In the Jewelers Studio...

On Saturday I had the opportunity to teach my dear friend Greg some jewelry making skills.
Greg bought some lovely little pearls when he was on a beach in Africa a few years ago, with the intention of getting them made into jewelry for his Mom and Sister one day. I suggested that he join me in my studio to make them himself. I thought that Greg would find moving metal pretty fun. We started by hammering out two circles with a disk cutter and
then doming them in a dapping block.

Then Greg textured the metal with a ball bur at my bench.

We had two perfectly textured silver domes.

Then Greg's partner Dave and our beautiful friend Becky came by with Hanukkah Cookies.
Happy Hanukkah!

I let Greg take a short cookie break and then I made him get right back to work.
Like any good teacher I made sure to always look sternly over his shoulder while he worked.

Of course, no jewelry would be complete without a little bit of colour.

So, i sifted some transparent purple enamel over the textured silver
and then torch fired the piece.

Here are the finished pendants. Nice Job Greg! It was so much fun having you work in my studio with me!

New York in the Winter?

I have been fantasizing about going to New York for a while now. Lately I fluctuate between talking myself out of it and talking myself into it.

Reasons to go:
"From The Village to Vogue"
An exhibition of Art Smith's modernist jewelry at the Brooklyn Museum.

His work is amazing. I, of course have only seen it in pictures.
Getting to see it up close, I think, would make my knees weak.


Another reason is the Guggenheim.
If I walk into the Guggenheim,
I'm not certain that I will ever want to walk out.
Right now they have an exhibition of Kandinsky.
Kandinsky is my favourite artist.
There is something about his paintings
that give me a physical reaction.
Something inside of me stirs and I want to wrap
my whole body around his art.

I love the colours. I love the intricate pattern. I love the boldness.
I have visions of being at the Museum
surrounded by only his paintings and wanting to
just lie down and let the amazing energy of his work fill me up.
I'm not sure how lying down on the floor
will go over at the Guggenheim.....

It's All About Me Ring

I have a thing for rings. I remember when I was little I had a board game called "Rings on your Fingers". I think it was like memory, only you had to match these little plastic rings and when you made a match you could wear the rings on your fingers. I loved it. It is one of those toys I wish my parents never threw out.

This is the "It's All About Me" ring. Sometimes we all need to be bold. We need to ask for exactly what we want. We need to stand up for ourselves. We need to be noticed.

For more amazing rings check out one of my favourite blogs ever
The Carrotbox.com. She also has a thing for rings.

Go Slow Life in Progress

I spend a lot of time trying to slow down. My brain is always creating new things. New designs for jewelry, new ways to market myself, new projects to take on. It is fun, exciting, and always interesting. However, I know that I get some of my best ideas when I can convince my brain to slow down, to stop thinking of a thousand things and think of only one thing or even better nothing. In one of my busiest of busy days I was in one of my favourite stores in the Westend and found this notebook by Papaya Art that spoke to me, Go Slow Life in Progress. It has been my sketchbook and mantra ever since. I am pretty much in love with everything that Papaya Art creates. Rich colours, pretty delicate patterns, interesting and unusual colour and pattern combinations, and the odd profound statement thrown into the mix. They even do sweet little necklaces.

Salon D

I grew up in a little town called Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island, BC. Although I have been a city girl for a very long time now and absolutely love living in Vancouver, a little piece of my heart will always be on the Island. Which is why I love having Salon D in Nanaimo carrying PKK Design.


De Orrell owns Salon D. I met De's husband Darren, a very cool tattoo artist and body piercer at a jewelry trade show in the summer. He bought one of my favourite necklaces ever, pictured on De above, to give to De. I later got the opportunity to go over to Nanaimo and meet the lovely De and see her beautiful salon, that she has literally started from scratch. She found an old run down house in downtown Nanaimo and turned it into a high end, modern, and stylish Salon.

This article on Salon D is courtesy of the Nanaimo Daily News.

The Red Hot Show

Take The Plunge Necklace.

I am soooo excited that my Take The Plunge Necklace has just been chosen for The Red Hot Show at Calgary's prestigious Influx Jewellery Gallery!

She Said Yes Necklace

The She Said Yes Necklace was chosen to be part of a national exhibition in Toronto, at the Zilberschmuck Art Jewellery Gallery. The exhibition was entitled "Connection". Jewellery Artist's were asked to create a piece reflecting on the word "Connection".
This is my artist's statement for the She Said Yes Necklace:

"Marriage. A connection. A bond. A link for a lifetime.
This piece is made up of many little pieces, silver wires, pearls, golden balls, and enameled copper circles all connected to form a whole. My inspiration for the piece came from my desire to make sure that all of my own pieces are connected before I make a connection for life to someone else.
Drawing from some traditional elements of weddings like a strand of white pearls and delicately patterned wedding cakes I created a necklace that breaks from tradition. A necklace for a woman who said yes to the ultimate connection, a connection to herself. "

I think this is the perfect necklace for a bold bride!

One of a Kind Show

I will be at the One of a Kind Show and Sale this weekend. Booth I20

Patsy Kolesar - Billboards & Buses

I am so thrilled that the One of a Kind Show is using one of my amazing photographs for their advertising campaign. There are at least two billboards and a few city buses that right now have my name Patsy Kolesar on them with the stunning photo of my She Said Yes necklace.
This photo was one of three taken by the talented Mike Lewis of Clash Photo.

With Love and Gratitude to Jeans best friend

This is one of those stories that makes me believe that I am following the path meant for me. I spent the past Saturday with my friend Greg hunting through thrift stores and consignment stores searching for the perfect display piece to use for my display at the One of a Kind show. Every perfect piece we saw was way out of my budget. Later that evening I looked on craigslist and saw a posting for this display cabinet for a price i could afford. The posting was a few days old so I thought for sure it had been sold. I was delighted to hear back from Jean, a sweet Scottish woman in White Rock, who said it was still available. We drove out the next day to pick it up. It turned out that it had been owned by Jeans best friend who passed away two weeks ago. Jean told me that her friend who was also Scottish, was very spiritual and had a wicked sense of humor, two things that are very important to me in my life. She said that the cabinet comes with good karma. I love this little cabinet, it is beautiful and will be a perfect display piece for my jewelry. I also love how it ended up with me and where it came from.

Begin

I am delighted to welcome you to my brand new blog. This will be a place where I will post photos of new designs I am working on and keep you up to date on my sales, exhibitions, press and stores. I will also be featuring things I love, work from some of my favourite artists/designers and share with you the colouful things that inspire my jewelry filled life. Enjoy.

Shops

Please contact me directly for custom orders or inquiries:
Patsy Kay Kolesar
info@pkkdesign.com
778-988-2795


Retail Locations:

Vancouver, BC Canada

Urbanity
2412 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC
http://www.urbanity.ca/


Revelstoke, BC Canada

Gar-nish
120 Mackenzie Ave


Regina, SK Canada

Mysteria Gallery
2706 13th Avenue
http://www.mysteria.ca/

Toronto, ON Canada

Distill Gallery
55 Mill Street #47
The Distillery District
http://www.distillgallery.com/

Calgary, AB Canada

Influx Jewellery Art Gallery
201-100 7th Avenue S.W
http://www.influxgallery.com/


If you are interested in carrying my work in your gallery or shop please contact me at info@pkkdesign.com or 778-988-2795

Welcome

Welcome to the blog of jewelry artist Patsy Kay Kolesar. Please visit my newly launched site at: www.pkkdesign.com