Jewels and Words…

Jewels and Words…

18 Kt Brushed Gold, 12.3 ct Rubelite, SI2 – .44 ct Diamonds & 18 Kt Brushed Gold, & Removable 82.1 ct Indicolite Tourmaline

Today is the final day of the first leg of my Ariane Zurcher Jewelry trunk show in New York City. Next week I’m in Chicago and the following week Aspen, Colorado. It’s a – three trunk shows, in three cities, in three weeks – tour!

I’ve written about how I started designing jewelry ‘here‘ and about the genesis of my Transition Collection as a way of finding that elusive “balance” of family and work that so many talk about, but that I never seem to actually achieve, ‘here‘.

I won’t go into any of that again, but like everything in life, it’s impossible to compartmentalize career, family, children and friends into neat little boxes where nothing overlaps with anything else.  And even if it were possible, I wouldn’t want to do it.  I love that design influences life and life influences design.  That these different elements weave together to create something unique is what I respond to when I look at any art, whether it’s a painting, ceramics, sculpture, clothing or jewelry.

18 Kt Brushed White Gold, Druzy and Natural Pearl Ring

My daughter, Emma, has begun writing stories.  Those of you who follow my other blog, Emma’s Hope Book, will have likely read some of her writing as I’ve posted it there, with her permission, more and more.  What I love about reading her stories is how unexpected they are.  Every sentence is a surprise, a tiny, sparkling, gem of an idea, beautifully wrapped up in words that take my breath away.

Recently Emma told me she was interested in jewelry!  Before I pack up this trunk show, I plan to ask her to point out a few things she particularly likes.  Words and jewels…  the apple didn’t fall far…

A Simple Doodle… To This…

A Simple Doodle… To This…

Pencil Sketches

Pencil Sketches

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry ~ Samadhi Collection:  18 Kt Brushed Gold & .49 ct VSII Diamond Pendant, 18 Kt Gold Chain & Clasp

Often an idea comes in the form of a doodle, literally!  Which is why having a sketch book around is so important.  Doodles are like little dreams… they seem to come out of nowhere and if I’m lucky I catch them as they appear.  Not all sketches are pretty, sometimes I’m in the subway or on my way somewhere and so pretty isn’t the goal.  Capturing the idea, the image and getting it down so I won’t forget it, is.  So something that begins as this….

Silver Models for Earrings

Silver Models for Earrings

Turns into this… silver models for what will eventually become 18 Kt Gold earrings.

From the model a silicone mold is made… like this one…

Silicone mold made from silver model

Silicone mold made from silver model

Silicone Mold Library

Silicone Mold Library

I have a great many molds…

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry - 18 Kt Brushed Gold Earrings With Removeable 18 Kt Gold & Diamond Attachments

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry – 18 Kt Brushed Gold Earrings With Removeable 18 Kt Gold & Diamond Attachments

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry - 18 Kt Brushed Gold Earrings With Removable 18 Kt Gold & Red Spinel Attachments

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry – 18 Kt Brushed Gold Earrings With Removable 18 Kt Gold & Red Spinel Attachments

This particular mold will produce what will eventually become these…

The Process of Creating

The Process of Creating

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry ~ Juno Collection: 18 Kt Brushed Gold Earrings With Removable 18 Kt Brushed Gold Ball and Chain 

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry ~ Juno Collection: 18 Kt Brushed Gold Bracelet With AZ Logo Box Clasp

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry ~ Juno Collection: 18 Kt Brushed Gold Bracelet With AZ Logo Box Clasp

On my other blog ~ Emma’s Hope Book ~ where I write about the ever evolving process of being a parent and human being and how my daughter’s autistic neurology has made me rethink everything I once thought I knew (in the best possible way), I wrote today about her perfecting a “catch” at the trapeze school she has gone to for several years.  You can read the entire post ‘here‘, but that process, hours and hours of practice that led up to the video clip I attached, showing her flying through the air on a trapeze and then letting go and catching another person’s arms, looks so much easier than it actually is.  So much in life is like that.

Most works of art, whether the written word, paintings, sculpture, or things we wear, took time to create.  Like a terrific actor who makes the role they’re playing look believable and natural, luring us into the story so we forget this is someone acting a role from a script they’ve memorized, the most beautiful works of art make us forget there is any process at all.  We have an emotional connection to the art, the hours, days, weeks and even years it may have taken to produce it, is not something we think about.  But usually the process of creating is messy…  in my case the creative process means metal dust gets under my fingernails. My hands, face and clothing become covered in a fine dust.  So much so that once, on my way home, a friendly stranger asked, “Oh!  Are you a mechanic?”  There was a trade school for mechanics across the street and no doubt she assumed I must work or teach there.

Work bench

So I want you to see where I go everyday.  Welcome to my studio!  This work bench is one of two, where I make the models of designs I’ve created, sometimes from a sketch, sometimes from wax I’ve carved or hot wax I’ve shot from a gun, sometimes I just start playing around and things happen, things I hadn’t intended.  Often what I visualize in my mind isn’t at all what I end up creating. Other times it is exactly what I visualized.  But the actual process is always similar.  I have to sit at that bench and work to create anything.  Michael Crichton once said that to become a best-selling author, he had to sit down and actually write.  He used a commercial airline pilot as an example.  He said, “If I am due to pilot a plane filled with people, I can’t say, “You know, I’m not really in the mood to fly today.  Let’s reschedule.”  I love that!  So yeah… I have to show up and do the work…

This is one of a half-dozen sketch books I have.  I always carry a sketch book, a pencil and an eraser with me.  As you can see, I made lots of notes and drew pretty detailed sketches for what I wanted to create.

Sketch for clasp

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry ~ Juno Collection: 18 Kt Brushed Gold Orbs Strung on 22 Kt Gold Chain With 18 Kt Brushed Gold AZ Logo Box Clasp

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry ~ Juno Collection: 18 Kt Brushed Gold Orbs Strung on 22 Kt Gold Chain With 18 Kt Brushed Gold AZ Logo Box Clasp

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry ~ The Back of AZ Logo Box Clasp on Juno Bracelet

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry ~ The Back of AZ Logo Box Clasp on Juno Bracelet

The finished product ~ an 18 Kt Brushed Gold Necklace with Hand Fabricated Box Clasp took a number of tries before it looked like this!  And in the process I went a little box clasp crazy.  I made a square box clasp, an oval box clasp, a rectangular box clasp, a small circle box clasp, a medium-sized circle and a large circle box clasp, I even made a box clasp with a false bottom that no one would see except the wearer.

I’ll have to devote a post to box clasps one day, they are a beautiful thing!

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry ~ Samadhi Collection:  18 Kt Brushed Gold, Labradorite, Pink Tourmaline, Moss Aquamarine, Ruby, Green Aquamarine

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry ~ Samadhi Collection: 18 Kt Brushed Gold, Labradorite, Pink Tourmaline, Moss Aquamarine, Ruby, Green Aquamarine

This Labradorite necklace with gold “bead” began as a sketch on the page opposite the sketches of the clasp.  It went from pencil sketch to this…

Italian Vogue

And eventually ended up worn like this in Italian Vogue!

Where Does Inspiration Come From?

Where Does Inspiration Come From?

Francois Stahly Sculpture

18 Kt Brushed Gold & 42 ct Green Aquamarine Ring

Inspiration…  One of the most common questions I’m asked is – “Where do you get your inspiration?”

I hear it so often, I made a separate page on this blog entitled, Life, which is a collage of images of the people, places and things that inspire me.

Francois StahlyI grew up in a house filled with abstract art, both modern and primitive.  My father was a curator of pre-Columbian and African Art at the Stanford Museum.  He and my mother collected art spanning many cultures and time periods.  Our house was often frequented by artists and art dealers from all over the world.

One of my favorite pieces was this wooden sculpture, now on the ranch where my mother lives, in Colorado.  It is by a friend of my parents, Francois Stahly.  Both Francois and my father had Swiss roots and had lived in Paris.  In the 70’s Francois Stahly came to visit us and I remember he and my father sitting outside together, speaking French, at our ranch style home in Northern California, as the fog receded back toward the Pacific Ocean over the foothills.

Nature, art, paintings, sculpture…  different languages, different cultures, diversity…  this is what inspires me.

This is what makes me happy…  Today I live in New York City.  A city known for its diversity.  The same things that enthralled me as a child, continue to excite and fascinate me now.

Spring Blossoms on the Highline

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry - The Lotus Collection - 18 Kt Brushed Gold, Amethyst & Ruby Earrings

Ariane Zurcher Jewelry – The Lotus Collection – 18 Kt Brushed Gold, Amethyst & Ruby Earrings

One of my favorite New York City haunts is the Highline.  I even made a Pinterest Board devoted entirely to it.  I love seeing the old rusting tracks of the elevated freight train disappear into native grasses and spring flowers.  The juxtaposition of natural beauty with man-made invention, abandoned, aging and transformed by time and life.