‘Rose’s Parlor’ Brooch

I thought this might be a snowless winter, but the weather shifted shortly before my trip to Tallinn.

It was the same at the other side of the sea, two hours by boat from Helsinki. Browsing the old town was all my plan, and a thick white blanket created a winter wonderland. Sometimes I felt like looking straight into a fairy tale book.

In the first week of 2016, the Tallinn Christmas market was still open with lovely handicrafts and food stalls to browse. I took pictures as my cold hands can stand. So many interesting sights and beautiful corners, like this courtyard which sat at the center of pretty boutiques and cafes.

Winter wonderland in Tallinn’s old town

Back at home, the extremely cold weather – once it was minus 26°C – forced me to stay more inside. For a tutorial, I recently made a pair of silver clay earrings with hammered wire dangles and really liked them. I started sketching a silver brooch and it came out to have the romantic feeling of the old town, with a mixture of shapes, textures, and materials.

For the texture I wanted to imitate a rich fabric such as decorative velvet on upholstery, cushion or curtain. At first I carved out a rubber sheet to make a texture plate for the silver clay but it didn’t have the look or feel of fabric. After several trial and errors, I settled with adding each element one by one and added textures on spot. I’d like to call this technique as metal clay ‘velvetry’.

Move on to the base. The idea was an elegant hamper. To shape it, I made custom silicone and plastic molds. It could be a challenge to make jewelry light and strong. Although I sketched the technical part down to the details, in practice I took the piece apart twice to make a better construction.

Then came the super fun part: sculpting the flowers and ribbons and setting the stones and pearl! I’m bringing the feeling of the old town with roses, peonies, flower buds which I hand sculpted the silver clay using simple tools: a working base, craft knife and little brush.

‘Rose’s Parlor’ brooch

Firing took several times, especially as I highlighted the texture with 24 karat gold, using the ‘keumboo’ technique. I hand polished and colored the piece using patina and pigments. Last but not least, I made the hammered wire elements which, really, were the starting point of the piece.

This piece took much longer time to finish due to many interruptions, but I really learned a lot from it. l Love the old town inspired style with velvetry technique and will create more. I’m thinking of a pair of earrings to go with the brooch.

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