Ornament is the leading magazine celebrating wearable art. Explore jewelry, fashion, beads; contemporary, ancient and ethnographic.
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13 ORNAMENT 35.5.2012 E THE MIDWIFE MOM pendant of sterling silver, kyanite, rhodochrosite, moonstone, fire opal, and freshwater pearl; hand-texturized silver and wire wrapping, 2010. MASCARA CUBISTA (Cubism Mask) brooch and pendant of oxidized sterling silver, fourteen karat gold, blue topaz, and moonstone; repoussé, hand-texturized and hand- engraved, 2012. FILIGREE BOUQUET necklace of sterling silver, Mexican amber, ametrine, amethyst, garnet, and topaz; filigree, granulation, repousséd leaves, and Inca knot chain, 2009. and goldsmithing left me wanting and needing to learn new techniques. In this new time in my life—living in the United States—I am invited to introduce myself to new techniques; new not because I have never used them, but new in the sense of becoming better at them (such as engraving and mounting fine stones). I believe that this road is moving me to a dramatic change in my work. What are your favorite tools? My favorite tool is a jewelry hammer made out of a piece of rebar—the type used to support concrete structures. My dad made me this jewelry hammer twenty-five years ago, out of his disagreement with me about being a jeweler. This little present supported me in doing what I wanted to do. My Orca torch is my other favorite tool, because it is the best torch that I have seen or worked with in the last twenty-seven years. Maybe somewhere there is a better torch, but I am really happy with what I have. What pieces are you most proud of and why? The piece that I am most proud of is a pair of arracadas, or traditional hoop earrings I made, using sterling silver, fire agates and blue sapphires. These arracadas are like my resume as an artisan jeweler—these earrings are a form of traditional Mexican jewelry; they have enough malleability/plasticity so that these earrings are contemporary; and they also flirt between the symmetrical and asymmetrical. These arracadas give color with the fire agates, and a sort of sobriety with the blue sapphires. How did your parents, or other childhood experiences, influence your interests? My interest to create jewelry was a genuine necessity of mine in the first period of my life—I did not play with other children, I played in the trees and in the woods, and I created jewelry utilizing materials that were accessible to me. I never thought that anyone would buy my jewelry or like my jewelry. My father was actually an obstacle to me creating jewelry, because he did not like me doing so. But this only helped me to be more constant in my creation of jewelry. There was only one person who would wear the jewelry I made in this first period of my life—it was my mom—she would wear any jewelry I gave her that I made. I think now, 'How was it that my mom didn't get any ear infections putting on the earrings I had made, all out of a variety of industrial materials?' LUNA CRECIENTE (Crescent Moon) arracadas/hoop earrings of oxidized sterling silver; granulation and cloisonné, 2011. What are you trying to express with your jewelry? I am trying to express my deep love for nature. I am expressing an agreement that I have with nature—an agreement to respect and maintain the richness of her beauty. What I also express in my jewelry is the state of joy I experience being lost in the labyrinth of possibilities, forms, colors, textures, materials, and designs. And I invite the people to share in these feelings through my work. When someone asks me to make a custom wedding ring for them for example, they have a vision and know the