Uses This

1268 interviews since 2009

A picture of Moegi Yamanashi

Moegi Yamanashi

Jeweller

in jeweller

Who are you, and what do you do?

I'm Moegi - I'm Japanese, but I've been living in Melbourne for almost 5 years.

I usually work as a barista, but I started making jewellery - I make my own designs as well, but mainly customised based on what customers want. This is one of my passions.

What hardware do you use?

I use a small knife, chopping board, wax, candles, carving tools, files, saw, pliers, silver wires, hammers, and a gas burner. The technique I use mainly is called "lost wax", where I make the shape with wax first and bring that piece to a metal casting place to turn into actual sterling silver. I use different types of wax - soft wax that I can shape with my fingers, and ring-shaped wax that I can file and carve to make the shape. Depending on what I make, I'll choose the wax to work on first and then use different tools like a saw, carving tools, files, and candles to make the shape which is in my imagination.

The other technique I use is silversmithing, so I use tools to change the shape and texture of actual silver. I use pliers to shape wire, solder/flux/gas burner to solder pieces, and hammer/files/oxidising solution to finish up.

Because I'm still gathering proper tools one by one, I use kitchen tools and anything else that works.

Also, I use an iPad (Air, released in 2019) and an Apple Pencil (1st generation) for researching and designing jewellery.

And what software?

I use an app called GoodNotes on the iPad to draw and design pieces. It's originally a note-taking app, so it's not made specifically for designing jewellery, but because I do other different things like studying having this app really helps me organise my different types of work all at once.

I focus on customised jewellery for each of the different orders, so I usually draw 3 to 5 different sketches to send to customers so that they can choose or add more suggestions for what they want.

I used to draw on a notebook, but since I started using the app it's easier for me to edit after an initial designe. Also, I can make a different "notebook" and put my work in different files, which helps me organise what I do.

What would be your dream setup?

Having a tiny cozy studio is my absolute dream (which will happen in the future!), with all the tools set up, and where I can feel close to nature so that I can get inspiration. At the moment I work on everything in my living room and on the balcony, with limited tools. Because I've just started my work on silver and am still working towards being a skilled silversmith, I don't have enough tools at the moment. So I want to gather the basics to work on pieces, and also get a desk with all the things organised.

I also love to do ceramics, so it would be very lovely to have a desk for jewellery work and wheels for ceramics to have my own creative space!

Uses This is supported by ZSA, makers of the Moonlander, ErgoDox EZ and Planck EZ keyboards. They also publish an awesome newsletter.