Kumiko Kihara

Field of Tree Jewellery
Kumiko Kihara
QEST Scholar (Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust) and OCG member (Oxfordshire Craft Guild)
I have been making beeswax jewellery, which is a traditional Japanese lost wax technique, called “Mitsuro-Hikime”. When you stretch it with your fingers and your state of mind results in some unique lines. Whilst I make Mitsuro wax jewellery, because the movement of your fingers and thumbs are so intense and the beeswax has to be in a right temperature, I sometimes forget to breathe, but the reward from my breathlessness is unbeatable. The lines that appear on the wax are what I felt at that moment and that moment is so important.

All of my jewellery is handcrafted in Oxfordshire with sterling silver and 18k/24k gold, hallmarked by Birmingham Assay Office.