Jean Kee

Happy Friday! As this week comes to a close, I thought it the perfect time to sit back and contemplate how far we've come, especially as the last couple of days have been quite hectic at work.

Practicing my gouache rendering every day for the past 2 weeks has really paid off, and I'm starting to learn the tips and tricks to really make the designs pop off the page. There are still some things that elude me - particularly the way the light hits and reflects back from the different gemstones - but this is something I'll figure out over time as I work with more and more precious gemstones.

My current obsession are these opal jewellery renderings that I completed last week, especially the ones with the Lightning Ridge black opal from Australia. We purchased these from one of our gemstone suppliers, Chris Price, and the blue and green fire in these opals are absolutely stunning. The way it diffracts the light and lends almost a luminescent glow... can you believe this is purely from Mother Nature herself?

I cannot wait to see these designs come to life!

Because every queen bee deserves a tiara. Especially one as regal and fluffly as French feline Poddle McPoddleton, whom I first met while in Bonnieux last month.

This gouache rendering is for you... miss you, Podface!

We're already well into designing for Spring 2015, so here's a little snippet of what's to come... stay tuned!

The last time I picked up a watercolour brush to render jewellery by hand was 5 years ago. It's amazing how terrified I was of getting back into it. This was a traditional technique that only couture jewellery houses such as Cartier, Bulgari and Van Cleef & Arpels still uphold... most jewellery companies now have already switched to using CAD. And because of that, there was such a high expectation for the rendering to be a work of art - rendered to the point that the jewels could almost be picked up right off the page. 

My first complete rendering attempt (and I'm not even counting the 3 times I had to restart) took me the better part of the day to complete, my nose practically touching the paper as I captured every sparkle and facet of the diamond pavé. But like any skill, practice makes perfect, right?  

Work aside, my brother and sister-in-law are now living in HK with their hyperactive maltese, Caesar, and I was able to spend a couple of days over the weekend couch surfing at their apartment, much to Caesar's delight. Getting together in the Kee family always involves eating, eating and well, more eating, and this was no different. From Peking duck, to good ol' fashioned Dim Sum, to Napoli-syle pizza, to fro-yo... it is probably a good thing I don't live in the same country as my brother or we would have a serious problem.

To top it all off, a Seattle friend that I used to work at Taphandles coincidentally was in Hong Kong that same weekend as me. Ryan was en route to China to visit a factory, and through a friend of his, Christian, who works in Hong Kong, we somehow ended up on a junkboat, spending a lazy Sunday afternoon out on the waters by the island. Pure bliss~

I caught the red-eye flight back to Bangkok on Sunday night; arrived Monday at 2am, crashed for 4 hours before heading to work... seems like the best times to be had are always associated with lack of sleep! 

While Bali gave us a collection embodying very detailed, intricate scrollwork, the ancient kingdom of Thailand, Sukhothai, inspired us to create a concept that was classically timeless in its appeal, sculpted in silver with accents of 18K gold.

Sukhothai literally translates to the "dawn of happiness" and was considered to be the golden age of Thai culture. Rather fitting for a collection with a bolder look for the modern professional women, no?

I was wandering around the streets of Bangkok the other day when I almost walked into a lamp-post... and crazily enough, the base of the post had the same twisted rope look that is iconic of our new collection! Incredulous, I still can't believe how coincidental my clumsiness became a moment of clarity - seems like we are moving in the right direction with this new collection!

It seemed as if the stars were aligned, as around the same time that I was joining the team at John Hardy, the executives of the company had finalised their decision to rebrand Angela by JH to a new name, with a new concept, and marketing strategy. 

One of the very first collections was very much inspired by my trip to Bali, and the detail and intricacy of the handcrafted artisanal work found there.

Our first launch of this new brand went online on the QVC website this month, around the same time I received my business cards, officially cementing my position as a jewellery designer for John Hardy... cheers to that!

Being a jetsetter oftentimes means I can't get too comfortable for too long, and this was no different. While I was getting settled into the wonderfully easy-going atmosphere of Seattle, another opportunity arose that would allow me to pursue my passion in jewellery design.

John Hardy, a renowned international luxury jewellery design company was looking to hire a designer for the newly launched Angela line that was sold exclusively on QVC. Based in Bangkok, this would give me the chance to really stretch my creative freedom, something that appealed very much to me. Being a newly launched line also meant that it had a lot of potential, perfect to challenge and push my skills and gain experience.

I took a day to fly to NY to meet with the Design Director of John Hardy, while he was stateside for publicity appearances in September 2012. After the interview, I was assigned a mini-project, to design a collection inspired by the lotus bud, a concept that is the core of the Angela line. 

Once back in Seattle, coffee shops became my second home as a I churned out sketch after sketch with nothing but pencil and paper, an old-fashioned design technique in today's world of digitised technology that he strongly encouraged still. Submitting my assignment by the end of month, my efforts paid off and I was offered the position, to begin at the start of the new year 2013. 

The sketches from the assignment can be seen in the Siam collection here. It was a pleasant but bittersweet moment when I decided to accept this offer; I was excited at the prospect of moving to Bangkok, a city I had never been in before, but I was starting to grow very fond of Seattle, and the people who were to become my very close friends, that I knew it would hurt to leave.

But you only live once, right?

JER was an ongoing underground project that had been underway for over a year. I was to secretly design an engagement ring for my sister's fiance. However despite the facilities available to me while I was at SCAD, I was too caught up in studio, senior and projects to find the time to make her ring. 

A perfect window of opportunity arose when I visited my sister in Ann Arbor, Michigan for a week. I collaborated with local custom jewellery store, Urban Jewelers, to make the ring that I had designed for her. I had already moved to Seattle and begun my new job when the ring was complete, but my sister's fiance picked up where I left off and made the plans for the special day - proposing to her on her birthday dinner at her favourite restaurant. 

The design for the ring was inspired by my recent Raya collection. Compliments to Mark Urban, for being a fantastic goldsmith in being able to carry out my design and congratulations to the officially engaged couple :) 

The perks of being in an art school? Collaboration between the different creative fields!

Pieces from my In Essence jewelry collection were featured in Re: Magazine's Spring 2012 publication, The Extreme Issue. Re: Magazine is an up-and-coming high fashion, art, and culture magazine produced by SCAD students on a professional level. Compliments to Aaron Bernstein, founder and editor-in-chief of the magazine!

To view the entire publication, go here: www.re-savannah.com