My jewelry making
My jewelry journey started with a holiday to Bali where I made my first pendant for a necklace. I designed and made this pendant in one and a half hours with the help of the friendly jeweller in Bali.
When one of my friends saw the pendant, she asked me what star sign my son was. I answered he was a Taurus. She said I had made a protection pendant for him. I looked closely at what I had made. Indeed, there it was: the sign of Taurus with a Rose Quartz cabouchon. This showed me that making metal jewelry was my method of Self Mastery and Meditation as it helps me express my feelings by producing a wearable piece.
So I then enrolled on a short course on weekends at Central Tafe to learn the basic skills of sawing, piercing and soldering. It was a fascinating learning journey for me. I learnt how to make four pieces in five weeks. The design element came much later with a regular attendance for nine months in total at a local metal jewelry workshop that taught jewelry skills. I was totally enjoying the learning process, the research through books, internet, talking to other artists and jewellers.
In the midst of the metal smithing a friend bought me a beading kit from Spotlight for my birthday, and so started another phase of jewellery making. I was fascinated by the origin of some of the beads. Their material of the beads varied and they each symbolised something unique. For instance, in Africa beads are a status symbol in some tribes. So much variety of texture, colour and history….I would spend hours just looking up what, where, how and when about all the different types of beads.