A Custom Creation
Put yourself in a jeweller’s shoes!
In order to make personalized works of art, a jeweller must collaborate with the person they’re making the jewelry for. Through dialogue and exchange, the jeweller can get a sense of someone’s tastes and personality.
The resulting piece of jewelry is born from collaboration and exchange.
Grade 3-4
Objective
Emphasize the importance of exchange and discussion to create a custom, meaningful work of art.
A jeweller is never alone in their creation process: through creative exchanges and dialogue, inspiration is born.
Guidelines
Watch ”Gustavo Estrada – Démarche artistique” (English subtitles)
Get in pairs.
Choose the roles: one person will be the jeweller, who will be listening to and sketching what the client likes. The second person is the client who wants a made-to-measure bracelet, and will tell the jeweller about their passions and tastes.
Material
- Paper
- Pencil
- Scissors
Steps
1
Watch the video called « Démarche artistique ».
Get in pairs.
Determine who will be the jeweller, and who will be the client.
2
Have the jeweller cut a rectangular strip of white paper, 3 cm thick.
This will be their pattern.
3
Measure the size of the client’s wrist, and then cut off the excess.
4
Now, the discussion can begin.
The jeweller listens to the client and asks them questions about their tastes, what they like to do, about their history, etc.
5
These questions can be chosen before the start of the workshop.
For example:
- What are you passionate about?
- Tell me about your family.
- What’s your favourite animal?
6
Based on the client’s answers, the jeweler can begin to sketch the bracelet.
7
The jewellers end the activity by presenting each client’s new custom bracelet to the class, explaining the choices that they’ve made.
Food for Thought
In his video, Gustavo says that being a jeweller is a two-sided job. The first part of his job takes place in a workshop where he uses his knowledge of technique, and the second part is when he opens a dialogue with the client who wants a custom piece of jewellery.
Imagine if you had to make your own bracelet: what would be the elements that you would draw?
