Won Joo showed up at Young-Soo's after calling Nan (my chilbo teacher) and finding out I was there. Nan told me like this, "Won-Joo, bogoshipda Becky" which told me that Won-Joo missed me and that he was coming. He brought some food that his mom had made for Chuseok and it was delicious.
He then surprised me by asking if I wanted to see his shop. I've been wanting to see where he works forever. So we got into his car and off we went. His workshop is near Sung-Dae Station on a tiny side street. The picture above is where he carves and makes his molds of his designs.
His wall was filled with his award winning work. I am truly amazed at his talent and his lack of any ego.
This was one of the his latest creations. He first carves the design out of a really hard plastic then makes a rubber mold out of it. I'm surprised that the mold are all rubber since he works in silver. I don't know how that works but he showed me where he melts the silver and pours it into these containers. His English is very poor so I had a hard time understanding.
This is also one of his new designs. It is perfect for chilbo and is pretty big. I love his detail.
These were just too cool!
Loved this keychain. Silver is out of this world right now and I have no idea how expensive these things are. He also told me that he does a lot of work for merchants in Namdaemum. They ask for certain designs or even will give him a sample. He just makes the mold and sells the mold to the vendor who then manufactures it in mass quantities. He showed me a teddy bear keychain that he designed and I was shocked. I have seen that in shops for sale all over Korea.
How fun was this, Becky? Wow, his work is amazing. Maybe he finds silver and melts it down. I love the details. It looks like he stays busy in his workshop.
ReplyDeleteMolly, bogoshipda Becky too! :)