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