Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Show this Past Weekend

This past weekend was the Style Revolution show at the Design Exchange in Toronto. Thanks to Paul and Martha for coming out to check out the wares! For all those who didn't make it to the show, here's a picture of me at the booth I was sharing with my sister who is Anatomy of a Skirt.


Anyways, more to come soon!

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Pendant and Watch

So I' finally starting to get back to my blog(3 posts in one day!) and I wanted to finally post the pic of the watch I made and also a new pendant that was a commission piece. So here they are:








Turquoise and Sterling Silver Pendant

















Sterling Silver Watch, 10k Gold Dial with Diamond









Anyways, hope you enjoy the pics, sorry the watch pic is not the best, my light was fading quick but I really wanted to post it. Anyways, hope to see you at the upcoming shows!

In the Newspaper

Well, to my surprise, and with the help of my darling sister, my work has made it into the Kitchener/Waterloo newspaper called The Record. Woohoo!! The article is about the upcoming D.U.D.E. show in Kitchener at the Walper Terrace Hotel. Unfortunately, the article is only available online to subscribers or else you'd be viewing it right now!! Anyways, thanks to The Record for featuring my work in their paper!

Shows-a-Plenty

I'd like to announce that I will be participating in 3 shows over the holiday season. They are:

The Style Revolution Show

When: Saturday Nov 18th & Sunday Nov 19th, 2006
Where: The Design Exchange
234 Bay St, Toronto, ON


D.U.D.E. - Kitchener

When: Friday Nov 24th & Saturday Nov 25th, 2006
Where: The Walper Terrace Hotel
1 King St West, Kitchener, ON


D.U.D.E. - Toronto

When: Friday December 8th, Saturday December 9th & Sunday December 10th, 2006
Where: Latvian House
491 College St West, Toronto, ON
Website: www.dudeshow.com

I hope all can make it out to a show and see some of the new pieces I've been working on! See you there!

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

AK Collings Gallery

Sometimes things do work out. I was contacted out of the blue by Aurelie Collings of the AK Collings Gallery in Port Hope, ON. Its a new gallery for the Ontario art scene and they are carrying some fine craft jewellery and she asked if she could carry my work in her gallery. Huzzah! Jubulatory euphoria filled me and we met today to discuss the details. Anyways here's the particulars about the gallery:

AK Collings Gallery
Fine Art and Contemporary Crafts
41 John St
Port Hope, ON
(905) 885-2001
www.akcollings.com

So, if you are in Port Hope, please go check it out! Also, I will be posting that picture of the watch I recently made soon, but I've been busy because of the artwalk show, which went really well even though the weather didn't really co-operate. A big thanks go out to DRG for all his help, couldn't have done it without ya. And, of course, my wife Jolene, I really couldn't have done it without you.

The next show that I will be participating in is the Style Revolution show at the Design Exchange in Toronto on November 18th and 19th. I hope to see you all there!

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Artwalk, watches & gemmology

Well, I've been a little negligent with my blog over the past month or so, but only because I've been working to create exciting works for the St.Clair Artwalk which is quickly approaching. I hope to see you all there.

The other reason I've been so busy is that I've been playing with the idea of making watches for quite some time and now I have finally finished my first watch. And the proud owner of the first watch created and fabricated by WilkDesigns? My wife of course! An anniversary gift for her. She always ends up being the guinea pig for new designs and ideas, though I don't think she really minds. Anyways, no picture of it as of yet, but that should be posted sometime this weekend.

Lastly, I've started my nighttime gemmology course with the Canadian Gemmological Association. The first couple classes have been okay, I'm the only guy there, which is fine by me. Putting that aside, the course looks like it should be much better than doing correspondence, though it means I can't be a slacker which in the end, will be of benefit. Anyways, that's what is going on currently with Wilk Jewellery Designs, though soon I'll have to change it to Wilk Jewellery and Watch Designs, haha well, thanks for reading.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

St.Clair Artwalk

I am proud to announce that I have been accepted to the 2006 St.Clair Arts Festival and Studio Tour Show. This takes place on Sept 30 and Oct 1 on St.Clair W just west of the St.Clair W TTC station in Toronto. Could I have the word west any more times in one sentence? For the first time ever they have organized an Outdoot Art Market to run in conjunction with the festival. Please visit their website for more details : www.stclair-artwalk.org

Hope to see you there!

Monday, August 14, 2006

New Work

There is new work for your viewing pleasure at www.wilkdesigns.com. In the future, every time I post new work on my website I'll also post it here with a little blurb about each piece. Usually these blurbs will contain information about the process of making the piece or the materials used. Anyways, on with the pictures!






Sterling Silver and a Pearl Pendant. This piece is made by soldering together two hemispheres at angles to each other and stringing a pearl onto a sterling wire, feeding the wire up through a hole in the top of the hemispheres.













Sterling Silver and Pearls Earrings. Made by the same process as Sterling Silver and a Pearl pendant.















Double Hemisphere Ring. Sterling Silver. This ring has two hemispheres, one inverted into the other and soldered.











Double Hemisphere Ring with Keum-Boo. Keum-Boo is an ancient Asian technique of applying 24k gold sheet to silver without the use of any adhesives, unlike gold leafing. Keum-Boo is also more durable as the gold leaf or sheet used for Keum-Boo is thicker than traditional gold leaf.





So those are the latest pieces to come from my bench. These pieces will be making their first appearance on the market at Made You Look(as per my last post) and other shops and galleries in the near future.

Saturday, August 12, 2006

New Gallery

After a successful meeting yesterday, I'm proud to announce that my work will now be carried by "Made You Look" in Toronto. Their website is: www.madeyoulook.ca. You should be able to find my work there within the next couple of weeks. My work is now available at five shops and galleries throughout Canada and the United States. Here's a listing of them for you:
  1. MetalUrge: A Metal Arts Company, Toronto, ON, www.metalurge.ca
  2. Influx Jewellery Gallery, Calgary, AB www.influxgallery.com
  3. Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE www.thedcca.org
  4. The Red Pepper Squirrel, Clarksville, TN www.theredpeppersquirrel.com
  5. **NEW** Made You Look, Toronto, ON www.madeyoulook.ca
If you are ever in any of those places, please take some time and check them out!

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Well, seeing as this is my first post, I should explain why I decided to blog and the general purpose of this blog. This blog will be a supplement to my website: www.wilkdesigns.com. As I cannot post long explanations about this and that on my website, I thought this would be a good forum for that. The reason for explanations is that I would like to document the everyday workings of my business, Wilk Jewellery Designs. I hope to post ideas about my work and the path my work is taking and give you insight into how some of my work is created and the different services that I offer. Anyways, I hope to keep this fairly up-to-date, but I know thats probably not going to happen, so if I've neglected this blog, please email me and tell me to wisen up! Anyways, please feel free to post your thoughts and suggestions for/about my work. I look forward to hearing from you.

Anyways, onto the explanations. I guess I should explain a little about me first. I'm a jewellery designer. I guess I never really thought all those eons ago that I would ever be a jewellery designer, but I like it. I originally got into the arts in high school, more as recreation than anything, but because I did poorly in some of my classes I didn't get into the university courses that I originally applied for(sciences, etc...) So I repeated some classes to upgrade my marks, got into the programs I originally applied for and then decided to go to art school instead. I went to the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design(www.nscad.ca) and studied jewellery making and printmaking. And so I did my four years and emerged with a piece of paper that said I had acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Yay. During that whole education process, I also got engaged to my now wonderful wife. So she moved to Nova Scotia for school and I got stuck at a crappy job(www.convergys.com), but thats okay because it did show me that I never want to work in the corporate world ever again. Then she finished her Masters degree and we moved back to Ontario, moved around Ontario for the next year or so and finally settled in Toronto. And so my business began.

I've been running my business for about a year now and all seems to be going well. I really enjoy being my own boss, though a strong work ethic is required, and I falter sometimes. But never the less I continue and enjoy my work. Also I have been taking a gemmology course through the Canadian Gemmological Association(www.canadiangemmological.com) and just finished my first year and found out today that I passed my exam! Yay! Onto year two...

So thats enough about me and my history, onto the jewellery. The work I create tends to be made from sterling silver, though I do work in gold, platinum and other metals. I also try to incorporate some gemstones into my work but not with every piece that I make. The work generally tends to be simple and clean as my tastes usually correspond to that kind of aesthetic. I really don't like items or art which are extremely busy and so my jewellery shows my tastes. I also am fascinated by moving gadgetry and so I attempt to bring this interest in the work upon occasion(which has led to my recent obsession with watches and watch repair). The other part of my job I really enjoy are the custom jobs. Those jobs where I can work closely with a client to make a piece that reflects both their and my interpretation of their personality and visual interests. Of course I try and put a little bit of myself in there too.

Well, I think thats quite enough for one post. In the coming posts I will keep you up to date with my business happenings, new work, new galleries carrying my work and shows which I am going to participate in. Stay tuned! Thanks for reading!