Ornament is the leading magazine celebrating wearable art. Explore jewelry, fashion, beads; contemporary, ancient and ethnographic.
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9 ORNAMENT 35.5.2012 letters from our readers fresh with delight and surprise I am writing in response to your article on bamboo jewelry in Vol. 35, No. 3. Bamboo, while it is growing, is tender and malleable. If you apply the wire-wrapping technique used to shape living Bonsai, you should be able to train the bamboo into torques, coils, almost any shape you wish, as well as to twist, twine, or braid it. If you form it at the correct growth stage and harvest it at the proper maturity, the results should be permanent after you allow it to dry and remove the wire. Although I do not have firsthand experience with this gardening technique, I have observed various plants deliberately distorted for ornamental effect, and it is probable that bamboo could be manipulated in this ecologically efficient way. If it works, you could harvest an entire "crop" of bamboo shaped for jewelry (bamboowelry?) You might also try shaping freshly-cut bamboo by tying or taping it, then drying it in silica with or without using a microwave oven (no wire in a microwave). This is a flower- drying technique. Please continue all your creative research. Every issue of Ornament rewards the reader; it is always fresh with delight and surprise. Sura Ruth Jackson Heights, New York Thank you very much for your thoughtful letter. I was aware of manipulations on live bamboo, using wire and various clamps; one of the artists shown in the article, Fred Tate, does use this type of bending with his metal and bamboo jewelry. This was one of the reasons why I did not attempt this approach, as I did not want to encroach on his area. My primary reasons for working with black bamboo was its beauty, strength and lightness. I thought this sustainable material might substitute for those metals used in jewelry, which are becoming so expensive due to the worldwide demand for metals and minerals. Also, since I had to thin our grove of black bamboo, since it is a runner, I wanted not to waste the culls. I began with steambending, which takes a long time, before switching to torch bending, which is quicker and thus more practical if one has to make something for sale. Your idea of using the microwave is very interesting, although I am not sure how to tie the bamboo easily without using wire. Even though those I have shown or given bamboo torques have liked them, so far sales at a friend's gallery have been almost nil. I would really like to introduce bamboo to the jewelry community but I would need someone to invite me to give workshops. In the meanwhile, I am still working on bamboo jewelry. P.S. My bamboo jewelry is now selling. Robert K. Liu Ornament Coeditor