Ushering in the Holidays - Page 2

Another highlight of the new issue is Dave Weinstein's 'Light & Breezy' tale, which profiles Bay Area jeweler Kristen 'Bucko' Sinn. You may have come across Kristen's mid-century-inspired jewelry pieces at the Marin Jewelers Guild in San Rafael, where she is a founding member. Kristen's unique work literally shines, especially in her enamel-on-copper work.

"There's so much you can do with enamel," Kristen says of the age-old technique that fuses glass and metal, using powdered glass, fired in a kiln.

"And so everybody's got a different angle with what they're going to do with enamel. I like mine to just be kind of like shape- and color-driven, and I guess really graphic and bold, and like playful, I guess you'd say."

Kristen is currently gearing up for the holidays, busily creating out of her workshop in a chalet-like, mid-century modern A-frame in Fairfax she also calls home.

"My workshop is just a small, little space," she says. "It's just got your basic jewelry metalworking stuff in there. Small, but you don't need much space when you're working with jewelry."

In recent years Kristen added a kiln to her studio, which has opened new doors of opportunity. "I've really kind of hit my stride," she says. "Now I can do enameling here," and no longer "have to go to the College of Marin and elbow people out of the way to use the kiln."

Of her A-frame home and studio, Kristen says, "I love it, and it's just kind of nostalgic, you know? As a kid growing up in Michigan, we went skiing, so every once in a while we'd rent an A-frame—a kid staying in a vacation-rental kind of thing.

"[Living here] is like being on vacation all the time. And it's nice, because living in an A-frame you can be as wacky as you want with furniture, colors. The sky's the limit, you know."

Looking forward to new and different art projects in the future, Kristen says, "I'm thinking, the next step I want to do is some photo etching. You can photo etch onto any kind of metal, any image."

Through that process, she points out, "the ink from the copier becomes the resist…and you put that in an acid bath that eats away the negative space. Really remarkable, really great. Trial and error."

Discover more about Kristen 'Bucko' Sinn and her work in 'Light & Breezy,' and visit her jewelry in person at the brick-and-mortar storefront of the Marin Jewelers Guild.

We sincerely hope you enjoy CA-Modern's new Fall '21 issue, now en route to the mailboxes of our dear readers everywhere. Click here to view a flip-book version of the entire issue.