Common threads
Seeking experimentation, new pearl hoop earrings, and signet rings in-progress
Over the past months I created a few common threads in my jewelry. My collection features Mitsuro wax, is cast in 18 karat gold, and has organic textures. I like all of those elements and will continue them, but I’ve also recently been feeling a desire to experiment more. For any brand or artist it is important to have a clear voice, but I’m thinking that rather than the through lines of my pieces be specific techniques or materials, I want to evoke a consistent feeling across my jewelry.
Exactly what that feeling is and how to execute on creating it is still an open question that will probably takes months if not years to answer. But deciding to seek experimentation - especially so early in learning to create jewelry - is a good first step!
So in the coming months expect to see me try a wider variety of design styles, photography backdrops, and web content.
New earrings
I recently made a new version of my mini gold hoop earrings with Akoya pearls dangling from the bottom. It’s a classic and very wearable design, but with a little (literal) twist of imperfect, raw texture.
There are three challenging points in making these earrings:
Soldering the posts. The hoops are small, so I have to be careful to not A) add too much solder which could flow onto and ruin the texture of the piece, B) not accidentally melt the hoop itself (which I did once slightly on a pair of the non-pearl version that I kept for myself to wear), and C) attach the posts off-center.
Polishing. There is a delicate balance between polishing the twisting texture enough to bring out the gold radiance and overpolishing away the design.
Wire-wrapping. The 18 karat gold wire has to be wrapped close to the pearl, so I am cautious to not accidentally scratch the pearl with my tools.
I feel like every new piece becomes my favorite for a while, so I can genuinely say that these are now my favorite!
Current projects
I sent my first attempt to flush-set a stone (where the top of the stone is level with the surrounding metal) off to the caster. I really have no idea how well this will turn out, so I am very curious to give it a try in a week or two once it is cast in silver.
I also finished a silver master copy of a plain pinky signet ring. With a master, you can make a mold of a design and then create copies in wax or directly in metal. I plan to use copies of the ring as a base to make other designs. For example, if I want a pinky ring with this rough shape in the future, I can work from a copy of it as a starting point instead of having to build it from scratch each time. I can add stones or engravings to it or adjust the shape much more quickly this way.
I finished a simple bezel pendant in metal smithing school. A good tip my Sensei gave for the final polishing stage is to carve a small stick (in this case, disposable chopsticks - I live in Japan after all!) to put in the bail. The chopstick gives additional stability when polishing a small piece or one that moves like my pendant.
Recent inspirations
Dipa Halder - former software engineer turned full-time artist that I read about this week
In The Pleasures of Japanese Literature by Donald Keene, I learned that Chinese was the dominant written language in Japan centuries ago, particularly among elites and officials. Women generally weren’t taught to read or write in Chinese so they used/developed a native Japanese script - kana. This gendered division in literacy contributed to the flourishing of Japanese literature written in kana in the 8th to 12th centuries. Men would write love letters and poems in Japanese and many of the most celebrated works, such as The Tale of Genji and The Pillow Book, were authored by women. So in part due to romance and the exclusion of women from Chinese literacy, Japanese writing thrived. I thought this was a very interesting fun fact!