Croissants, clovers and butterflies
Refreshing my website and breathing new life into early ideas
Last weekend I spent the afternoon taking new photos and giving my website a refresh. I’ve been wanting it to feel less like a store and more like a portfolio, so I pared back the layout and text. The result is airier, simpler, and for now, I’m happy with how it looks.
Product photography is still very much a learning curve for me. This time I worked with only natural light, shooting in the afternoon when the light in my home was soft and diffused. I also placed the pieces on natural fiber surfaces to reduce reflection and color distortion. The best part is that the photos needed almost no editing, which feels like a more honest representation of the jewelry itself. Since the beauty of 18 karat gold lies in its rich color and tone, I want my photos to capture the material as accurately as possible.
Current projects
I created a sterling silver croissant stud earring for my brother. He is a pâtissier in Paris and we thought this would be a fun piece. He shaped the croissant in wax himself (which is why it looks so crisp!) and I finished it in silver.
My other two projects of the week revisited some of my earliest ideas from back in the winter.
Back in February, I made a small silver clover charm - one of my very first cast pieces - that ended up sitting unused in my bench drawer. This week I finally felt inspired to bring it to life, turning it into a sweet sterling silver bracelet. The design layers three chains of slightly different sizes, woven through with green and yellow aquamarine beads.
Also back in February, I shared my inspiration from Chizuko Yoshida, a modernist Japanese oil painter and woodblock printmaker known for her luminous butterfly motifs. My first attempt was a ring with a cluster of butterflies, but the band felt too thick and heavy. So I started again, this time with a slender band and a more delicate scattering of butterflies. In wax, the piece already feels closer to what I hoped for and I’m curious how it comes to life in metal. I keep returning to Yoshida’s butterflies, wondering how best to capture their fluttering essence. It feels like a theme I’ll keep exploring.
Recent inspirations
While jewelry is my favorite craft to make, ceramics is my favorite to buy. I recently went to at Kiln in Tokyo and picked up a few pieces. I specifically loved works of two presenting artists and admire how they share their portfolio online. Check them out!