winter's tracks

one thing i miss about winters in massachusetts is the snow. coming out of the studio really late at night and walking home with fresh powdery snow covering the streets, creating a blanket of quiet, and no one else around. sometimes i worried that if someone wanted to follow me, it'd be easy to see my tracks in the snow. but likewise, right outside my door i'd be able to see if i had visitors in the night...like these little snow paws.

and speaking of tracks...

please enjoy the wonderful laura veirs

Bubbles and Beauty blog

check out jess's lovely blog, Bubbles and Beauty, which includes a review of a personalized name necklace i made for her :) she was a pleasure to work with and so enthusiastic of the handmade process. thanks, jess!

Already Pretty Blog

check out Sally's spectacular Already Pretty blog for a review of my 'swirly keen' earrings. it's also a great blog to follow for fashion tips, body image advice, and most importantly...lovely shoes!!

she also went on a trip to iceland and has great images of her travels! click here

Holiday Sale at CAFAM

this coming saturday, november 27th from 10 am to 4pm, i will be at the Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM) in los angeles to sell my jewelry in part one of their holiday global bazaar.

CAFAM

5814 Wilshire Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90036

www.cafam.org

323-937-4230

please note: i will only be at the 11/27 event and not the 12/4 one

leslie's necklace

a graphic designer, Leslie Chow, contacted me about helping her bring a unique, custom designed wedding necklace into fruition. her design talents and vision made this a fun and exciting project to collaborate on! it is usually a challenge to work with someone solely via emails but Leslie and i had naturally smooth correspondences which made the job that much more pleasurable. her design translated beautifully into silver!

i want to wish happiness and health to leslie and jag in the following months and years to come!

the necklace is hand fabricated out of sterling silver and finished with a high polish.

kanji

custom bracelet component that utilizes the negative space of piercing

cuff bracelets

these are a couple different cuff style bracelets i have designed and made in the past

stonehenge

stonehenge remains a mysterious site that we are still seeking the puzzle pieces to, yet continually draws us in because of that very enigma. i read this article about "the boy with the amber necklace" today. it is fascinating how scientists are able to trace back origins from this boys' amber necklace and teeth analysis. i've always been amazed by artifacts and the stories scientists can uncover. it always made me wonder what sort of stories would be told about us, thousands of years from now....

stonehenge photo courtesy of raf chan

boy with amber necklace photo courtesy of wessex archaeology

UK pavilion

my cousin had the opportunity to visit the World Expo in Shanghai this year! i was in awe that she actually got to experience the UK pavilion in person. what an amazing experience!!

photos courtesy of Carisa Nakano

at the beach

usually i imagine sun, sand, and surf at the beach...but this summer i unexpectedly stumbled across this detail while walking up a flight of stairs from the sand to the street level. it never ceases to amaze me, seeing a little plant growing and thriving out of a dark fissure in our man-made constructions...

big bold ring

this large oval ring is etched, hydraulic pressed, and fabricated out of sterling silver. it was a lot of fun to make and a one-of-a-kind piece. it sold at the Craft and Folk Art Museum earlier this summer.

sunday morning hike

a foggy sunday morning hike in palos verdes. the path was luscious and green, but also speckled with charred remnants from a past canyon fire.

names...

a few name necklaces I've had the opportunity to design and make. each one is sketched and then cut out by my own two hands. they're always fun to make and i hope equally fun to wear!

Boey

maybe i'm a little biased since i'm a seller on etsy, but i have to say that i love etsy because i come across artists and makers that i otherwise might not find. i stumbled upon these beauties the other day.

Cheeming Boey makes these awesome hand-drawn styrofoam cups...
check em out at his etsy shop, boyobsolete.

also, his website is a new favorite of mine. the journals are wicked funny, simple, and honest.
iamboey.com

birds of a feather

the hall of birds
an evening at the natural history museum in los angeles

the desert

Day trip to the Salton Sea and Salvation Mountain

Sightings and Events (if memory serves me correct from this trip taken a couple weeks ago):
wind farms and date trees on the way there, a really tan guy in a speedo (corvette guy) photographing himself, flocks of giant pelican-like birds, ice cream truck (nothing beats a strawberry shortcake ice cream in the warm desert sun), bone/barnacle/specimen collecting, plenty of tilapia carcasses on the shores (and people fishing for them too), Salvation Mountain (that's all made out of bales of hay, tires, and TONS of paint!) and getting a tour from Leonard Knight, half-buried homes and trailers, and a beautiful salt crystallized mechanical crane...

on the path to work

'still waters run deep'

This is the other piece I recently finished for the "Common Threads" show. Similar in nature to my 'Silent Sorrows' piece, which has a hundred flesh-like rocks raining down from the ceiling, this work also uses the tear-like stones and chain. But instead of a massive downpour, this is simply a single line which emanates from a little plant. They are connected. There is the struggle of sorrow. But there is also endurance. And hope.

'make haste slowly'

One thing I noticed at the gallery at Coastline Community College were these 3 inch diameter support beams that were sort of in the middle of the space. You can't just move them since they're part of the structure and I wanted to make a piece that would interact with them. Since I've always been drawn to details outside like plants growing out of cracks in the sidewalk, I decided to embrace the cement crack that was already there and create this vine/plant (made of bronze) that is entwining itself up the pipe. It was such a small detail in the gallery that I am unsure as to how many people actually noticed it, but that is partially what I find interesting about it.

Slinkachu

Okay, so it comes to no surprise (to anyone in the arts and education) to see miniature people from model shops being used in art work. In fact, sometimes it gets to be really redundant. Sure, they're small and cute, but then what? Why? Then this weekend my mom (who is not an artist but is curious by nature and has an amazingly open and creative mind!) showed me this book "Little People in the City" by Slinkachu (UK based artist). The images/installations are hilarious and contemplative with the perfect blend of cleverness and commentary on urban life and its dwellers.These tiny lives parallel our own (indeed, they are set-up in and around the city), and give us a chance to not only notice something small but make us take a closer look at our surroundings and actions.

peach blossoms

It's spring and that means plants are in bloom (and my allergies)! The Helen Borcher peach trees are vibrant with their pink blossoms. When I was in undergrad, I used to think these peach trees were a genetic defect because the 'peaches' that later materialized were small, inedible, and sometimes oddly-shaped like siamese twins. I would dream up stories in my head about what toxins must have altered these poor peaches. Further research led me to discover that the Helen Borcher trees are just another of nature's species (reminds me of story of apples in The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan) and they're specifically known for their beautiful flowers.

peachy keen...again

It seemed like people really liked the design of the original 'peachy keen' earrings but they were designed for stretched earlobes. So I recently redesigned another pair that are made especially for standard sized ear piercings!
See them in my etsy shop..

Russian wood house

by Nikolai Sutyagin

Custom ring

Recently finished this custom made ring and sent it to it's happy new home! Sizing for ring designs that deviate from the standard circle shape proves to be challenging but they're also good problem solving projects!

swirly keen

New earring design that are made out of two dangling components so their movement, size, and design make them a lot of fun! I think they're a good alternative to the 'peachy keen' design, which are made for stretched earlobes.

www.aprilkawaoka.etsy.com

ps...the variable necklace below sold and it going to a good home!

Ice House Detroit

I can't remember exactly where I first read about this project but it immediately grabbed my attention. Its ingenuity and beauty, combined with an awareness of place and current social realities makes this work fascinating and an interesting visual metaphor.

"Ice House Detroit is an architectural installation and social change project currently taking place in Detroit. Photographer Gregory Holm and architect Matthew Radune will use one of 20,000 abandoned houses and freeze it in solid ice, referencing the contemporary urban conditions in the city and beyond."

To see their progress and more photos visit:
http://icehousedetroit.blogspot.com/