Interview of Prince Cyrus, conducted by Kimberly Zapata

Q. What is Blessings to You?
A: Blessings to You is the title of my current creative metalsmithing venture which, at the moment, includes designing ear weights and bespoke commissions. The phrase comes directly from my process of creating something for someone as a talisman, an object to carry and direct intention. No dogma subscribed, just well wishes. It took a very long time to think of some clever name or witty phrase but when all was said and done I chose Blessings to You because everything else seemed unable to describe the spirit of my work. On a physical level, BTY is mostly just me at my home studio, hand carving models, and casting them in my garden. But for bigger projects, like creating enough stock for everyone at the APP Exposition, I am very thankful to have support from the fine folks casting at Anatometal in Santa Cruz.

Q: Speaking of Anatometal, how has your collaboration been going with them so far? Are there any big projects in the works you can share with us?
A: Oh my how wonderful it is to be able to visit all the beautiful faces at Anatometal. Their offices and production areas are massive! I always feel like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory. (Cyrus laughs.) Barry and Tod have been so welcoming to me when I come through and I really feel like part of the family there. This being my second year casting I feel like I’ve hit the ground running with my abilities to create, but there is no replacement for the experience in casting like Tony has. I’ve been so thankful being able to count on them for my larger production for Vegas everyone was able to take home jewelry they wanted except the bats of course they sold out the first day. As a wizard I always have something up my sleeve…but for now I’ll stay tight-lipped.

Q: What was the catalyst that drove you to create Blessings to You?
A: I’ve dreamt of hand-making metal art for many years. From when I was young being around iron artists, to coming up as a piercer, then assisting design companies; this all further fueled my thirst for learning. The world of jewelry in our industry is very small, especially compared to other industries. For a while I wanted to step back and find a space for myself that was not ‘stepping on anyone’s toes’ so to speak. I created BTY in response to a yearning to contribute to my DIY community and for stability in the context of hypergentrification in San Francisco.

Q: Many of your pieces seem inspired by nature. Can you tell me a bit about how you decide on your designs, and what the creative process is like?
A: My first collection last year was entitled ‘The Floating World,’ as an honor to Japanese nature spirits. I chose pieces based on musings about 16th century Japanese poetry and how that poetry described the mysterious connection we have to the icons of nature. For example, the cicada is iconic for its symbolism of rites of passage and its intense summer mating song.

The focus of this year’s collection shifted under water, for my ‘Modern Atlantis,’ bringing awareness about the starfish wasting disease and the endangered nudibranch sea slugs off the California coasts. It frightens me how mass extinction seems unending in our era, and as an artist I wanted to create bronze body art for archeologists 1000 years from now to dig up and ask ‘Where did this go? Why did they make this?’

Creating these pieces usually starts with hours of research until I envision the right subject of what I am to execute. Sometimes there are days of hand-carving or sometimes hours of rummaging through a forest for the right moment to observe a critter or find the perfect tree pod.

Q: How does this creative process then inspire your displays, and what you want people to see?
A: Usually researching a subject really lets me dive deep into the culture of a thing. For example, Atlantis wasn’t just some Greek myth. If you go deeper and deeper you notice many cultures speak of an ancient climate change that devoured coastal cities, cities that we are unearthing off coasts all over the planet. From there I wanted to create a mood for my booth at the expo: hand-painted Neolithic ruins, coral pieces, pyramids, crystal displays, a giant wooden Ziggurat. Selenite crystal slabs were great, a subtle flat white background for displaying bronze and standard versions of designs. “Underwater and ancient” was the set, and my jewelry were the players. I wanted people to see more of a story in my designs, and I tried to use thematic elements in my display to bring that point across.

Q: What do you feel is the most important factor to consider when displaying jewelry, and how does that differ when you display jewelry online versus in a store (or at an expo)?
A: I would say that the most important thing to consider when displaying jewelry is being able to let someone understand everything a piece is about in one glance. Visually you should be able to see the whole silhouette and the physical details. Avoid visual clutter and have a color scheme in mind. Setting the environment around the jewelry should be simple but thematic of the pieces. I try to keep the eye directed through a display to unknowingly move an onlooker along to other pieces. Visuals can entertain while also inform, is there text about the materials and price? I tend to be more contemporary when displaying my jewelry in a studio by keeping flat surfaces and simple accessories in the cases, as opposed to displaying jewelry at an Exposition where a grandiose presentation is better appreciated. In the digital world I love seeing my jewelry next to real life versions of themselves, in pristine natural environments, inside fancy case displays, and—of course—an infamous selfie never hurts. I tend to not have such a strict method to online photos, and on the contrary, I feel the more variety that is displayed of jewelry online the better—only as long as the jewelry is in focus!

Q: What can we expect to see from Blessings to You over the coming year?
A: A glimpse into my bag of tricks?  I’m really loving the fact we’ll be at the Flamingo next year for 20th Anniversary Conference, so I’m thinking taking everyone’s ears, necks and arms into the Amazon this year. Think vivid splashes of color, jeweled python in trees, and sloths swimming with piranha through a lush flooded forest. Everyone should start seeing a little bit by little come winter. I’m really in love with found object natural casting, so I intend on releasing more ear jewelry and accessories from the mountains. Theo, from Honeycomb Organics, and I have also been collaborating on a series of plugs. Plus offering bespoke has led me to no shortage of work making folks dream jewelry. If there is one thing I know how to do it’s keeping busy!

Phoebe Minona

I am being given the opportunity to write about my company, Tawapa, for this issue of The Point, as we won the award for “Best Multiple Booth Display” at this year’s Conference. I’m honored of course, but given the audience, a promotional article on who we are feels redundant. We’ve been around awhile and, if you have too, you’ve probably already read it somewhere before. This realization allowed me to reflect on all the years we have been in this industry and how it has changed over time. A more appropriate title for this article could be “Growing up as a business in an unstable environment” or,” A condensed history of organic jewelry through the eyes of Tawapa.”

Being in our teens (as a company) feels the same as getting older as a human. We have become wiser and more mature, but we are left wondering how so much time could have passed. As we continue to accumulate years of experience, I realize that the lifespan of this company reflects the ebb and flow of life itself, a road paved with joy and successes, but not without bumps, potholes, and major road blocks.

I began Tawapa as a renegade wanderer, rejecting the confines of normalcy for a life of adventure, art, and eccentric exchanges with extraordinary people. This put me on a direct trajectory into the piercing world, which embodied and supported all of these ideals. In 1996, I found myself in a small carving village in Indonesia. In those days, the carvers in that village were actually carving sculptures, animals, and art, but as years passed the village has become dominated by piercing jewelry—to the point of oversaturation. When I first arrived there, I was introduced to an exceptional carver who opened the doors of creativity to me. I was so inspired, the possibilities felt limitless. I came back to America with a little suitcase full of treasures I had collected and created. I traveled the country in an old truck with my little case and my carver friend at a time when almost no one had even encountered “organic” jewelry. In fact, that term was only just then being coined. If I am correct, it was Erica Skatsen who coined it. I met her in Portland that summer. She was hand-carving beautiful wood plugs.  She was a pioneer in her field and our meeting felt important and exciting.  Besides Erika, Borneo Joe had created and produced incredible jewelry, but his wares were not widely distributed. In Europe, Cold Steel and Wild Cat had begun carrying some carved horn and bone jewelry, but that was it. The tiniest handful of artists, designers, and distributors were the beginning of a new movement of jewelry in the piercing world which, until that time, had been dominated by steel jewelry.

As we all know, the term “organic jewelry” quickly became industry jargon.  An influx of carved jewelry, particularly horn and bone, flooded the market. Everyone and their piercer decided to go to Bali, the mecca of the organic movement, to cash in on a budding micro industry that seemed to be growing and growing. Meanwhile, the peaceful village of artisans took down their signs that said “handicrafts” and hung new ones stating “piercing jewelry”. An artist village became a piercing village. The younger locals even began adopting the style, stretching their ears, covering themselves in tattoos, and listening to punk rock heavy metal.

This shift in the industry was both exciting and overwhelming. I loved the hardcore aesthetic some of the Balinese were embodying at the same time that more and more people in America and Europe were stretching their ears and choosing organic jewelry.  I did not love the disproportionate amount of jewelry companies that were popping up everyday, and with them, an excessive amount of rip offs and counterfeits. However, now that we are in our ripe old teenage years, I can look back at that time with gratitude and appreciate the fruits that blossomed from that rich yet unstable environment.

Within a couple years, we saw many companies fall as quickly as they had risen. Most of them realized that there was a lot more to running an international business than they had imagined, and the dream was quickly deflated. The ones that did manage to hold on and grow within the industry did so because they were exceptional. With so much competition, the only way to make it was to be amazing. Today there are only a few really successful companies in the “organic jewelry” industry.  The ones who have succeeded are the ones who have forged their own unique aesthetic and style, who make beautiful high quality jewelry, and who know how to run and manage a business.

I feel honored to have been able to experience so much growth and change and sometimes challenge in this dynamic, insular, tiny beast of a community. I am grateful to the companies who came before me for paving the road.  I also appreciate all of those companies who came and went over the years.  I see now that they helped shape who we are (and who we are not), and demanded that we up our game. Most of all, as I reflect on the history of Tawapa, I thank our loyal customers who have supported us all these years and I thank my colleagues, the ones who have carved their own niche in this industry, through beautiful jewelry and a sense of integrity.  They have challenged me to continue to excel. Because of them, I have not had the luxury of being lazy. I have learned humility in the most honorable way.  I am constantly inspired and motivated to create and to continue to evolve Tawapa on all levels.

This year has brought a lot of change for us as a company, with a move to Los Angeles, a new look, new logo, and more jewelry than ever before.  In this industry, as in life, change is the only constant. Embracing change is the gift that comes with age.  We, at Tawapa, feel that we are at the dawning of another new era in jewelry, and in life, and we cannot wait to share it with you.

Caitlin McDiarmid

While at Conference this year,  Bethra Szumski came and found me. She had spoken with Josh’s mom that day. During the course of relaying the story to me, she was overcome with emotion.  She told me that Josh’s mom is so very grateful that we are keeping Josh’s memory alive with this award.

At Conference I asked everyone: those who knew Josh and miss him and those who didn’t know Josh, but should have—raise a glass, whether water or wine—and toast Josh, a very fine young man who left this place too early, and leaves us both richer and poorer with his departure.

The recipient of this year’s Josh A. Prentice Award is Ryan Ouellette.

Ryan is a good friend of mine.  Somewhere in my head I worried about giving him this award.  He’s more than deserving, but sometimes our community can’t see that service—and what it means to volunteer can be extremely diverse.

Ryan isn’t a traditional boots-on-the ground volunteer or an in-the-trenches volunteer.

He has, however, contributed hours and hours of work and some of the major ideas that have shaped our Conference into what it is today.

Back on December 5, 2008 I received an email from Ryan, whom I didn’t know well. He wrote that some of our most trusted Board Members had been impressed with his teaching at BMX and that they suggested he reach out and possibly teach at the APP Conference.  He wrote. “maybe I sucked, and they just felt bad.” He was a bit self-deprecating, and didn’t seem to think that we would be interested.

By February of 2009, a mere two months later, he had submitted two fully fleshed-out proposals to the Conference Committee: one was for a workshop-based class that changed up the lecture format (that all classes were being taught in at that time) and one was for the Mentor Program.

In 2009 he wasn’t an APP member and therefore wasn’t asked to take on the lead role in either of the programs. However, due to certain circumstances, he wound up taking the lead on the Mentor Program that year and playing a key role teaching some of the workshop sessions. By the following year, while he still wasn’t a member, he was lead instructor on the workshop session(s) as was Jesse Villemaire. (At that time, the APP allowed non-members to teach only if they were “experts” on a topic and they were more qualified to teach the class than an available member.)

Ryan has consistently provided ideas and thoughts on ways to improve Conference since he got involved in 2008. These two programs alone have reshaped our Conference, infused new excitement into classes, and were instrumental, I believe, in changing how our seasoned attendees treat and perceive new attendees.

How else has he volunteered? For the past three years he has participated in processing, interviewing, and choosing the Al D. scholars—which, this year, also included 26 phone interviews.

He has worked countless hours as part of the APP team for Tumblr. (The estimation of hours is  seven to ten hours per a week; that’s somewhere between 726 hours and 1040 hours over the last two years.) And we know these social media efforts have been key to the growth that our membership and our Conference has experienced recently.

He is always available for me—offering to help in any way throughout the year—and I hand him small projects where I can.

He is also the first person at Conference who took great pains to arrange for me to leave the hotel a few years back and go out to dinner with him and his friends. While it seems like a simple thing, for me this was a monumental task. By doing this, however, it became clear to me that if I put my trust in my volunteer team that everything would be ok, whether I was there or not.

Instructor, mentor, inspiration, social media mogul, and finally an APP member, Ryan became a member in 2011. I had many conversations with him before he became a member—about the Association and membership. Through his experience and service with the Association, Ryan changed his views of the APP and become one of our staunchest advocates.

Ryan is a special kind of leader. He is special kind of volunteer.

He’s provided emotional support and friendship for years, especially during Conference crunch time. I am so glad to have him as my friend, and it was a joy to present this award to him.