my little 'Antwerps handje'

there was once a giant named Druon Antigoon, who guarded a bridge on the river Scheldt and exacted a toll from any sailor who wanted to pass. anyone who refused to pay this tax would have his hand cut off by the giant, who would then throw it into the river. but then a man named Silvius Brabo fought Antigoon, and won, and also cut off the giant s hand, which he then threw into the Scheldt.

and thus Antwerp got its name: hand(hand)-werpen(throwing), Antwerpen.

or so it is told.

Antwerp is and always has been a multicultural city. due to its ideal location right on the river Scheldt, easily reached from the sea as well as the land, there have always been merchants and traders from all over Europe and even further away.

here s a quote from a book written in 1567 by Ludovico Guicciardini: Descrittione di Lodovico Guicciardini patritio fiorentino di tutti i Paesi Bassi altrimenti detti Germania inferiore (1567; The Description of the Low Countreys)

(...) "Nowhere else in the world are strangers more free in their commerce and life as in Antwerp, and in the whole Netherlands, resulting in the wonderful mix, people of all walks of life and nationalities, and that one hears an incredible amount of different languages being spoken. (...)
Above all, due to the many foreigners living in Antwerp, one is constantly kept up to date on world happenings." (...)

this also meant, and it still does, that all religions are represented here in this little but grand place.

having grown up amongst many other 'internationals', and being half Belgian and half Japanese myself, this city also speaks to me.

so i had to make this hand.

some call it the 'hamsa' or 'khamsa', a symbol to ward off the evil eye, the Hand of Fatima or the Hand of Myriam, some believe it stands for the five pillars of Islam, for others it may bring good luck, and then for still some others it may even represent a 'mudra'...

i am not a particularly religious person. but i believe there is something that is more than us, and brings out the best in us.

i may be wrong, or just an idealist.

first i made a template

which i then cut out and used to saw and pierce a piece of silver

(i had been a little too quick to saw the hand and forgot to saw out the eye for the bail, which i then had to fabricate separately and solder on, but that worked out fine)

i then made this necklace, and i liked the red. but the beads had been tinted and that wasn t a nice sight.

so this is what it has become.

i quite like this symbol though.

it represents humanity to me.

oh, and on a serious note, Antwerpse handjes, also available as chocolates and cookies.

summer holidays

hello fellow jewellers and jewellery aficionados.

i haven t posted something for a while, and the only reason is that i haven t had much time since classes ended for the summer holidays in the beginning of june.

been spending most of my time concentrating on my day-job, where it s been extremely busy, and enjoying the free time that i do have by pottering around in my kitchen. yes, i love to cook as well, and it relaxes me.

however, that doesn t mean that i haven t been thinking about new pieces of jewellery. and now that i really do have a week off work, i hope to complete another necklace.

meanwhile, i ve also made another ring, a square one. there s a little story behind that, which i will talk about next time.

so, i ll soon be back, with some pictures too.

enjoy your summer, wherever you are!

a hollow ring bis

two weeks ago, with a lot of help from both my teachers, Ms. Lariviére and Mr. Faes, i was able to finish the third and last school project: a hollow ring. actually, it was an excercise on forming and soldering different plates to make one piece of jewellery.

sawing the different plates and soldering them together was not so much of a problem as was the actual forming and shaping them to make one whole.

i started by making a basic ring and a larger one which had to be then shaped to form the top the final work as you can see in my earlier post.

and then i tried to keep track of the process by also taking pictures:

and here s a short video of Mr. Faes helping me to shape the top part of the ring.

it s turned out to be a very striking piece, if i may say so myself, but i m not quite sure yet if i ll be making this one again...

yesterday i went to a little market downtown, where beginning jewellers and artists showed some of their work. some of it was quite inspiring, and at the moment, i know that, instead of sitting here behind my laptop, i should be at my workbench!

and since our course finished last wednesday, i will have time now to work out some new ideas (must admit tho, i will miss the ambiance of the classroom, even if it is only for a few months). still... YAY!