![In a Kolkata State of Mind]()
by dianna | Apr 9, 2010 | Made By Survivors
After 4 days in Kolkata I am already keeping time to a different tune. Kolkata’s music is almost deafening; like speed heavy metal; incessant honking as all vehicles from cars to rickshaws to bicycles have horns, Hindu temple bells, the security guard who announces his presence to all potential thugs at 2 a.m. Throw out everything you learned in Driver’s Education here because there are no lanes, driver’s don’t use indicators and there are few roads with lanes and pedestrians never have the right of way. The noise is a constant backdrop but you need to go with the flow here or else Kolkata’s intensity will break you. Of course it’s not just the noise; the smell of stinking garbage everywhere, the poor and down trodden then collecting said garbage to sleep on, the unrelenting heat and humidity and sitting all day in sweat soaked clothes, the emaciated stray cats and dogs, the flying cockroaches the size of hummingbirds, the decrepit sidewalks and building facades, the insanely aggressive salespeople, the daily multi-hour power outages, the constant staring eyes that follow you everywhere and not to mention the faces of the survivors of human trafficking with whom we are working.
Survival in the city makes me more impressed and awe-struck with the Indian people, how do they deal with this full on sensory assault every day? Most just flash warm smiles and go about their day, make a comment about that heat, (yes, they think it’s really hot, too) and go with the flow because here you just need to think of yourself as rubber rather than glass as the City smacks you around, or else you will crack. Dealing with the issues of the Jewelry Program is a similar battle. That is why the accomplishment of the Made By Survivor’s Jewelry Program is all the more sweet. Malleability, to use a jewelry term, is essential to survival and maintaining your composure. It is imperative to go with the grain rather than against, or else Kolkata will work you over.
by dianna | Mar 21, 2010 | Inspiration
One of the reasons I love jewelry is because I’m a sentimental. Jewelry is very often a sentimental gift or purchase and a journey around someone’s jewelry box will reveal all kinds of experiences. When I look around mine it is a trip down memory lane, a metal scrapbook, and although I don’t wear all the pieces in my collection anymore, they still bring me back to that time and place when I wore that piece.
Which pieces cause the nostalgia? Everything from the sapphire gold rope abstract geometric ring reminding me of my Grandma’s quirky-fun style, to the heavily oxidized, chunky, silver choker with round, rough, cabochons that transports me to studying and traveling Europe. I wore it everywhere and was known to sleep in it. I have this tremendous, pear-shaped moonstone and sterling silver pendant I bought from a cart vendor of handmade jewelry, in a Washington DC airport. The purchase was total impulse on my first out of state business trip for the agency that hired me out of college. That piece was special; I still associate it with feelings of independence and empowerment. I also treasure my pearl, tanzanite and white gold necklace, the first gift from my beloved.
At present, I am always wearing this one, particular ring no matter what I am wearing. It is a plane round silver band. It’s made from recycled silver that was melted down into an ingot in a simple charcoal block. Then, the little hunk of silver was formed into wire using a mill and drawn down into a usable size. Next, the wire was sanded, formed and soldered into a ring, sized and, lastly, polished. I made this ring while at jewelry arts school, the ingot was my first, and, the resulting ring was my first following the ancient process step by step from scratch. I love that a bare bones silver band reminds me of the happiness evoked during this, almost spiritual, experience. I also love the slight anticipation of making the next, memorable piece of jewelry.
by dianna | Aug 6, 2009 | Dianna B Designs Jewelry, Inspiration
Growing up in Long Island, New York provided Dianna with the unique experience to be inspired by the bounties of nature and the bounties of an urban, cultural mecca. Beachcombing and making talismans from the ocean’s treasures are some of her earliest memories, as are thrill-seeking adventures to the various havens and haunts of New York City. Recreating that feeling of wonder is something she works to capture, as is the balancing of organic, rustic elements, and urban grit; classical metalsmithing foundations and contemporary design, in her fine jewelry.
Inspiration for the jewelry comes from all aspects of nature, ancient stories, foreign lands, rock and roll, and gritty cities. Jewelry collections are named for the mythological deities of Ancient Rome and Greece. Ancient myth’s divine characters, symbolism, and personification of nature, are an endless muse and feeling like a modern god or goddess in your artisan adornment is an ideal state of being. The idea that the bulk of these ancient myths are younger than the art of goldsmithing is also enchanting, as one of the principal deities of Roman mythology was the god of fire and blacksmithing, Vulcan.
Dianna has a B.A. from University at Albany, New York, where she had the amazing opportunity to study, live and travel in Europe for a semester. She studied the classical techniques of metalworking at Jewelry Arts Institute in New York City and Revere Academy of the Jewelry Arts in San Francisco, where she completed the School’s Jewelry Technician Intensive Program. Dianna worked at the Kristin Hanson Studio in Brooklyn, NY where she was a studio assistant and instructor. She is a member of the Metal Arts Guild in San Francisco and is a part of a community of metalsmiths working to use eco-friendly practices such as recycling metal, using conflict free gemstones and seeking out products that contribute to operating a “greener” studio. Currently, Dianna resides in beautiful Northern California continuing to live her dreams.
