USA Projects

I am thrilled to share that a book proposal of mine has been accepted by Lark Books, a craft book publishing company.  This will be my 5th book written for Lark, but the 1st of this kind. It will be co-authored by Hema Malani, a well-respected educator and jeweler in India. This book will cover amazing traditional Indian jewelry techniques in a Westernized how-to format, making the ancient Indian techniques accessible to anyone wishing to make this style of jewelry.  The techniques include Die stamping, Repousse, Making intaglio stamping dies, Kundan Polki (using high-karat gold to secure gemstones in carved stone), Patu’a work (Knot tying/yarn craft), Filigree, Wood inlay, Granulation (fusing tiny balls and wires to a larger form), Manipulating wire, Flexible armlets, and Thewa-work (using very thin foil under transparent enamels). It will have illustrations, an extensive colorful gallery with pictures of ancient and modern Indian jewelry, photos of Indian artists at work, as well as 10-15 projects to help people get ideas of how to translate the techniques into their own sensibility as well as give people practice with each technique in a structured way before they use the techniques on their own.

This is going to be a beautiful book, and a revolutionary book in the sense that no one has ever written these techniques down in a how-to format.  I plan on sharing this knowledge with others through teaching at places like Penland and Arrowmont, etc. Furthermore I will be lecturing about this work in the Fall of 2012 at UNCA, though a series that presents art and artists to the community here in Asheville.   I love the idea of bringing a little bit of India to my beloved mountains.

My proposal entails the actual documenting of the technique information.  The only way this can be done is by traveling to India and doing the research there in the villages and workshops.  I plan on interviewing, watching the craftsmen at work, photographing, and practicing the techniques myself in order to be able to translate the information into a how-to format.  My colleague will be instrumental in helping gather the information, as she is Indian, speaks the language, and has many contacts in India.  I cannot tell you how excited I am about this project.  Aside from my family, my two greatest loves in life are jewelry and India.  The prospect of learning and then sharing this incredible information is deeply thrilling to me, as it enriches my connection with two things extremely dear to me.