Linda and Winston。40。

Ruby for the couple, my parents.

爹娘，紅寶石婚。

auntie Mei。三。

The little HUAN doesn't associate with the shape of a ring directly this time because I have found something more interesting than the object itself.

前陣子老照片全部被掃瞄進電腦，看著「長輩們的小時候」的照片，有另一種趣味。

這枚小鐶，是從另一邊聯想回來的。

Auntie Mei is my third auntie, my grandma's third daughter, and the sixth child. She is sixty years old (an important age in Chinese culture) this year, and her star signs are Snake (Chinese calendar) and Cancer (Greek Myth). I thought of the numbers and symbols immediately and connected them to each other, then I have got the elements and ideas for the HUAN.

The symbol of Cancer, the symbol of Snake; the star of Cancer, the specific Chinese character of Snake; the image of earth, and the image of mother(land).

外層的♋，是巨蟹座；夾層的月亮，是守護星；

外層的圓，環抱著六個孩子，是地球，也是阿嬤。

9 karat yellow gold: the Cancer; fine silver: the Moon; 18 karat yellow gold: the Earth, and the mother / my grandma.

不同的角度，不同的風景。

The little HUANs, grandma's children.

小鐶系列，是阿嬤的孩子。

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。