This piece was part of the Yukata Jewelry Show 2022 exhibition. Learn more and view the entire collection .

Artist: Nancy Bonnema
Materials: 24kt gold leaf (with Keith Lewis's application technique), enamel, sterling
Dimensions: 135mm by 32mm

Artist Statement: When I saw the bamboo fabric from Okan Arts, I immediately felt such a connection to the line, shape, and form of the graceful bamboo leaf. I researched how much of a contribution bamboo is to our world and the impact it serves to our environment. With its durability, flexibility, and rapid growth, bamboo connects our daily lives to the ecosystem in a number of significant ways. These include, food and cooking utensils, bio fuel, textiles, paper, cooking utensils, bedding, clothing, flooring, Chinese medicine, fences, toothbrushes and so much more. Even pandas enjoy bamboo! What a gift bamboo is to be respected and honored!

Artist Bio: Nancy Bonnema is a Seattle-based studio artist with a passion for storytelling. Using calligraphic mark making combined with the traditional metalsmithing techniques of hand-fabrication and enameling, her work focuses on jewelry and small objects as a format for telling stories. Bonnema grew up working in her family’s jewelry store and she continued working there through college, where she studied to become a dental hygienist; a career that lasted 40 years. Never forgetting her admiration for the goldsmith’s work, she later returned to nurture this passion by enrolling in local jewelry classes. These led her to that “ah ha” moment, and thus began her journey as a professional jewelry maker and metalsmith. Her caring is reflected in her work, which is primarily made as a donation to raise money for the causes she is most committed to.