Some people sing in the shower, I sing disco while working alone at the studio

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First of all, happy new year to all our blog followers from me, Emily.

This year brings a few new changes, and a busy schedule for me. I have recently made the switch to full time member and changed benches. As some of you know, I work part time as a florist (yes, I love flowers…..!) and come here to Jewel Envy everyday after my morning shift whipping up floral deliveries to brighten people’s days. Although I have lived in Toronto for about 9 months now, I feel more settled than ever, really enjoying my studio work, friendships with all the girls (yes, we are all girls at the moment) here and networking with other crafts people and jewellers. My eventual goal is to work full time and survive from my jewellery, but I am finding a happy balance with my part time job, which is important. I won’t be leaving Toronto any time soon 🙂
I have been working what feels like non-stop since returning from Montreal after the holidays. I started teaching my Introductory Enamelling class two weeks ago, and love my students! Laura, our co-op student, although new to enamelling, is a HUGE help as my assistant. Thanks Laura!
Just when I thought I could have a little break a slew of shows I want to apply for or participate popped up!
In Halifax, my friend and jeweller Vanessa Neily is curating Adornable, an exhibition of work by selected NSCAD jewellery and metalsmithing alumni. Its going to be so cute and whimsical, I am totally into it! The show will run in the summer (you should also check out her website, her stuff is incredible https://www.vanessaneily.com)
I am particularily tickled by the invitation by Lafreniere & Pai Gallery to participate in their tenth year anniversary show entitled “Eros from Chaos” an exhibition of erotic jewellery and sculpture running in May in Ottawa. Ooh la la. I have a plethora of ideas 😉
The icing on the cake will be the Jewel Envy group show, which we have just started planning. No set dates yet, but we will keep you informed!
Now I must get back to work. I’ve been here almost every night until at least 9pm with Young, who is attempting to make her first Mokume ring. Last night, however, was a record late night, leaving here at 12:35am exhausted, but very content with the amount of work I completed. Sometimes it is great to work until you can’t anymore. I prefer having a working buddy those late nights; too bad no one else gets to see how my late night enamel-dance moves improved and I now can do a rendition of Thelma Houston’s “Don’t Leave Me This Way” disco tune pretty much accapella. Yikes!
Disco is cheerful, and so are my happy little brooches. Take a peek at how they transformed.
I sift enamel powder (a form of powdered glass) onto the hand formed copper flowers. 
And from my powdery bench, I put the little guy on a steel trivet. He is ready to bake!
Into the kiln at about 1500 degrees fahrenheit for about 2-3 minutes…..until they get nice and glossy.
Et voila! So many happy brooches!
I am also making more necklaces with this form. My bench is a garden of colour when I have them all out.
I love enamelling. I couldn’t live (or make jewellery) without it!
– Emily

Me again!

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Hello!

     It’s Laura the co-op student again. Since the last time I have blogged I have been learning many new techniques and am now assisting Emily with her 8 week enameling classes. Every Tuesday I spend the day at the studio either working on my own pieces or helping the others out, than at night I am doing the enameling class. Last week was the first class and everything went great! The class made samples of enamel to show them the different types of textures and colours you can get with different firing times. This week things will be getting a little more complicated and exciting as we are doing stenciling in different colours. I have never done enamel before so this class is a great opportunity for me to learn something new while helping out. Only one more hour until the class starts.. it is going to be fun!

A quiet January it is NOT!!!

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After a busy November and December I was looking forward to
a quiet January…No of course not!!!

I’m sitting here on my macbook and let’s see I have fedex, a custom brokers, the financial times, the canadian tax sites, oh and myspace open because i’m always in search of music artists.

But luckily I have a business trip to ARIZONA in a couple weeks for the annual Tucson Gem Show so luckily I can relax….yeah right my new designs are still scribbles on a page, nevermind the production of them oh and the the website and a million other things!

But what’s even more exiciting then being able to attend the biggest gem show on the planet is the fact that I am almost finished a idea I’ve been working on for years…My original 45 rpm record adapter pendant which started off as a birthday present for a DJ but years later after enough DJ’s asking me “So Quincy, when is this 45 actually going to work as an adapter in side a record?” Guess what it’s finally evolved into an adapter and a piece of jewellery.  It took me a long time to work out how I could get them to work seeing as they are now metal and not plastic, and usual production techniques just wouldn’t work and then I had to find the right person to help me with major technicalities and of course like magic its all come together and as one DJ told me “it works beautifully.” They will be available in Silver and Gold soon, very soon!!!! 

Publish Post

Let’s go check out Cedar Ridge Gallery this Sunday/January 17th

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It’s me!! Nice to see everyone here again, I have a great news for all. A group show held by OCAD students will happen in the Cedar Ridge Gallery, and I am one of the participants. We are past and present OCAD students showing functional and non-functional jewellery, plus sculptural works. The opening reception is on Sunday, January 17th,2010 from 1 pm- 4 pm. However, it is totally fine if you can’t make it on that day because the show will not end till January 29th.OK…it’s enough advertisment for now.

It is exciting for me that I figure out other ways to add colours in my jewellery! I made bunch of tiny balls in different sizes with polymer clay. They are vibrant and fun. I am still experimenting with them, but hopefuly I will develop a new design line with it! Wish me LUCK 😛

I hope to see you all on Sunday
Have a wonderful weekend!

ChiaChien Tsai

Hi!

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The party was GREAT! Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with us.
For the past two months, a watch that I made while in my third year at Bezalel Academy of Art & Design in Jerusalem, has been exhibited in a show at the Talin’s gallery in Tel Aviv, Israel. It is always nice to have a project that you made for school shown at an exhibition to a different crowd.
Right now I am very excited to hear the tumbler spinning (I use it for an alternative finish on the jewelry surface). That means that my new collection is almost done.
Guess I’d better get back to work!
Until Later,

Efrat

Does every blog need a title?

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Ciao!
 I’ve had just over a week to recover from our Anniversary Party, it was a blast!  Thank you so much to everyone who showed up for a drink, snack and chat with all the goldsmiths of Jewel Envy.  It was exciting having all the goldsmiths together at one time since we recently became a full studio! It was especially exciting for me because I have been here since the studio opened and so much has changed as the studio has grown as I too have grown as a goldsmith, it’s enough to get me all teary-eyed.
Well, things are winding down for me (except for the fact that I will be one of those last minute holiday shoppers in the next week).  Yesterday was my last class teaching Intro to Casting and today is my last day working in the studio before I head home to spend the holidays with my family.  I am really proud of everyone that participated in my Intro to Casting class.  All of them had no previous wax carving experience and they all took on challenging pieces to create.  I leave you with a montage of their projects, from top to bottom my students Ronald, Zein, Khatereh, Carly, and Bahar.  And as soon as Padrin takes a photo of his casted jewellery I will post those as well.  I hope you all had as much fun taking the class as I did teaching it!
Soon to come also are photos from our party, Padrin was our photographer for the event and I’m sure he snapped a lot of great shots!
Well, I hope everyone has a Happy Holiday season and I’ll be back blogging again soon!
Alexis

  

Getting Ready for the Party!

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Hi Everyone!

Well it is only 1pm and I have 4 more hours to wait for the party to start. I hate waiting for parties to start! All of the jewellers have been diligently working to finish lots of new work while planning for tonights festivities and I can’t wait to open a bottle of wine and toast everyone to a job well done.

Tonight we will be celebrating a lot of things. The first and most obvious is that we have been open for three years. I think its quite an accomplishment based on the current economic state. Another reason to celebrate is that the studio is full for the first time ever. Each jeweller brings a unique style perspective to the studio and we are richer as a community for this diversity. Another thing is that our classes are finally running on a regular basis. I think this one is in part due to the creation of a class postcard showing what students with no experience can create in a short period of time. Finally I think we are all thankful that we have a job we love to come to everyday and be creative at. Don’t get me wrong there are days I think I would have been better off just sleeping but then there are days where I work straight through the night creating at my bench…and those far outweigh any of the negatives!

Now all I have to do is find something to occupy  the next 3 3/4 hrs until you show up:o)

See you tonight!

Gillian

It is I! The new co-op student!

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Hello!
Most of you probably do not know me but my name is Laura and I have recently become a co-op student here at Jewel Envy. I have been studying all forms of design in high school for the past three years and have always found jewellery to be my favorite. My school is self-directed and because of that we have an art program like no other! I have done everything from cuttlefish casting to bezel setting but I still have so much to learn. That’s why when the opportunity came up to do a placement at Jewel Envy I took it and started the next week. My placement so far has exceeded my expectations. Yes, I have to do jobs like cleaning and accounting (awful!) but I also have been able to carve a ring out of wax for the first time and observe all the wonderful designers here at work.

Last week I assisted Gillian at the One of a Kind Craft Show. I had never realised how difficult it was to be a vendor until I was sitting behind that table. I was only there for three days and even though I wasnt there until closing I was exhausted. I don’t know how you did it Gillian!

Well I should be going but hopefully I will see you at the studio party this week. Bye! 

Bonjour!

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Hello everyone! It’s me, Emily!
I can’t believe how fast this past six months have flown bye! I moved to Toronto in May, shortly after graduating from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax. Before I attended NSCAD I lived in Montreal and went to Concordia for two years. I am from Montreal and love big cities! Here in Toronto it didn’t take me long to find Jewel Envy; it was really important for me to find a studio with a) a cooperative setting with mutliple jewellers, b) enamelling kiln and c) a hydraulic press 🙂 I found that and so much more! (but really I could not live without a kiln….really;)
Since moving to Toronto I have been really fortunate to have participated in a few shows. The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition was one of the highlights of my summer, winning Best Jewellery of the show was incredibly wonderful. In early June I learned I had won the National Student Jewellery competition at Lafreniere and Pai Gallery in Ottawa, my friend and jeweller Ann Pocket was also a finalist. Lafreniere and Pai Gallery has since taken my work to SOFA Chicago, very exciting!
I am gearing up for my enamelling class which is scheduled to start Tuesday, January 19th of next year. It will be an eight week class and I am really looking forward to teaching you all how fun it is to enamel!!    Lillian Yuen instructed a fantastic course at NSCAD and I have not been able to stop since. For those of you who are not familiar, enamelling is the process of fusing powdered glass to metal in a kiln at very high temperatures (usually around 1500 degrees ferenheit). The result is a beautiful glossy surface of colour on your metal, but the possibilities for designs, colour combinations, and subtle variations in the texture of the enamel are really endless. This is why I love it so much. And in my class you will see why!
I have been trying to keep on top of all my online networking tools over the last few months……My website launched in October and this past month I finally opened up my etsy shop (I love etsy). I started Emily Gill Jewellery Design facebook group as well, you are more than welcome to join for updates on what’s going on! I invite you to take a look at both; you can follow the link from my website to my etsy page. www.emilygill.ca.
Our holiday party at Jewel Envy is coming up very soon! I have some new designs ready (I better get to work now!) and really look forward to meeting everyone’s friends, families, clients, students. It is going to be great. I hear Quincy has made up a great playlist of music, we are all bringing delicious food!
Have a very happy weekend, and see you all at our holiday party this thursday. I cannot wait!
Bye!    – Emily

Hectic Holidays

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Ah, the sound of holiday music is everywhere.  I have to admit, it drives me more than a little bit crazy.  It’s just so catchy it gets stuck in your head and I will be humming “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer” to myself until March now that I’ve heard it once.  Alrighty, with the holidays approaching and even though I know it has been mentioned and I don’t want to be knocking everyone on the head over and over with it our Anniversary Party here at Jewel Envy is quickly approaching.  It only comes once a year and I’m going to take every chance I get and as many venues as possible to disseminate the info about our party! You should come by any time between 5-9pm on December the 10th to come and celebrate our 3rd year anniversary.  That’s right, 3 years!  Things around here have been pretty hectic have I mentioned in either of my previous posts that there are 9 goldsmiths sharing this space? We also have two classes that are finishing of before the holidays as well as many that myself and a few of the other goldsmith are looking forward to teaching starting in the New Year.  I know of a few people that are excited about the Enameling class that Emily Gill will be teaching starting January 19.  If you are not familiar with enameling check out her work on our website, or follow the link to her website to take a peek at what she creates.
I have been posting pictures in each of my blogs so I am going to continue the trend with a post of rings that were made by students in the last class I taught together with ChiaChien.  Once again the picture was taken by Padrin Kwok, thank you Padrin!

Oh! another thing I almost forgot to mention Gillian Batcher is participating in the One of a Kind Show this year which is currently open to the public, be sure to stop by her booth K51 to say hello to her!

Hope to see you all at the Anniversary Party, I’m really looking forward to it!
Ciao,

Alexis



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