April Higashi Jewelry

Shibumi Project

Shibumi ProjectsApril HigashiComment

This project was inspired by my clients.

Over the years of making and selling jewelry I have been fortunate to meet many wonderful people and hear the myriad of stories and events that so often accompany a piece of jewelry; stories of relationships, marriages and anniversaries, births and birthdays, divorces and deaths and pretty much everything in-between these significant moments.  My clients have sometimes shared family secrets and tidbits of their lives that even their spouses, partners, family or friends don’t know.  Jewelry and stories go hand in hand and relationships and events can forever remain entwined with the piece.  I am forever curious and deeply honored to play a small yet significant role in these life events.

Through working as a jeweler and gallerist I have amassed an archive of stories from my clients.  I love the way my clients, many who I now count as friends, mix the work with their own pieces and then to watch as over the years work from the gallery often begins taking over their fingers and bodies each time they come in.

My clients are aesthetically minded, thoughtful, smart and engaging people who have found ways to express their own individuality through their jewelry.  Shibumi Project documents these people who have shared their stories and lives with me while supporting my work and the gallery.

Shibumi Project will be a collaboration with photographer Cynthia Wood who will capture the way which my clients layer pieces together revealing their own unique styles and personalities.  Accompanying the photographs and with their permission will be the story of a piece of jewelry which they shared with me on visits to the studio and gallery.

Several times a year the website will feature a new client and their story.  Past projects will be archived in our blog.

A very special thank you to all of my clients who have supported my work, the gallery and shared their stories with me along the way, continuously inspiring and sparking my imagination and creativity.