Filigree workshop 頭一遭。

前陣子參加了學學文創志業的「苗族銀飾創作交流工作坊」，請到的是中國貴州苗族的潘俊忠師傅，示範絲線細工的技法。

I went to a metalsmith workshop and joined Mr. Pan's Miao style silver jewellery course last week, and I immediately fell in love with the filigree of Miao's bronze drum pattern. Mr. Pan is from GuiZhou, China, who has been working as a silver craftsman more than 25 years and has made numerous of Miao style crafts and jewellery. Miao's bronze drum pattern varies in different Miao tribes and families, and it shows not only the fineness and beauty of the pattern itself, but also contains historical and traditional meanings and messages.

以前從來沒有特別注意filigree，即使看到它的物件，也並不會特別留意。並非不喜歡它，而是我對於物件本身的3D造型與結構的興趣，遠超過物件表面的2D裝飾圖樣。至於為什麼被潘師傅的filigree作品吸引，我想除了是苗族特有的圖樣之外，花紋的精緻度，令我這個第一次接觸filigree技法的孤陋寡聞鬼大大開眼界！

上課，就會有作業，就……。

After Mr. Pan's demonstration, it's our turn.... .

i・m・b・a・l・a・n・c・e。秤・不平。

（i'm balanced。平。）

（imbalance。不平。）

I didn't take the photo of the set of two - it's a scale. The two plates are different to each other in all aspects - the length, the shape, the weight, and the distance to the fulcrum. As well as this, the lever has contrasting ends too - a straight, well-shaped end, and a forged, descending end. Even the fulcrum location would change if making the hanger (for the lever) with a different material (and I couldn't figure out why)!

它們倆是一對，是一組秤，應該是要掛上秤桿一起拍；不過瞧瞧設備……以後補上：P

它們是一組平衡的不平衡秤，秤盤的形狀與重量都不一樣，垂吊的長度與支點的距離也都不對稱；而支點的平衡位置刻度，竟然也會因應掛勾的材質而變化……

「沒有什麼是絕對公平的，於是人們不停地衡量計算，維持著那微妙也危險的平衡。」

從10月21日起，在學學文創志業的「百年記藝特展」，將可以一覽潘師傅所帶來的作品；而交流工作坊的學員們，也將會展出這次的學習成果。展期到11月。之後南下，會在嘉義鐵道藝術村展出。

Hopefully I could take some nice photos of the scale in the exhibition. Here's the original look of the plates:

秤盤剛成形的樣子。

SanDIY casting, attempt 3。

Liquid glass / water glass (sodium silicate / Na₂SiO₃) is another choice for making a sand casting mould. The seller told me that after mixing the substances, they will harden the mould by injecting CO₂ to it for industrial use, but in my case he wasn't sure if it would work as my mould is tiny and I haven't got CO₂ and the tools.

I am going to give a try anyway. I didn't inject CO₂ to the first mould either and it worked.

水玻璃（矽酸鈉）是沙／砂模鑄造製模的另一種材料選擇。一般工業使用的沙／砂模，在成型之後會注入二氧化碳，讓模具硬化再進行灌模。

就算我呼一包二氧化碳也沒有工具注進模具體。先試。

矽砂：水玻璃＝10：1，效果尙可，不過沒有經過硬化的砂模的確小鬆軟。壓入模型物的時候比起壓入黏土粉配方模輕鬆，不需要用槌子。可能是因為水玻璃的質地黏滑吧。分離上下模的時候有些矽砂掉落。

I mixed the silica sand and Na₂SiO₃ in the proportion of 10:1 for the first try. The mixture was soft and had a greasy texture, and little silica sand fell from the mould when I separated the top and bottom rings.

I decided to make another mould and leave it for a while, in order to see if a 'hardened' mould would be a better one. I came back after 15 minutes. It looked quite close to the first mould but harder and crispier, and about the same amount of silica sand fell from the mould.

未經過硬化程序的砂模質地比較鬆軟，稍微有外力擠壓就有破碎的可能（還沒製作氣孔與澆鑄通道呢！）。於是我製作第二個砂模，室溫乾燥十五分鐘之後將上下模分開……稍微乾燥之後，砂模硬了一點，不過比較像是心有餘而力不足的硬化～質地變得比較脆些，掉落的矽砂量與第一個砂模相差不多，但比較像是「剝落」而不是「掉落」。

再試。以10：2的比例混合矽砂與水玻璃，第三個砂模的質地，與第二個相差不大，不過質地較黏，分離上下模的時候不夠乾淨俐落（無論是否經過室溫乾燥都是如此），連模型物都黏。

I made the third mould with silica sand and Na₂SiO₃ in a proportion of 10:2. It was not so different to the previous ones, except the texture is stickier so that the mould was not neat and tidy. CO₂ is absolutely needed.

我想我暫時先回到最初的配方吧。

SanDIY casting, attempt 2。

I have learnt that Delft clay is a substance that is like a sand mixes with oil, so I mixed the silica sand with oil this time - without the clay powder.

沙／砂模鑄造第二試。Delft clay是金工沙／砂模鑄造使用的一 種……油性「土」，是一種類似沙／砂與油混合的物質。於是這次我用油取代水，開模。

 

I made a proportion of 10:2, silica sand and oil for the fist try, and the mixture was too greasy and it slipped down from the aluminium ring. Oops.

第一次我沒有加黏土粉，而是把黏土粉的比例給了油，因為它是「沙／砂＋油」的組合（偏執），所以矽砂：油是10：2。結果就是沙／砂模整個從模型裡滑下來。NG。

第二次以之前的比例（矽砂：黏土粉：油＝10：1：1）加入黏土粉混合。沙／砂模沒有從上模型裡滑落，倒是與下模型裡的沙／砂黏住。

看來，黏土粉與油的合作關係，並沒有與水那樣好。

待續。

I then went back to the formula with silica sand, clay powder, and oil, which in a proportion of 10:1:1. As shown in the photo, I presume that oil may not be a good friend as water to clay powder.

To be continued.

a golden rim。金與玉。

出入工地，騎乘機車，請戴安全帽。

 For a chip at the edge.

SanDIY casting, attempt 1。

The first cast, the second type of sand, with the third formula for the mould - a mixture of silica sand, clay powder, and water, in a proportion of 10:1:1.

To be continued.

沙／砂模鑄造第一試。矽砂：黏土粉：水＝10：1：1。再試。

Series of mOOn。月の系列。

「mOOn。月」系列是以火山岩為主要材質，搭配925銀設計的作品。火山岩有著與一般切割寶石極不同的外觀。暗黑、無光澤、粗糙的表面質感，無論是在形象或視覺效果上，都十分貼近我對於月球的想像。

I fell in love with Lava when I first time saw it. The dark, dull, and rough surface gives it a very different appearance to other stones, which makes it so extraordinary in those jewels.

moonlight。陰盈影映。

under the moonlight。方寸之間。

the rocks。天上的圓，地上的方。

Earth and Moon。天球與地球。

the phases, the faces。旬・循。

wander, and wonder。徑・靜・境。

待續。

To be continued.

Waxy Nephrite。蠟光閃玉。

I love the greyish / dark green colour of Taiwan Jade (Nephrite), and these waxy babies really caught my eyes!

to dear wife。吾妻。

of a couple。百年・好合。

蠟光玉，閃玉類，台灣玉的一種。閃玉也被稱為軟玉，不過它的硬度並不比輝玉（硬玉）低。我十分喜歡台灣玉略深、類似墨綠的綠色調；這次遇到的蠟光玉，稍微藍灰色調的綠，更是令我目不轉睛！

wAteReveR，H₂0。

liquid。液。

SHE U，Carolynn。許 佳琳。：connecting bangle。

The flights make drawings when flying from and to, inbound and outbound between the cities. I took the drawings that Carolynn has for the design of this piece.

從一個城市到另外一個城市，交通工具們在天空，在海面，在地表，畫出一條條的線，連結一個個的點，繋著無數的心。

 home around。環・鐶。

I asked Carolynn for her travelling routes between Taipei and Ottawa and connected the transfer cities for the shapes of the pieces for the bangle, and soldered the ends of the inner piece to form a circle. Then I cut the pieces of a set of mortise and tenon, which was found in the basement of grandmother's apartment, to fit the ends of the inner and outer piece, and joined the wooden pieces to the inner circle at the joint.

佳琳系列的最終件。我在地圖上畫出台北與渥太華之間的航線，拼出各轉機點所組成的圖塊，製作出這件帶著紀念意味的腕環。銀片的兩端，代表的是台北與渥太華；中間的木片，是老家的傢俱的榫與枘；㚒層的米珍珠，是mee，也是米。

I then riveted the ends of the outer piece to the mortise and tenon / inner piece, and all is connected.

 

This is a commemorative piece to our grandmother, and a emblematical piece to the HSUs. This is a piece about connection.

SHE U，Carolynn。許 佳琳。：chopstick ring。

family。依。

A pair of chopsticks is considered as a symbol of good fortune in Chinese culture. It is not only because a set of two (things that are used together or regarded as a unit) is regarded as lucky (especially for married couples as 'a pair' ), but also the pronunciation of chopsticks in Chinese language is similar to 'welcoming the babies soon'.

在佳琳的作品裡經常出現的元素，除了米粒之外，還有竹子。竹子是製造筷子的原料，是與米有著密切關係的物件；在翻閱中文字典的時候，我偶然發現「竹」與「米」正好是前後相鄰的兩個部首；而在科學分類之中，竹子與稻，是同科（family）的植物。

筷子總是成雙成對，在婚嫁娶習俗中又是「快快得子」的吉祥象徵；那麼，再沒有誰比它更適合出演父母親的角色了!

Bamboo is another vital element, which appears frequently with rice, in Carolynn's art works. In scientific classification, bamboo and rice have close relationship to each other as they are in the same family, as well as chopsticks to rice in Chinese culture. So I used a pair of chopsticks and a rice pearl for the piece, as they are representing parents and the child(ren).

SHE U，Carolynn。許 佳琳。：rice pendant。

I asked Carolynn whether she would like a necklace or a pendant + chain, and she answered: ' I prefer it to be a pendant + chain.... the pendant itself is what I am more interested in. '

以前並沒有特別思考過「項鍊」這件事情，直到這次，我才想到：佳琳想要的是「一串項鍊」，或是「一個墜子＋鍊條」？

in-de-pendant。粒。

I continued using the rice form for this piece, and added some points of my view about Carolynn. I have always had an impression of her of being independent for some reason, although we don't see or talk to each other very often (the time before last time we met was when we were age 7! ) .

設計的主軸是「獨立」，我對於佳琳的最深刻的印象。用銀線畫我眼中的佳琳。

繼續採用了米的外型做這個墜子。這是一個二合一的墜子，有內與外兩件：內層的墜子是一顆米粒，飽滿、沈甸甸、健康的米粒；外層也是用三角形的銀線製作的，不過它並不是米糠～它也是米粒，像是用線條畫的米粒。

This is a 2-in-1 pendant and has an inner and an outer piece. The inner piece has the original form of a grain of rice, solid and tactile as a rich one; then I built up the outer piece with triangular wire again, and made it as the container for the inner piece. Instead of using straight lines as on the earrings, I sort of 'drew' a contour of a grain of rice with wires and gave it a sketchy feel, as Carolynn is an artist and art teacher and has made many extraordinary works of art.

內層與外層的墜子可以分開，成為兩枚獨立的墜子，一枚橫向一枚直向；也可以將內層裝入外層，變成單一枚直立的墜子配戴。

The inner and outer piece can be worn individually, or joined together as the title: 'in the pendant' .

SHE U，Carolynn。許 佳琳。：mee earrings。

This is a series for my cousin Carolynn Hsu. A series of her.

mee, myself, and I。我是佳琳。

This was the first piece I designed / finished for the series as Carolynn wished to start with earrings. In one of her e-mails she wrote: ' .... I really like the idea of rice. In Chinese pronounced "mee" and in English a reference to self. I also make connections to rice as offspring and something that in an integral part of our culture albeit as food, celebratory uses. In my own work it often refers to my sibilings and I to represent the next generation and the "gaps" that exist within culture. '

這是第一件設計、完成的「佳琳」。不同於一般在國外出生、長大的孩子們，我認為佳琳因為這樣子的背景與環境，讓她對於應該是陌生的、不熟悉的台灣文化，反而有著更多的關心與體會。在她的作品中，時常可以見到華人生活的重要元素－米。米在中文與英文裡的讀音及意涵，是她的創作靈感的源頭；她運用著這些元素，或畫或作，創作了一件件關於她與家人、與文化與世代，的作品。

I then took the very original form of rice for this pair. Instead of making a grain of rice, I used eight triangular wires to build up the form of it. Triangles are often found in Carolynn's art works, and I believe that triangular wire shows the fineness of a grain of rice better than other shapes, especially when a Chinese character of rice「米」is shown at the tips of the earring.

於是我直接採用了米的原型，不過，動了一點手腳。我用八根三角形的銀線構成米的形狀；本來想把胚芽做成耳針，但是考慮到結構與重心，算了。

使用三角形的銀線的原因有兩個：一是三角形在佳琳的作品（藝術作品與手工藝品都）中時常地被運用（她似乎沒有意識到）；二來比起其它形狀的線，我覺得三角形更能表達出米粒的纖細，特別是從兩端看，「米」字出現的時候。

auntie Rong。小姑姑。

Another little HUAN, the youngest daughter of my grandmother. I thought of a donut when connecting auntie Rong to my grandmother. The little soft ring, cute and sweet.

小姑姑讓我聯想到的是甜圈圈，甜甜軟軟QQ，有活力的感覺。

It is a golden hen on one side, with a garnet as her eye; using red colour is not only for the element of the year, but also it is my grandmother's favourite colour for daughters.

鍊墜的一面是金雞，另一面是取自阿嬤手勾的蕾絲桌巾的花樣。可惜找不到適合的雷射切割技術，否則圖案會更精準許多。

On the other side, I reproduced the patteren on my grandmother's knitting, a lace table cloth. I wished to do it with laser cutting for a really detail pattern; however no one is doing it in here. Pity.

The little HUANs, grandma's children.

小鐶系列，是阿嬤的孩子。