I'm also a member of the Aspiring Metalsmiths, a team of metalworkers and jewelry makers of all levels that help each other by sharing information and encourage each other to work on improving themselves. Every month there's a challenge, and the winner of one month sets the theme for the next and so on. Last month's theme was «Road Trip». I remembered a childhood trip, which inspired me to create a piece for the challenge. And about a week ago, I received a mail that I was the winner! Of course it's not only the winning, but the feeling that people who might never meet each other show appreciation and support for each other's work! Each of the pieces had a personal approach to the subject and different ways of fabrication and materials. Each of them was unique! Here they are:
Here's the memory that inspired my piece: "When I was a child, in the summers our family would travel from Athens to Katerini, the hometown of my father. The trip lasted 7-8 hours. On a certain part of the route, after some time of moving through flat fields, there was an alley of very tall trees on both sides of the road. The trunks created shadows, the branches made an arch and the sun was showing through the leaves. For some meters I felt like we were passing through a magical world. I wanted to recreate this atmosphere and also I wanted the jewelry to resemble a toy, because this is a childhood memory. So I made the car move back and forth on a rail, in this small alley of silver trees. The whole piece is made of 925 sterling silver, the different parts are soldered and it is hung from a rubber cord."
Each piece has a very interesting story. Visit the Aspiring Metalsmiths blog to find out more about the pieces and their creators, and see the theme I chose for the next challenge!
