We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Esther Kao a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Esther, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

My journey as a jeweler started about 12 years ago. At the time, I was working full time as an art director at an ad agency. I had been making jewelry and selling at craft fairs, but I was increasingly frustrated because I wanted to make rings but I did not know how to solder. That’s when I started taking weekly metalsmithing classes. I quickly discovered that metal fabrication was something I really enjoyed. I wish I had gotten into it sooner, but it had never been on my radar. I started getting more and more into metalsmithing, and even took a couple week-long workshops at craft schools in Tennessee and North Carolina. More recently, I have been taking a stone setting course at the Jewelry Institute of America, which is local to me.

Most of what I know how to do has been through those nightly metalsmithing classes, workshops, and my weekly stone setting course. And of course, a lot of practice in between. I’ve found that I love learning, but learning does not equal skill. To truly get the most out of a class or workshop, it’s important to practice, over and over. The actual learning can’t really be sped up, because it just takes time to master the craft. If I could do it all over again, though, I would have started earlier. For instance, I probably would have tried to get a degree in jewelry making, or gone to a specific jewelry program.

As a jeweler, the most essential skills have been learning how to use (and control) the torch, knowing how the different kinds of metals react to heat and to hammering/bending. With stone setting, I’ve found that good control of the flex shaft is vital.

For me, the biggest obstacle to my learning has been my role as a stay at home mom. It has been a joy to be at home with my kids, but it has also meant that jewelry making happens less often and at a slower pace. The lesson I’m still learning is to accept and appreciate the time that I have for my craft, and to also enjoy the time I have at home with my children. But still, that makes both learning and creating things a lot less consistent.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Esther, and I am a stay at home mom and jeweler. I was an advertising art director for years before I got into jewelry making. I got into metalsmithing as an outlet from my demanding job, and fell in love with it. At that point, I had already been making jewelry, but had grown frustrated that I could not execute my designs because I didn’t know how to solder or set stones. Once I started learning how to use the torch, I knew I had found something that just felt right. I loved it so much that I quit my job to focus on jewelry. But then came the kids, and I became a stay at home mom. And so now, I am at home with my kids full time, and I do jewelry making in my free time.

As a jeweler, I love that I now have the knowledge to turn any of my sketches into a tangible piece of jewelry. I am proud of the skills I’ve acquired without having a degree or apprenticeship. I’ve recently learned how to pave set, which I am also incredibly proud of. It has shown me that I do have what it takes, and has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for my jewelry designs.

Over the years, I’ve made things from craft fair pieces to anniversary gifts. Each of them has been well thought out and meticulously crafted. Most of my jewelry is rather dainty and understated, but I’d like to think that each of my beautiful pieces bring just a bit more confidence to the wearer. I know that when I wear my own jewelry, I feel just that much more special.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My story of resilience is the story of how I’ve persevered with my craft through motherhood. As with any art, jewelry making takes time. And the more I make jewelry, I find that I’ve aimed for more and more challenging projects. It has often been difficult for me to find the time to work. When my kids were young, I would do my jewelry making during nap time. Sometimes that meant I would have to run out to the garage to hammer something so I wouldn’t wake up my sleeping child. Now that they are older, I have the mornings when they are at school. But ultimately, I have learned to use the time I have, whether it’s fifteen minutes or three hours.

My resilience also comes from my desire to grow my skills. A few years ago, we moved to a small city where there was no access to a metalsmithing community. This meant that I was unable to ask other jewelers for advice on a piece I was working on, and that was something I was used to doing. So I learned to problem solve on my own. I scoured Facebook, jewelry forums and books, and figured things out by just trying it. Sometimes this meant melting prongs, or setting a stone crookedly. I could have easily given up. But my desire to challenge myself, and to learn new techniques always propelled me forwards. This work ethic has allowed me to grow in skill and confidence over the years.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Oh I think about this a lot! Looking back, I have a long list of things that I wish I had known when I was just starting out with making jewelry. Some, I cannot change, such as wishing that I had been exposed to the jewelry world earlier – for instance in high school. If I had, then maybe I would have looked into jewelry programs or art school, instead of getting a degree in advertising.

Outside of that, I wish I had known about jewelry schools, such as the JIA (Jewelry Institute of America), or New Approach, where they have programs that teach you to be a diamond setter or bench jeweler. I also wish I had known about craft schools such as Penland and Haystack, where you can take a one or two week course taught by visiting metal artists.

And finally, I wish I had known how to get an apprenticeship. There was a year in life where I quit my advertising job to focus on jewelry. I had wanted to learn the trade. Perhaps with a bit of persistence and gumption, I could have landed some sort of apprenticeship. But, outside of job boards, I didn’t know where to start. And those job boards never seemed to have such openings. I wish I had some sort of guide to help me navigate that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.estherkao.com
• Instagram: @estherkaojewelry
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/estherkaojewelry/

Image Credits

profile photo by Esther Huynh.