Adorn Me

One of the perks of having a university teaching position in Korea, is that you have 16 weeks of paid vacation time. I don’t know when in my life I’ll ever have this much time to myself again, so I’m planning to use as much of it as possible to travel or to learn a new skill.

During this past summer vacation I took a 8 week metal/jewelry class at the Daejeon Citizen’s College. I enjoyed it immensely and I’m planning to continue the next term. This is what I’ve made thus far.

Cooper Union, Villa Savoye, and Familia Sagrada. (Brass)

Casablanca (1942), The Godfather (1972), and North by Northwest (1959). (Copper)

To give you a sense of scale.

Goldfish. (Copper)

Goldfish. (Silver)

As my confidence and skill grew, I decided to make a pendant that I had designed when I was in high school. Back then I entered a jewellery competition and won in my category (fantasy). The prise was that the piece would be made and exhibited in the store. At some point the jewellers asked if they could try a new enamel technique, and gave me the option of bright pink or baby blue. Being young and inexperienced at  following through with design intent – I said yes. I should have said no. I learned never to have one’s designs used to experiment on again. Elven years later I acquired the skill to make the pendant as I intended it.

Fantasy. (Silver)