One of the two winners of the “Most Poetic” category of our recent Haiku contest was this beautiful expression of the soldering process:
Torch flame flickering,
Flux smiling a glassy grin—
Watching solder flow
(This one was my personal favorite, by the way!)
Introducing… Tanya Boutros:
The jewelry business has been my profession for 40 years. It’s been a career full of new adventures, discoveries, interesting friendships and continual learning. I’ve seen places I’d only read about in books during my school years, met customers who have become life long friends and shared experiences doing what I love with other people who feel the same way. . .
The 2011 Saul Bell Design Award will be presented at a gala dinner during JCK in Las Vegas June 4th. Leading up to the event we’re taking a look back at some of our previous prize winners. Apichart Warrachart came to America from Thailand and found a freedom to follow the next possibility – and the next – and that has kept him here. This is Apichart’s beautiful, otherworldly piece from 2003. . .
For more than 40 years April 22nd has been designated the day to act for the planet, the day to celebrate the beauty of our mother earth, and on this day we acknowledge our humility and offer her the respect that she so deserves. Wait, back up! Is one day really all she gets? No way! For some of us, everyday is Earth Day. . .
Rio Grande has joined a new and much needed fundraising organization set up to help the victims of March’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Instead of just asking for direct donations, Jewelers for Japan is asking members of the jewelry trade to donate their gold and silver scrap. Simply send in your scrap to Rio Grande, and we will refine it and turn over all proceeds to the Red Cross for the relief effort to Japan. . .
As we lead up to the announcement of the 2011 Saul Bell Design Award winners this June, The Studio will be profiling a few winners from previous years.
Here’s a video about the 2002 Grand Prize Winner, David C. Freda, and the inspiration for his award winning piece “Stag Beetles, Grubs, and Raspberries,” a fine silver and sterling silver necklace with enameled glass beads and 24K and 18K yellow gold accents.
Last week, Rio’s blog group stepped into a conference room, closed the door, and read your jewelry haikus. More than 150 entries in all, ranging from beautiful to witty to hysterical. How could we possibly pick just one?? We couldn’t. There were so many amazing entries, we felt compelled to give out multiple prizes. We broke your haikus into different categories, and have awarded a winner (or in one case, winners) for each category. . .
At Rio, we started an adventure seven years ago to address the health and wellness of our associates and their families. It started as a program to reduce our rising medical insurance costs and, in the beginning, was a classic first attempt at a new program: It took some time to engage associates and build internal support. Over time, however, our Wellness Program has shown huge improvement and associate involvement has snowballed. In addition to reducing our insurance costs, we’ve benefitted from the positive side effects of healthier associates, including increased productivity and less absenteeism. . .
In taking a PMC® class with Yvonne Padilla and CeCe Wire, Margaret discovered she could transfer incredible detail to metal forms and a new world opened before her. . .
Unlike nearly any other jewelry design competition, the final judging of the Saul Bell Design Award Competition invites five unique jurors to a day of lively collaboration and incredible artistry . . .
Our tech support team loves to answer your questions! If you’re having trouble getting a product to do what you want it to do, if you’ve got a thorny issue in your current project and you need advice, or if you just want an expert’s opinion before you make that purchase, Rio Grande Tech Support is available by phone, email, or live web chat to help you out. You can find them easily from our website.
The questions you ask them the most are about torch setup and safety. Here’s Mark Nelson from Rio’s tech support team showing you how to safely set up a propane/oxygen torch…
Early one morning last July, we discovered a baby hawk in the visitor parking lot. Seeing a hawk around wasn’t at all unusual—hawks have been nesting in the trees of our courtyard for years…
Mary Lee Hu is a larger-than-life artist in the jewelry world. She has literally done it all, from creating a breathtaking body of jewelry and sharing her knowledge with … [Read More...] about Influencers in Jewelry Design: Mary Lee Hu
Elizabeth Kirk is dressed head-to-toe in turquoise velvet. Each eyelid is powdered in ombré eye shadow as iridescent as a hummingbird's breast. She's warm and … [Read More...] about Elizabeth Kirk Shares the Display Secrets Behind Her Pop-Up “Boutique”
