I'm thrilled to announce a brand new (to Etsy) shop that uses some of the ancient methods of manipulating metals...bronze in particular. Another reason I'm thrilled is that James shop is definitely filled with a male perspective, though Nadya's presence is felt with her nature-inspired & fashion forward interpretation of goth skulls and whimsey.
But before I get too far lost in this article I want you to know that this story is about TWO creative people, James & Nadya...I'm holding off telling more about Nadya now, because she wanted to have time to spiff up her website and give me more current pics of her work....so her video & write-up is in "process". Please visit her website to get a hint of what's to come.
I first saw James shop thru his avatar in one of the threads, in the pared down forum...my head literally did one of those cartoon "double-take" neck turns...i just couldn't believe a "newbie" to Etsy would be so professional in his work and presentation.
So I convoed him and found that for the past 10 years or so, both he & his wife, Nadya, have had market stalls in London's Spitalfields & Portobello markets & have traded at these and others. He too also has his own website, where you can see more items and also purchase as well. James & Nadya just moved to Vancouver from the round about way of London, UK. Nadya is from Ottawa, they spent some time there...all their equipment is over there, hopefully soon, all will be shipped to them, completing their move....I wish them luck & sanity :D
I made the mistake of asking James about his Etsy "profile" where he says he learned about silversmithing from a craftsman in Asia using the most ancient of handmade tools that had been passed down from generation to generation...I was immediately launched into an odyssey that I envied & wished I had experienced...and for the rest of the day was swimming in daydreams of youthful adventures.
At the wee age of 22 yrs. he and his buddy went to Thailand...it was only suppose to be a 6 month "blowout" vacation...the short story is, he got back to the UK 8 years later!
When they ran out of money on the beach...they met some girls from Tokyo who had made loads of money as hostesses, so they followed them back to Japan and became bartenders, they had luck with free places to live and fortunate casino winnings which lead to an Asian "shuffle" for years...they built airports in Hong Kong, met princes in Kathmandu, ran a body-piercing business out of Taiwan, got shot in the Philipines, hitch hiked in Australia, got adopted in Fiji, stoned in Hawaii, shipwrecked in Indonesia, "Indiana-Jones" it in Cambodia, and somewhere in between learned how to use a couple of ancient silversmithing tools & started his own silver business.
Below is a short slide video of some of James work...I asked James what type of music he liked & before I could explain about copyright laws with music, he mentioned "Tool"...so just below his slide video is a YouTube video of "Tool"...you can mute this video and turn up the other...enjoy!
