A holiday? Yes please!:)

Well, with the holiday rush coming to a close it is exciting to think of what is next on the agenda!
This holiday season taught me that you can never start planning to far ahead.
I have been daydreaming about the new spring/summer collection for 2011.  It is so fun to let my mind wonder back to my holidays in Muskoka last summer...those 2 weeks were filled with inspiration!
If there is one thing I've learned about having your own business in 2010 it is that there will always be a    TO DO list and that there will never be a time that it  is all done, but rather then letting that discourage       you think to yourself "Am I having fun doing this?"and if the answer is YES then just keep on keeping on and enjoy and the ride along the way!  :)
Happy Holidays!  I hope your time off will be spent with family and friends!
I am certainly looking forward to spending time with mine. *K

Ciao!
 Yesterday evening was my last night teaching and today is my last day working in the studio until the new year so I thought I should touch base through the blog and update with a couple pictures of student work. 

  I just finished teaching the 8 week Resin class, the students ran a little wild and helping them along with their projects was exciting.  It was a prerequisite for the class that you had experience in fabrication and/or casting so that the students could work on creating pieces that would also use resin in the piece.   Check these out:

Padrin Kwok's rings

Flora Lam's necklace

Both of these pieces were created by making molds and pouring resin into them, they both seemed excited about all the possibilities that resin allows and I hope that they both continue to make pieces with their molds. It was a joy teaching this class because I have it set in my mind the ways in which I like to use it in my work.  However, when you have a student with new ideas and no experience with the materials their creative output is as equally enthralling for me as it is for them. 

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season and I will continue writing in the new year!
Alexis   

Happy Holidays!!

Hello everyone,

this is a very exciting week!

This Wednesday December 8th between 5pm and 10 pm is Jewel Envys 4th annual 

Holiday Party!

 Come and join us in celebrating the holiday spirit... there will be fantastic jewellery and great company!

And...................

this Friday is the opening of the Holiday Pop Up Art Shop Village where I will be one of the many talented artisans being featured.

http://www.methinkspresents.org/project165/?page_id=936 

(Methinks’ Holiday PopUp Art Shop Village is more than a sale. It’s a conversation about quality, craft and the business of persuasion in Toronto’s art scene. Says Ringer: “This is a rare and special opportunity for a general audience not just to find special stocking-stuffers, but to have a magical encounter, support local artists and consider the exhibition itself as a work of art. Moreover, this project challenges traditional art sale formats and raises the bar for anyone working with the popup shop concept in Toronto.”)

                                             (located at 165 Agusta in Kesington Market)

                                                           

Hope to see you there!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Sarah De Gasperis

http://www.sarahdegasperis.com/

my little secret

Relationships linking us together in an emotional sense are referred to as bonds.  Bonds are commonly formed between people, and are generally positive, but there are variations. Through a piece that I created, I have chosen to explore the bonds of addiction.

All of us, at some point, have had an unhealthy craving for something we can’t get enough of, no matter how hard we try. Among the more usual addictions we are bound to are things food and smoking, but we can equally be addicted to thrills, or to things we can’t really define.

The piece I made is a literal representation of drug addiction through the form of a medication capsule. Upon closer examination, however, one section of the capsule reveals a yellow gem, and inside it glows a red one. I am addicted to the secret deep inside.

CAPSULE DIRECTIONS: Dwell, nurture, worry, anticipate, finger, swallow. Repeat.

NOTE:

I stonecut the citrus gemstone found inside the capsule myself.

The pendant can be worn either as a closed or open capsule.

Young Kyoung Ko

If you are looking for me at a holiday exhibition

This year I am happy to be participating in the 23rd Contemporary Canadian Jewellery Exhibition again at Lafreniere and Pai Gallery in Ottawa. The gallery has been very supportive of my somewhat unconventional style of jewellery since I finished my program at NSCAD, and I am always excited to send them new work.
My friend Kate also helped me shoot some new photos, which are lovely! I am happy to have a photographer friend to help out. Here are the great results! Enjoy!

Emily

http://www.emilygill.ca/

A Fun Sunday Afternoon @ Jewel Envy

So in this afternoon, I started to make my own
sterling silver ingot wire. It's a good practice and we don't waste any metal, especially its cost has been growing higher and higher. Here are some essential equipment we need: ingot mold, oil, crucible, a pair of welding glasses and metal! Once you have all of  these, you are all set! Now, we are ready to cast. After the rod is cast, we can either roll it down through rolling mill or hammering. When it's rolled, it will become like a square. What are we going to do? we want round not square!! It's alright, don't panic.
 We use draw plate to pull the wire, then it will become round eventually. We need to repeat the process for a few times in order to get our final result.

 

          

This is a recent custom order piece from a lovely girlfriend, Tina Lin. She has always been creating a piece of meaningful jewellery for her best sister, friend and herself. Finally, we have it worked out. I hope you will like it :)

  

 ChiaChien Tsai

Preparing for Bond

This is my first week as a Jewel Envy jeweller--and my first blog! It has also been my first time entering a juried show. Bond which runs at Zilberschmuck from Nov. 29 to Dec. 24 had many of us in the studio exploring our own interpretation of what "bond" means to us. The results are as remarkable and varied as the artists. The pieces will be judged on Tues. Nov. 9--good luck to everyone! My own piece explores the bonds that make up the three most common molecules in the human body--water, lipids, and proteins--and the bond between this (what we are) and who we are. While I have been the lucky recipient of so much encouragement and wisdom from the other jewellers, this is the first time I have experienced it in the high energy, stressful situation of getting ready for a show. I cannot thank everyone enough--every gasp or groan seem to send someone running to help! Being in such a cooperative space is incalculably enriching and invaluable. Thank you so much.
Lianne

It's Log!

it's big, it's heavy, it's wood.

Look everyone, check out our latest equipment addition - a log! That's right I am using the blog to talk about a log.  In all seriousness though we would like to thank our neighbour at PLANT Architect for donating us such a fine specimen.  Now that all the bugs that made the log it's home are dead and gone we will be using it as a hammering surface.  Logs are a great working surface for using dapping blocks (as pictured) or otherwise any tools that make a racket - because it will help to dampen out the noise we make while we are busy creating things.  This I am sure all our neighbours will appreciate.  It hasn't yet found a permanent spot in the studio to call home but a few of us have already given it some loving taps with our tools.  If you didn't notice my youtube link up at the top don't ignore it, it's worth the visit. - Alexis   

Getting Ready....

For what you ask? Well the holiday season starts a little early for the makers of fine gifts:o) Right now I am preparing to participate in the One of a Kind Show. This eleven day show takes place every year at Exhibition place. In order to prepare I take a full inventory of every piece I have in stock and every piece I would like to have for the show. After completing this years assessment I realized I would need to make 130 more pieces in order to be ready for the show. This may seem like overkill but having more work is better than not having enough!

It is going to be a busy month at the bench for me but I will love every minute of it!


Come visit me at the show in booth E11. I will be there for the entire show and look forward to meeting new customers and reconnecting with old ones.

One of a Kind Show

November 25th-December 5th

Gillian

resin jewellery

  Working with different medium to create a piece of jewellery is always exciting. Resin is a great material to add colour, volume and transparency effect to your work. For my Blood Diamond Bullet piece, I added red and a little bit of black pigment to clear polyester resin to create flowing blood effect.

Rosalyn Woo, Blood Diamond Bullets, sterling silver, copper, polyester resin and synthetic stones

It was essential to make the surface of resin high polished to clearly see inside of the resin.
polishing plastic : This is a link where you can get polishing compounds for plastic. The surface of plastic should be sanded with fine sand paper before it gets polished, same as metal.

Here is another example of  jewellery using resin by Dawn Gulyas. It is great way to embed objects as well. If you are interested to learn how to make resin jewellery, we have upcoming resin classes at Jewel Envy.
Go to this link resin class

Dawn Gulyas(England), Brooch, resin and gold, 1998.

(photo from 'Resin Jewellery' by Kathie Murphy)

Rosalyn :)

Wedding Bands

Congratulations to Jenn and Steve!

The ring that Steve made for Jenn

The ring that Jenn made for Steve

A while back in March Steve and Jenn were a part of my Introductory to Casting class.  They were determined for their final project to make their own Wedding Bands.  After the first project I knew that they were both more than capable to take the leap and cast in gold.  They both carved the rings that the other would wear and they ended up with very unique and personal designs.  It was such a joy working with Jenn and Steve, they are both talented and creative and I was happy to be a part of the experience along with them.
Alexis

Jewel Tones and A "Field of Poppies"

What a busy and exciting September!

It has been a crazy month but a  rewarding one as well.   I spent a good chunk of September working in the studio on my ring collection titled "Field of Poppies" for the RED show.  The show is the first group exhibition I have done since starting Kathryn Rebecca and I must say the whole experience has been a lot of fun!

I was inspired to create 16 one of a kind poppy rings in memory of those we have lost and to honor those who continue to serve our country.

No two poppies are the same and the ring shanks were made with sterling silver wire in order to reflect the very delicate and thin stem of a poppy.

As well as working on a lot of fun special orders this month I have also been working on new items for "small town, BIG city" in deep jewel tones for the holidays. This past Saturday we had a fun time shooting the new items at our holiday photo shoot.  Stephen Macleod did  the photography, Christy Macleod styled and planned the event, Angie Di Battista was our makeup artist and I had two beautiful new models (Christie and Sarah) offer us their time. Looking forward to showing you the glamours shots soon! :)

Please mark November 27th on your calendar for a very exciting event soon to be announced !

Here is the song that I car danced to while I was stuck in traffic on the Lakeshore this month Shake it - Metro Station (the guys in this video show us how its done).  I hope "shaking it" does as much for you as it does for me. ;)

Now let's get ready for the exciting adventures October has in store for us....

The Art Of Fashion

This past Saturday (October 2/2010)  I , along with Emily Gill, Alexis Kostuck, Chia-Chien Tsai, and Gillian Batcher participated in the Art of Fashion’s 2010 Design competition and truck show with the theme La Belle Époque ( French for "Beautiful Era").

La Belle Epoque was a period in europe that began in the the 19th century and lasted untill  WW1.
 It is  considered the  "golden era".

10 Canadian designers accepted the challege to interpret with their own designs this  glamourous era of decadence.

 This is one of my favourite periods.
 I love all the beautifull romantic art that came out of this era.

 It  inspired me to create this necklace in hommage of "the Beautifull Era"

Which I wore proudly throughout the night!

SARAH DE GASPERIS

The many faces of 2010

2010 has been a year of dramatic natural events. Tuned to the media, I watched in disbelief as disaster after natural disaster unfolded as the year went by. To name but a few, there were earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, and China, a volcano eruption in Iceland, and recently, floods in Pakistan and India.

As video images of the disaster flickered across the screen and replayed themselves through my mind, I found myself deeply moved by the events. I asked myself if humans were in some way responsible for triggering this series of natural disasters. I wanted to do something, but what? I’m not a search and rescue specialist, a doctor or a billionaire, though; I’m a jeweler. So I did what jewelers do best. My first piece was a raging volcano pendant cast from silver, with a deep red coral seam and burning embers of red garnet, hung from natural wool. I next fashioned a baby volcano pendant, silver with agate and red coral, and finally, earrings made from concentric bands of hammered silver rotating around a red coral nugget that represents the heart of an eruption.

Is it right for me to say that I was “inspired” by these events? I prefer to think that I was struck by the devastation and loss of life. Through the medium of jewellery, I created works that are intended to serve as reminders to people about the dangers of human interference in nature. It was easier for me to experience nature as a child than it is for children today. I want to remind current generations to preserve nature so that the next generations will be able to experience it as I did.

To see these works and more, please come to RED, our upcoming group exhibition.

Young Kyoung Ko

A departure

As most of you know, I am usually busy making brightly coloured designs during my studio time. I usually look to marine animals, textures in nature and anything living (including the smallest of cells) for my work. I've been hoping to get back into this and revamp some designs and ideas I had started while still at NSCAD. I'm thinking sea monsters, predators and unusual specimens will inspire the body of work. I develop for an upcoming invitational exhibition I am to be part of next April. Although I will still be working on production pieces, I want to spend more time on developing a strong body of artwork for my own conceptual and artistic development, something I feel I haven't had much time to do since being in school. I make jewellery because I love to explore and to make unusual things to spark interest, and I am looking forward to taking the time to make some solid new work.

Speaking of new work, the month of August and September took a new turn when a friend's brother asked me to design and make him a wedding band. The design was fairly simple, but I knew it would be a challenge right from the get-go. I was stepping out of my usual comfort zone of choice materials (usually enamel, copper and sterling silver) for once to try for the first time
a) working in gold
b) working in wood
c) a tight schedule

The saga began with a trip to Burlington to go to the Exotic Wood store where several very knowledgable employees helped us choose the appropriate wood, which was a beautiful variety of rosewood called "Cocobolo". Of course it had to be the size of a table leg which I would then handcut the perfect little piece out of to incorporate into our white gold ring design.

Many hours and a few cracked wood ring "tests' later, the results. I am so happy with this ring and so was he! And dare I mention I look forward to working in gold again in the near future? 

And on a final note. I am pleased to have found a little used enamel kiln to start adding to my collection of equipment. It's always good to pounce on a craigslist opportunity like this when it comes up, because you never know if you will find a good deal like it again. So this is my new used kiln.  For now I'm keeping it at home until I can install a thermometer on it and fix a cracked firebrick inside, but I am very excited to at least have my very own. Next step will be finding a torch I suppose.

Thanks for reading!

Emily

HI

"Red" is approaching! I hope everyone is as exciting as I am. You will see a lot of unique contemporary jewellery art. Here are important dates and location for you guys.
The first exhibition will take place in Distill Gallery, 55 Mill Street, Toronto starting from Sept 29th to Oct. 17th 2010. We will have an open reception in 18 Karat, 275 Dundas Street West, Toronto on Oct. 25th to Nov. 6th 2010. Everyone is invited and bring your friends. This is a good chance to meet the artists! Next, Pearson Gallery, Toronto International Airport, Nov. 23rd to Mar 31.
In the end of the September, Jewel Envy will participate in Culture Days from the Friday Sept. 24 to Sunday Sept. 26. Please come in to visit our studio and experience metal art with us.

ChiaChien Tsai

Red Show Process

The time for Red show is getting closer. I'm plannig to have 3 pieces. The ring is done and I am still working on a big necklace and a bracelet.

Work in process

All the little round discs for the necklace are ready to enamel. Still there is a lot more steps before it will be ready. 

:) Efrat 

Tomorrow's September!

Ciao!

 I have been bouncing back and forth between a lot of new work, my pieces for the Red show, and I recently finished a painting + jewellery object for the Square Foot Art Show, which will be on display until September the 5th.

The new work I have been creating is in anticipation of the Queen West Art Crawl which is being held from September 17th until the 19th.  I will be part of the annual Art and Craft sale in Trinity Bellwoods Park on the 18th & 19th.  It is always a laid back and vibrant show to be a part of and every year my sister comes into Toronto to help me out (another aspect I look forward to).

So be sure to check out my latest meanderings and I look forward to a lot of visitors at my booth (C36) for QWAC. 

Alexis

Application time again!

It seems like every couple of months I go through an intense application writing period. I have not been slacking off by any means, it is a question of when the calls for entry come out and when they are due. They tend to cluster around a few times of the year and we are heading into another one right now. I realized it yesterday when I was in a panic that there were to many things to make, to many essays to write and not enough hours in the day. I spent yesterday flustered by all of it and today I settled into making lists of what was due and creating a schedule I could comfortable work with to get everything in on time.

So what has me working up a sweat at the bench you ask? Below are some links but if you just start searching you will find many many more. You may have missed some of these deadlines but mark them down on your calendars and next year you will be ready!

http://www.nicheawards.com/
http://www.topretailerawards.com/
http://www.smm-metalinclinations.org/enter
http://www.saulbellaward.com/CallForEntries.aspx

Good luck to all who enter!

Gillian

Hello everyone :)

My name is Rosalyn. I joined Jewel Envy two weeks ago and I'm very excited about what I will create outside of school that will take me to the next level. I graduated from OCAD university in June where I studied jewellery design. By the time I finished my thesis year, on one hand, I wanted some break for myself after a period of intense work for graduate exhibition, but on the other hand, I kind of missed being in a jewellery studio where you can be creative and support each other's creative ideas. I think Jewel Envy is a perfect place for me to start creating my own work as a professional artist/designer and be part of community. Every artist/designer in Jewel Envy seems very friendly like Gillian told me :) 

Now I am working on a jewellery piece that connects from my thesis work. Also, I'm still mind mapping my theme for RED show. I know everyone started this long, long time ago and now getting to finish it. I guess the only way for me to be able to make it to the show with everyone is work harder! yes... I will.

The image shows the earrings I recently created with casted forget-me-not flowers in sterling silver. I will see you all this evening for the studio meeting. 

Rosalyn

A week of relaxation....

Leads to lots of new ideas! Last week I spent a week at my parents place in Muskoka. The time off got my mind racing with new ideas! We spent lots of time on the lake canoeing and relaxing on the beach. We also picked wild flowers, went on ice cream walks and spent lots of time with friends and family! Here are a few of my favorite photos from the trip.

This funky flower was found lakeside  - even while canoeing I managed to do some flower pickin!:)

Waterlilies...on beautiful LONG LAKE:)

Nothing more lovely then wildflowers...

Upon my arrival back to the city I finished up my first RED show piece! I am doing a series of rings that are inspired by Remembrance Day.  Can't wait to finish them all off for our first GROUP show.

Hope your enjoying summer as much as I am.

Kathryn Rebecca

http://www.kathrynrebecca.com/

Seeing Red

What gets you pumped? It’s always been my dream to be featured in a jewellery show—actually, any show will do…. American Bitchelorette, Sexy Idle, you name it-- and now it looks as if I’ll finally get my chance. Granted, I’ll be sharing the limelight with my fellow goldsmiths from the Jewel Envy studio, but I’m jazzed nonetheless. Yes, I’m downright excited to be sharing the stage with these talented women at our upcoming jewellery show called Red.

I’m no politician and I’m no Old Spice gal with a YouTube audience, and despite the realization that I may be more of a passerby than a mover and shaker, I feel that it is my responsibility to alert people to the dangers of global warming. For the purposes of the show, I’ve crafted a custom volcano of silver and gemstones as a metaphor for the destruction of the planet caused by humans. I’m seeing Red… how about you?

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Young Kyoung Ko

P.S. RED will be featured at the Distillery, Pearson Airport and 18 Karat.

Two weeks after the Outdoor Show!

July is starting to wind down, and it's been a busy one!
For those of you who didn't know, I participated in the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition at Nathan Phillips Square on July 9-11. It was a great weekend, and despite setting up in a torrential downpour.
I had the help of my father again, who likes to drive in from Montreal (or rather, I volunteered his services for a weekend.... parents are handy that way). The show was a huge success despite many roadblocks that made it harder to work at the studio (G20 Summit....a downtown power outage).
I finished many new designs and showed over 60 pieces of jewellery. I was really honoured to receive the award for Best Jewellery in that category for the second year in a row - I didn't think it possible! Now I am gearing up for our group exhibition "RED" in which I will make jewellery inspired by debt, visual language of sales and advertising........I'm sitting here cutting out many many many "red tags" with the word "sale"...which will eventually turn into a necklace of giant proportions.

Next enameling class is scheduled to begin Wednesday, August 18th! This 8 week class will run Wednesdays from 6:30 to 9:30 pm and is offered at a beginner (no experience necessary) or intermediate level (for those who have taken fabrication and beginner enameling or equivalent elsewhere) Can't wait!

Please visit my Metal Arts Guild page for more photos from the Outdoor Show and some of my most recent work!

Signing off for now!


- Emily

Open Up.

Hi, Jennifer the Intern here, checking in to share some thoughts on this past weekend...
 It is good to be open.  Open concept, open-ended, open for business, open to possibility.  The best part of "open" is the process, the opening, if you will.  There is a dual, hopeful anticipation of both the opener and the open-ee, as the mental or physical boundaries are pried away and "new" is revealed.  As artists, we participate on both sides, often simultaneously.  We stir our creative soup to see what will present itself to us, then prepare it to share with someone else who shares with us again.  In the best openings, there is thrill of the find, thrill of the risk, and lots of wine with good bread and cheese.
Saturday night was the opening of Gillian Batcher's work at Robin Gray's newly transplanted Organic Metal Gallery, 578 College Street.  The space is elegant and comfortable and... well... organic?  It's obviously not the T2, mercury-looking, crazy, living metal biosphere one might hope for when thinking of "organic metal", but the insurance would be through the roof on something like that, so it's okay.  Wood has been beautifully introduced into the space, including the nice, large cases for featured work and sweet, natural touches added with great craftsmanship.
The work that was opened Saturday night added playful, fresh colour to the space and a great opportunity to show Gillian's enthusiasm for enameling.  The party was fun and the best way to get the metal-heads off the bench, around jewellery, onto good conversations, and into a little booze.  Cynthia was a perfect goldsmith host :)  Afterwards, the Jewel Envy crew went out to dinner on College Street, which is never a bad thing, and ended the night happy and half-asleep.

What's NEW??

Hi all, this is my turn to blog this week or last week :P Sorry of delaying if you follow our blog. First of all, I want to congrats Emily Gill who won the best jeweler in TOAE. Emily, you rock!

I have been working hard on my first mirror locket for Red. It took me a while figuring out the best way of depicting the theme which is Snow White. I use copper to build the shape. It is actually my first time of making things with copper, and it wasn’t easy because it’s so soft after heating. Therefore, I spend a lot of time on fixing my mistakes during construction! Finally, I encountered those technical difficulties and it is almost DONE! Woohoo….I can’t wait to see the finish product myself. However, I should calm down a little since I tend to ruin things when I get too excited or try to rush it. (pictures will be updated for showing process)

Here is a site I like to share with you. Maybe you guys have heard of it already.
www.ted.com
It is an inspirational site. It’s a huge community where people from various profession and talk about different things such as science, arts, culture and etc. I just found a topic that reminds me of what I am doing now. It is, Yves Behar on designing ojects that tell stories. Now I am going to listen and to find out what he is trying to tell us!
Also, I watched a documentary, Objectified. It talked about industrial design and what is considered as good design. Even though I am a jewellery designer, I personally learn a lot from their aspect and beauty of design.

Talk to you all soon!
ChiaChien

Hello!

I started a jewelry group on  Facebook for  my jewelry design. I will share my work process, inspiration and new work and news. I hope to see you at:
www.facebook.com/pages/Efrat-Deutsch-Jewelry-Design/111142605597975?ref=ts
 Here is a little promo for my new enameling work
It has a shiny back and a colorful front.. SOON TO COME! :)

 Efrat :)


 

Roaming around the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit

   After a morning of laundry and discovering my new cat's hiding place I made my way over the Nathan Phillips Square to enjoy the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit.  It was wondeful to see so many great artists gathered together to show new work and sell it directly to the public, I'm always excited to browse around all the booths.

I visited Emily Gill to give her a small break to buy ice cream and to congratulate her on winning the "Best of Jewellery" category.  Congratulations Emily, looks like all the hard work you have been doing has paid off for the second year in a row, woohoo! 

I stopped by Amanda DelaCruz's booth to check out her new work.  I first met Amanda at the 2009 grad show at the Ontario College of Art and Design and since then she has taken an enameling course at Jewel Envy.  She has been busy ever since, got herself a kiln and has been creating lovely work combining enameled pieces with fabric and ribbon. It was wonderful to see such a breadth of new work from her, keep it up Amanda!

I passed by Joyce Jia-Yi Yang's booth and paused to look over miniture trowels and spades made with mokume handles.  Also an amazingly constructed umbrella fabricated out of metal - truly amazing!

Another jeweller that I took note of was Ko Park.  She has created amazing CAD created rings that you can assemble together with alternative acrylic parts, they are so much fun!

I ended off the day chatting with Kristofir Dean catching up with him since his visit to Toronto from B.C. is coming to an end and I left the show with one of his paintings, I'm such a lucky girl!

I had a good time browsing around, if you didn't be sure to check out the artists links I attached and take a peak!  You can also check the online catalogue of artists from the show.

Ciao!
Alexis

Giving Back to the Community

Hi Again,

This week I have been working on a special piece for a charity. The event is being organized by 18Karat in and will take place in November. I was inspired a couple weeks ago but did not have time to start my piece so instead I did many many many sketches! Finally I had some time last week to start it. The piece is about strength and courage. It will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to support a battered womens help line. I have to say I am going to miss this piece but I hope it will bring in some money for a very worthy cause. Here are some pics of the work in progress!                                                                         

The left side is marriage of metal with nickle on top and sterling silver on the bottom. The night side if mokume gane with 20 layers of sterling silver and nickle.

 At this point I am deciding on the stones for inside the pendant as well as the back of the necklace.











Now I am sewing on the pearl edging. The necklace is far from complete but that is my progress so far. Stay tuned for more details!



Gillian

So you make jewellery? Now what?!

Goldsmithing tends to be a solitary activity. Although many people work in group studio environments, the majority of jewellers work in small areas and are in many ways isolated from their peers. The reasons for working alone can vary greatly but the job itself requires so much concentration than even working with others around you does not always pull you out from your own microcosmic world.

So what can you do about this self imposed bubble? One way is to find ways to get involved in the jewellery community. In Toronto, the jewellery community is lucky to have both the Ontario Crafts Council, and the Metal Arts Guild of Canada's head offices located in the heart of downtown.

Their proximity alone means there must be other solitary workers who may not know how to reach out. Thankfully the internet is a fast and easy resource to find out about what is happening in the city all around you.

Recently I decided it was time to get more involved with the metal community. I have spent the last ten years working as a full time goldsmith and I feel like I should be giving back as I know others have helped me over the years. My first decision was to organize the Jewel Envy group exhibition titled "Red"; with the help of the other jewellers here. With that planning underway I also decided to start vounteering more actively for the Metal Arts Guild of Canada (MAG).

MAG is an organization run on the sheer willpower of artists and business people alike. It has the potential to strengthen the Canadian metal workers presence and bring our artists into a national arena....but only if we get more help from other stranded jewellers at large.

Tonight I am off to the MAG party to bring Toronto jewellers and metal workers a little closer together. We are hoping to inspire others to join in and help us sustain an organization who's sole purpose is to help us succeed. The party is open to everyone with an interest in metal. We want you to come out and learn how you can help make MAG work for you!

Party details:
MAG head office
88 Elm Groove Ave
Toronto, ON
7:30-10pm

Come join us and meet your co-workers, friends, and metal enthusiasts!

Gillian

Introducing: small town, BIG city

It's been a very busy few weeks! I have slowly been finishing up my new collection titled "small town, BIG city". Here are a few examples of the finished pieces!

Laura—natural beauty

Materials: Sterling silver, aquamarine and freshwater pearls.

Process: This piece was hand carved in wax and cast in sterling silver. Aquamarine was hand set. Pearl was placed to remind the wear to be true to themselves.

Lisa – bold with beauty

Materials: Sterling silver with 18k gold plating, smooth gold fill spheres, blue Chinese jade, and agate.

Process: Clasp was hand carved in wax, cast in sterling silver and gold plated. Stones were chosen with great care to compliment the clasp and remind the wearer to be proud of themselves.

Nicole—classic beauty

Materials: Sterling silver, aquamarine, iolite, sea bamboo and freshwater pearls.

Process: Circle’s were hand carved in wax and cast in sterling silver. Aquamarine was hand set. Stones were chosen to bring a unique twist to a classic two strand design. The vibrant sea bamboo was added to remind the wearer to go for their dreams.

A selection of "small town, BIG city" is available at The Coal Miner's Daughter, a beautiful boutique in Mirvish village. 

Looking forward to sharing more on my progress with you!

Kathryn Rebecca
Life is short - do what you love!

http://www.kathrynrebecca.com/