Carved in wax, cast in fire

Hello!

I’ve been extremely lucky this November; I went on a trip to Japan! Throughout my life I have felt a strong connection to Japan- my Mum is from Japan, I spent part of my childhood there, and later returned to live there in my twenties.

Japan in Autumn.

Japan is a country rich in tradition and craft. During my visit, I took a one-day Mitsuro Hikime workshop with a master craftsman at Tomoyas and co. Mitsuro Hikime is an ancient Japanese art form, where a special type of Mitsuro wax is make and then sculpted into beautiful, organic forms. As the wax is shaped and manipulated, beautiful striations appear on the surface of the wax, known as Hikime. I’ll share a blog post about my experience soon.

Forming the mitsuro hikime wax, guided by the master craftsmen at Tomoyas and co. I’ve never worked with wax like this before. It’s amazingly strong and the resulting textures are beautiful.

Wax carving for jewellery is a technique I am really passionate about. Carving wax feels like a natural extension of drawing (my background training is in illustration), but in three dimensions. It’s slow, meditative, and totally absorbing, and at the end of it I am rewarded with a detailed three dimensional form.

A man’s engagement ring wax, with carved birch leaf details.

A question I am often asked is, how does wax become metal? This too is an ancient way of making jewellery called lost wax casting. The waxes are attached to a central “tree”, which is then placed inside a flask, which is then filled with investment plaster. The flask is fired, and the wax melts away (hence lost wax)- leaving a perfect hollow. Molten metal is then poured and spun into the cavity. For anyone interested, here is a short video of the lost wax casting process, which shows the process beautifully.

Cast pieces in warm, glowing gold.

It’s a process that I love and always enjoy sharing it. I also teach one-to-one wax carving sessions, if you’re interested in it feel free to reach out!

I think the waxes themselves are like beautiful little sculptures, but when transformed into gold or silver, it really is magical. The detail that can be created in wax is beautiful, allowing many different creative possibilities.

A carved sunflower and jasmine ring.

With the price of gold increasing so much, I’ve been inspired to create pieces combining silver and gold, it’s not something I have explored much yet, and I look forward to sharing these.

Wishing you a happy, cosy winter. Erica x