Week 5: Corinthian Weekend and trying new things
This week was very exciting for me. I tried cuttlefish casting for the first time and I made friends at Anamma Art Jewelry School which is in walking distance from the museum. And I spent the weekend in Corinth!
This was yet another week where the electric rolling machine was on the fritz and I was spending so much effort and time on just making it turn on. I must have looked so jumpy - I would be working on something and then all of a sudden I’d turn my head towards the mill to see if the display was lit. I feel like I freaked out the visitors…but then I remembered Anastasia, the founder of Anamma and who I had talked to in the past. I feel so grateful to her, she let me come and use their mill and it was lovely finally meeting her in person and chatting with her students. I was able to get the majority of the work done to be able to draw it down further by hand so I am really chuffed with the progress I’ve made.
Yannis, who is the external teacher for the ILJM’s workshop courses is super nice and gave me one of the spare cuttlefish bones he had brought with him. I have always been curious about the technique as I didn’t get the chance to try it out at university. I find it much easier compared to carving wax but then again, I don’t have much experience with that either. For me, the way you go about it is much easier for my brain to comprehend. You carve the bone away to make a recess of the shape you want cast instead of carving away wax to reveal it. Does that make sense?
Anyways, although it is a really simple design - an oval with an accented line; I’m really happy with it. Once it gets properly tidied up I am going to make a mould of it so I can make multiples. I can already imagine the jewellery I would like to make with this. Hopefully, I can get some more casting in before the end of my residency since it is really fun and I feel relaxed and very wabi-sabi about it.
And the week ended with a quick trip north to Corinth. I stayed in Ancient Corinth where the Acrocorinth and Archaelogical Museum are as well as the Temple of Apollo, and headed to “new” Corinth for the day before heading back to Athens. I really enjoyed the whole experience. Lots of stray cats and some big dogs, too! The sunset was amazing from the top of the hill outside the Acrocorinth and the sea looked so lush. And I highly recommend Tassos Taverna in Ancient Corinth. I had the pork souvlaki and it was absolutely delicious!
Oh! As I write this, I am catching up on yesterday’s live stream of the GCDC award ceremony. Have you watched it? Or were you there? I’m so happy that so many people I know were there and won. I can’t wait to enter next year ~
10 March 2026