"Olive Fields" BroochMay 2014 Sterling silver, jade A client came to me with an interesting Mothers' Day project. He wanted a brooch for his wife that celebrated their daughter, Olive, as well as their multi cultural Polish Chinese family background. His surname very basically means "of Poland," and the name of the country itself reflects its agrarian roots and is derived from the Polish word for "field." The Chinese word for "field," (tin) is a common surname in China,

I had been telling him no

the effect is exceptional

appropriate given the centuries of human speculation about Martian life and exploration

Use a square shank and give it a 360º turn

with the metal marks and hallmarks stamped at the bottom of the piece

I decided to make a rounded square ring out of square wire stock

The result was something unlike anything I'd ever done—surprisingly light and fluid in spite of the relative thickness of the gauge of wire used to create it

and I kept thinking that I would do something with them like set them in a bezel to cover the string holes

The couple and I put the mezuzah scroll into the case together and secured the plug at the bottom end so that they could see all parts of the object before affixing it to their door

Appropriately for such personal keepsakes

And for as long as the volume has been in my consciousness

Not quite a year after a friend of mine commissioned an alexandrite solitaire with which to propose to his girlfriend (she said yes