaviedigital who created Rouge & Noir which both included my red and black petal pendant.

other good news - my kiln is up and running again! i got it mailed back to me only to plug it in and have a scary spark erupt in the power box. apparently there's a small ceramic tube like piece that acts as an insulator - unfortunately for me it cracked sometime during delivery, and plugging in the kiln with all its power shattered it in half.

thankfully the repair place was nice enough to send a technician over the next day, which allowed me to spend a good portion of last saturday working on a new concept piece that i was itching to start enameling.

comparison

2011-02-07T10:05:00.001-05:00

"comparison is normal, it's human, but it's not always right.

when i start to compare myself with anyone else in the world

i immediately lose my footing on my own level path.

if i compare myself to make me feel better, i lose.

if i compare myself to someone better than me and feel less important, i lose...

there is no way of comparing yourself and winning.

you will always lose because

you let someone else tell you who to be."

- Kendi Lea

I found this quote on Leanna Manning's blog which is full of great inspirational excerpts - and it is so true.

Toronto Craft Alert feature

2011-02-03T19:53:00.001-05:00

Toronto Craft Alert is up and running again from their long hiatus and i was pleasantly surprised to see that sweetie pie press featured my Lichen Inspired Necklace on their front page yesterday.it's always exciting to see my work somewhere else in the world than on this blog.

did all you torontonians enjoy your snowday?

i spent mine with a nice hot chocolate and taking photos of some new work.

stay warm everyone!

pretty as a peacock

2011-02-02T12:10:00.003-05:00

DreamsinSeams put together this beautifully vibrant "Pretty as a Peacock" treasury on etsy today which includes one of my teardrop lace pendants.

this exact pendant is going to be on display in Jewel Envy's Student Exhibition this Friday from 5-8pm alongside two other pieces of mine. i took an enameling class at Jewel Envy in January 2010 with Emily Gill and i've been obsessed with enameling and colour ever since.

come by for the opening, you may just see me.

10 random things i've done lately

2011-02-01T10:09:00.004-05:00

01. read Across the Universe by Beth Revis
02. ran up and down my apartment building's stairs because i didn't feel like going to the gym
03. listened and re-listened to Mercy by OneRepublic
04. finished my first scarf pin commission, then immediately made another one!
05. had a delicious Bengali meal of haleem, naan, sizzling chicken, sweet tea, and mango yoghurt
06. watched The Fighter
07. dropped off my kiln to be repaired
08. entered work into Jewel Envy's Student Exhibition
09. stocked up on sterling silver chain, findings, and pearls
10. gave an impromptu heartfelt speech at my Uncle's surprise party

is there something you want to know about me or my work? message me!

get togethers

2011-01-31T10:49:00.005-05:00

(image via Sgt. Splatters)

i tried paintball for the first time yesterday to celebrate my birthday. me and my friends were really intimidated at first by the huge guys with machine gun style paintball guns and camo gear. but we were able to have a really good time and actually managed to take out some of the other team (though i do have a welt on my stomach from being shot viciously and repeatedly for coming out from my hiding place too early).

for every one of our birthdays we try to do something (preferably new and) active as well as go out for some kind of cultural food. so this year we did paintball/Japanese, and last year we did ice skating/Malaysian and rock climbing/Vietnamese to name a few.

we were trying to come up with stuff for our next get togethers - kayaking, roller skating, cooking classes, dragon boating, tennis, volleyball, hiking, zip lining, snowboarding, and parasailing were some of them. i'm excited.

like a tree

2011-01-29T22:49:00.002-05:00

there are many things that i wanted for myself. some have evolved as the years go by - as i get older, as my situation changes, as i learn more about life and my place in it.

there were things that i thought i had to do and just the idea of them disheartened me because they were not what i wanted for my life.

because of these thoughts Sherif lent me his copy of Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke and it was just the thing i needed at the time. i felt as if the author was speaking to me when he wrote:

"being an artist means

not numbering and counting

but ripening like a tree,

which doesn't force it's sap

and stands confidently in the storms of spring

not afraid that afterward summer may not come.

it does come.

but it comes only to those who are patient,

who are there as if eternity lays before them,

so unconcernedly silent and vast."

- Rainer Maria Rilke

time passes

2011-01-26T10:02:00.007-05:00

today's my birthday and i'm stuck at work all day. i've become very aware of time lately, (i guess it was because my birthday was looming) though i'm by no means considered old (i'm only 24 now!)

i kinda have a crazy schedule so it's been a little hard to get into the studio for long periods of time. i try to squeeze my studio time within 3-4 hour time periods over a couple days a week. i work best for longer periods of time rather than lots of short periods, but it's better than nothing anyway!

as you can see, my workspace is always a mess. though i do like my supplies to be very organized.

i was doing some more lichen pieces this week alongside another commission. here are two stacked sheets of sterling silver which i tape together so i can saw out two layers at a time.

just thought i'd show it since i get a lot of surprised looks from people when they find out that our jewellery pieces often start out from sheet. it's kind of hard to imagine if you're not fully involved in the process.

and thankfully i'm able to squeeze in a small birthday lunch with my friend Nini today, at least i'm not too busy for that :)

have a great day readers!

setting lapis lazulis

2011-01-24T18:03:00.006-05:00

it is SO cold in Toronto. who knew i'd have to wear two pairs of pants and two pairs of socks just so i wouldn't freeze to death? argh.

anyway, i was working on setting these lapis lazuli stones for Robin recently and as per usual, i had to do it slightly differently than i had been taught. at OCAD we had this gooey stuff called protoplast that let us keep tiny things securely in place, but at the gallery i had to use this pin vice to hold the earrings semi securely while i set them with a stone pusher.

i really don't like setting stones, it just may be one of the things i like least about jewellery. it takes a lot of patience and they can easily look pretty crappy, and there is always the possibility of you scratching or cracking the stone.

however, i ironically own a TON of stones that i keep telling myself that i'll set someday.

let's see how that goes.

a necklace in process

2011-01-21T08:31:00.004-05:00

i was working in the studio yesterday and i was all pumped to start some new enameling work. alas, it was not meant to be. right before the holidays i was on a huge enameling binge. i guess it was too big of a binge because a coil burned out in my kiln - which means it won't work til i get it fixed.

it's annoyingly difficult for me to get my kiln repaired, i had to do it after the Outdoor Show too. the repair place is so far away from where i live, too hard to get to with transit, and costs far too much to get it fixed. i'd do it myself but i'm too afraid that i'll mess up my kiln permanently.

these were some of the last pieces i was working on before my kiln decided to die.

seeing red

2011-01-19T09:09:00.008-05:00

Valentine's Day is coming up soon and people have started scrambling for their gifts already. please don't hesitate to contact me if you're thinking about giving jewellery to your loved one.

with that in mind, i'm definitely seeing red. my oriental red enamel is one of my favourites. it can be very dynamic, especially when it's in combination with black as you can see here. if you like it too this necklace is currently available in the shop.

and, in a post about giving gifts for Valentine's Day, the Toronto Etsy Street Team was kind enough to feature my fire red fan necklace on their blog as a recommended romantic gift for the one you love.

sawing curves

2011-01-18T10:52:00.003-05:00

i was working on this big bracelet cuff at the gallery last month. Robin had this design etched into steel, places a silver sheet over it, and then rolls it through the rolling mill to get the design imprinted onto the metal.

roller printing is a far better method than etching into silver since you don't lose any material.

i have to draw dots on the areas to saw out or for sure i'll mix them up.

if you've never sawn out anything by hand before, know that sawing a curved piece of metal is pretty tedious. i know that fact far too well from this piece of mine.butisn't the shadow lovely?

Sleet Street

2011-01-16T13:03:00.001-05:00

my past couple of days have been pretty useless creativity-wise. i caught the flu, and it's left me bed ridden for the past five days. all i've managed to do is drink water and tea and finish up watching Battlestar Galactica (which I've recently become obsessed with).

i'm now part of the toronto etsy street team - a network for toronto etsy sellers to support each other. and right away, wintergarden put together this nice Sleet Street treasury that focuses on Toronto talent. while the last treasury i was featured in was about combating the heat, this one celebrates the cold and includes my lichen earrings.

hot, Hot, HOT!

2011-01-11T11:11:00.004-05:00

i'm always glad to see when someone appreciates my work. sometimes the artist is a little removed from that process when someone else is selling their work for them. when that happens you don't get to see the excitement the customer has for the piece or hear what they like best about the design.

i like etsy because it's so fast and easy for people to share the fact that they appreciate your work. this is also why i like doing the art/craft shows. i like to meet the people who are going to wear my work, or hear them tell me that it's just perfect for a certain outfit of the person they're giving it to.

being part of etsy gives me the chance to let people from all over the world see my work, and in turn i get to see some great handmade goodies from everyone else.

this hot, Hot, HOT! treasury was compiled by CoquetteBath and includes my fire red fan necklace. she made it to combat the cold.

Crimson and Clover Treasury

2011-01-10T16:23:00.005-05:00

Dragonflymom was kind enough to include my new Lichen Inspired Necklace in her Crimson and Clover treasury yesterday. i think I'm going to make more of those necklaces in some other colours. i also made some new necklaces inspired by scalloped collars right before the holidays. hopefully i'll add the findings and ribbons soon so i can take photos and put them in the shop.

i just started work again, so i have some very busy weeks ahead of me. i also have to apply for The Outdoor Show (eee!) so things are going to get really crazy with me making new work for my application.

wish me luck everyone!

filling up the shop

2011-01-09T10:10:00.003-05:00

i've spent the weekend trying to fill up my etsy shop with work like this. it may not seem like it, but it takes A LOT of time to get to that point!

after all the work that goes into designing and making, i also have to take photos, and then edit them for the web, then figure out pricing, shipping and descriptions.

i am spent. this is a new piece i made right before the holidays. it was inspired by lichens and it looks really cute and fresh when its on near the collarbone.

Sapphire Blue Treasury

2011-01-08T22:34:00.001-05:00

I just posted my Sapphire and Black Enamel Petal Pendant on Etsy and i'm very glad to see that it got picked up by CandSNoland for this sapphire treasury almost immediately.

i'm building up my favourites list as the days go on. that way i can do a treasury of my own someday soon.

antiqued lichens

2011-01-07T11:21:00.003-05:00

i decided to change up my lichen series by antiquing them to this dark colour. the fused texture leaves the raised portions the natural silver colour giving them a nice contrast. i just added this necklace to my etsy shop.

i recently sold my last pair of these earrings so you can't find them anywhere at the moment. i was in the studio yesterday making some new ones, so hopefully i'll get them back in the shop asap. i really like this series because each design is hand drawn so no two pairs are alike.

Hearts Afire Etsy Treasury

2011-01-04T13:10:00.000-05:00

Hope you're all having a good new year. I was excited to see my fire red fan necklace featured in another etsy treasury today. This one was a "collection of V-day goodies" curated by alienlabel.

the end of a decade

2010-12-31T07:58:00.006-05:00

i can't believe it's almost the end of a decade. sometimes time goes by so quickly. i'm actually going to sit down now and make a resolution list and try to stick by it.

i actually like crossing things off lists. in my final year at OCAD i was juggling so many things that when i was finally able to cross something off a list, i could practically feel a weight come off my shoulders. i hate dragging things out, constantly worrying about them.

for now, i think this will be a main resolution of mine:

(via Matt Jones)

thanks to everyone who reads this blog and supports me and my work. it's not the same without you :)

happy new year!

fused earrings

2010-12-29T09:29:00.002-05:00

i made these earrings a little while ago. they're sweet and simple with hand formed earring wires.

hand forming earring wires kinda drives me crazy, it's very easy to get a kink in the wire, and basically impossible (not worth it) to get it out.

so it's a small accomplishment to get smooth, symmetrical ones. go me!

colour charts

2010-12-26T00:56:00.004-05:00

i finally had some time to finish off my colour charts a little while back. this is months overdue. for anyone doing enameling it's really important to have samples of each colour since the colour of the enamel powder is never the same colour as when the enamel is fired in the kiln. and you may think two colours will work together, but when you put them side by side is when you'll really know.

i think it's time for me to get some new colours...i barely have any reds, oranges or yellows. i also want to get some very pale, ivory like colours.

thank goodness you can buy enamel online. i do not like shopping on boxing day.

work space

2010-12-23T09:31:00.001-05:00

okay...no one said i was tidy.

i've been all studio crazy the past couple of days trying to both restock and make new work that you'll all eventually get some glimpses of.

happy holidays everyone :) see some family and get some rest!

my first etsy treasury

2010-12-21T08:46:00.002-05:00

i'm pretty new to etsy so i was super excited to see my lichen earrings included in a treasury by cynmb. yay!

chainmail

2010-12-20T20:15:00.002-05:00

i spent a couple of days working on chainmail bracelets with our intern at Organic Metal Gallery. this requires sawing coiled wire to make hundreds of little jump rings, stringing a line of them onto a clothesline like contraption, and then linking the next rows all together with pliers to get this pattern.

it feels so good to see each row finished as i work.

i think i want to do some more elaborate chainmail type bracelets for myself in the future. i'll try to get on that...

a gingerbread house

2010-12-17T01:19:00.002-05:00

the OCAD student union is always doing little fun things like this. there was a gingerbread house competition and i helped some friends decorate (eat) this house.

we were going for a "totaled by an environmental disaster and then left alone for a 100 years" kind of look.

a tiny little seed

2010-12-14T16:45:00.000-05:00

"Breathe.
Be kind to yourself.
Don't panic.
Take risks.
Make messes.

Decide every daythat in your...toolbox,
next to the fear and self-doubt, you are alsogoing to

keep at least one tiny little seed of faith.

That's all you need tokeep going—one mustard seed.

Keep tight hold on that faith, and keep [creating]."

- Kristin Cashore

a small trade show

2010-12-14T12:15:00.001-05:00

Some 4th year OCAD students asked me to participate in a small trade show as alumni around the beginning of the month. it was a nice experience, and i met a lot of great craft enthusiasts as i usually do.

the trade show was designed to emulate the One of a Kind Show on a small scale - complete with demonstrations. Carol-Lynn Beaumont, a fellow classmate, was doing demos on the throwing wheel.

i love love love her pottery.

especially this cup.

a silver fertility charm

2010-12-12T00:00:00.001-05:00

do you guys remember this piece? i carved out the wax in the summer so i could have a smaller, sterling silver version of my bronze/brass fertility charms. i eventually cast it, cleaned it, and patinated (stained the silver with a chemical) the back. i like the ball burred texture compared to the smooth back of my original, and it makes it more resistant to fingerprints which is always a plus.

i hate taking photos of high polished work. you can always see the camera. argh...

emerging artist

2010-12-09T20:48:00.002-05:00

Rickson Salkeld was very kind to have interviewed me as a featured emerging artist on Crafthaus.

read the interview here to learn a little bit more about me.

new etsy items

2010-12-07T14:14:00.003-05:00

i was supposed to put up new etsy photos a loooong time ago. but things didn't work out with my model. these will have to do for now.at least i have my hand in some shots for scale purposes.check out my shop for some newish stuff like this fire-y red fan necklace:

cuff links

2010-12-05T00:36:00.019-05:00

we have these cement rings that are really popular for men at the gallery (here shown in its pink wax form). after being cast, the grooves are filled with cement and then polished as usual. Robin uses this same ring to create matching cuff links.

i've never made cuff links before. i don't normally design for men (though i have made quite a few chunky rings for commissions), and it's hard enough as it is to come up with a line for women. so this was a new experience. these are the cuff links on the brick right before being soldered.

these ones are still not fully cleaned up. but after i saw them i thought they didn't really need the cement. i guess Robin thought so too, because the next time i was in the store i saw them in the case in this form.

clean up

2010-12-02T00:25:00.005-05:00

when i say i have to clean up a piece this is partly what i mean. the cufflink bit on the right is still rough from abrasive grinding tools and the one on the left happens is what happens in the later stages after i use my flex shaft (a type of rotating tool) with increasingly finer sandpaper on the piece. after this stage there are stages of polishing as well.

i'd say clean up is at least half the battle for each piece. designing and soldering would be first half. it's worse when you have to do clean up all by hand for the hard to reach places. when the clean up is uneven it's really noticeable in the finish (and slowly drives you insane).

yardages

2010-11-29T00:27:00.003-05:00

i visited the handmade well made show a little while ago since Jon had work in there and we always try to go to openings together.

here's my friend Jo in front of her silk yardage. i liked hers (the green one) and the beetle one beside it the best. this piece is dedicated to her brother. she dyed the silk, printed her design using screenprinting ink, and then painted it with weak acid dyes. the pictures don't really do it justice.

i also really liked this piece, i don't know who did it though since the signage was in alphabetical order rather than the order of the pieces. i like the flow and organic nature of silk painting and i found it interesting that beetles were used for the dye. they kind of transition into colourless-ness as they go into the coloured areas. i think i want a scarf from Jo's fabric, time for another trade!