Craft Ontario Awards Ceremony 2014

Hello everyone,
Last Thursday, the Craft Ontario Awards Ceremony took place at the Wychwood Barn on 601 Christie Street, Toronto. I have been honored as one of the twenty award recipients to receive an award at the ceremony, and I have been awarded with the Lacy & Co Jewellery Supply Grant. Thank you so much Craft Ontario and Lacy and Company Ltd. for this generous award!

I also like to extend my sincere thanks to my family, friends and the Craft Ontario staffs that came to the ceremony and celebrated with me and other awards winners together. I am very grateful for all the kind support and recognitions I have gotten for me and my jewellery on that incredible night.

At the same time, I got to see the opening preview of the inaugural Craft Ontario Show and the show are filled with amazing talented makers. I enjoyed talking to them and enjoyed seeing many unique, one of a kind pieces. Overall I enjoyed the preview of the Craft Ontario Show and I am looking forward for the next show! I hope you guys enjoyed this post and feel free to leave me a comment in my guestbook below!

Regards,
Joe Han Lee

A Sparkling River Mokume Gane Engagement Ring Commision From Vancouver

Hello everyone,
Recently, I have received a custom Mokume Gane engagement ring request from Vancouver. She is a bright young lady who is studying abroad, and her fiancé is bold and courteous young man who excelled in Japanese martial arts. Their everlasting love and loyalty for each other is admirable and I am honored to craft a river patterned Mokume Gane ring for her fiancé.

This Mokume Gane ring is made in sterling silver, 14k palladium white gold and 950 palladium followed by setting of small round diamonds in flush setting technique. The Mokume pattern is inspired by the reminiscent of a beautiful, outdoor nature of a sparkling river. The river symbolized how a long distance can really encourage the couple to have stronger devotion for each other.

I have included photos of the finished ring, followed with the progress photos of the ring below in case it is of interest to any of you guys. I will also be uploading a video of the ring in making sometime later on my Youtube channel. I hope you guys enjoyed this post and feel free to leave me a comment in my guestbook below!

Regards,
Joe Han Lee

My "Cameo Appearance" At Jewel Envy!

TIJF visits Jewel Envy from suzanne carlsen on Vimeo.

My "cameo appearance" at Jewel Envy! I love working there. I was in the middle of making more Mokume Gane when they were filming.

Valentine’s Day Jewellery Collection (2013)

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all having a good start for the New Year. Here I am writing to let you know of my upcoming one-of-a-kind jewellery collection for Valentine’s Day. If you are interested, you can make a purchase at my Etsy Shop.

For the jewellery collection, I am inspired by the history and origins of Valentine’s Day: The Roman Emperor did not allow his soldiers to get married because he believed that married men do not make good soldiers. However, there were soldiers that were in love and wanted to get married. A priest named St. Valentine, out of compassion secretly performed weddings for those soldiers, and ultimately sacrificed his own life when he was found out.

In my design, I used the idea of the knight’s shoulder armor and I manipulated it into an abstract heart shape form. This symbol is incorporated onto every piece of my Valentine’s Day jewellery collection. With each piece, I hope to inspire the wearer to not take for granted his or her loved ones.

I hope you guys enjoyed this post and feel free to leave me a comment in my guestbook below!

Regards,
Joe Han Lee

A Mokume Gane Engagement Ring For The Special Someone

Hello everyone,
Recently, I have received a custom Mokume Gane jewellery request from a client with a heart of gold. The client has been through a lot in her life, and I am honored to have been selected to craft an engagement ring for her (Thank you!).

It took me about 2 weeks to handmade the ring from scratch. Prior to making the final piece, I have made 3 others as practice. I wanted to make sure so that the final piece would be perfectly made. I made the Mokume Gane ring with Silver and Nickel, followed by the setting of Amethyst stones via channel setting technique. Some photos of the the ring itself are shown above. I have also included some photos of the progress in making the ring below in case it is of interest to any of you guys. Please click on the thumbnails to view the larger photos. I hope you guys enjoyed this post and feel free to leave me a comment in my guestbook below!

Regards,
Joe Han Lee

Malaysian House on Maple Leaf Spoon Featured in Metal Arts Guild of Canada

Hello everyone,
The Metal Arts Guild of Canada has chosen one of my sculptural pieces, ' Malaysian House on Maple Leaf Spoon ' to be featured on one of their links on their website. I am especially delighted to have been selected because that piece is very dear to me: It tells a story of my life experience as a Malaysian experiencing and embracing a new culture in Canada, while maintaining my own heritage. I would like to thank the website administrator Sue Whalen and the Metal Arts Guild of Canada for featuring my piece on their website.

Here is the link where my piece is featured: http://www.metalartsguild.ca/page/discuss
Here is the link where my profile: http://www.metalartsguild.ca/profile/JoeHanLee

Regards,
Joe Han Lee

A Ring For My Grandfather

Hello everyone,
As some of you may have known, I am a third generation goldsmith. My grandfather has been a goldsmith himself, and he has his own studio and shop in a small beach town called Pasir Putih (white sand) in Malaysia. My grandfather is now retired and my uncle is continuing the family profession there. In the future, I hope to continue this profession there as well.

This summer, during my visit to Malaysia, I surprised my grandfather with a Mokume Gane ring that I have made specially for him. He loved the ring I made for him and he was very happy to know that I will be continuing the family profession. Here are some photos of the ring I made for my grandfather, and my grandfather wearing it. I hope you guys enjoyed this post and feel free to leave me a comment in my guestbook below!

Regards,
Joe Han Lee