Michael, you make great pieces in glass, how did you decide to dedicate your life to glass works?

The very first time I had the opportunity to try glass making I was living in Belgium. There was a school for applied arts nearby, and I had heard there was a glass programme there. I was absolutely determined to attend the course. On a day open to the public, I visited. I was offered the chance to give glass blowing a try. I gathered a small gob of glass, and blew a bubble about the size of a golf ball. That was it, I was hooked!

What difference do you find between glass and other materials?
Molten glass evokes within me a deep sense of mystery. I have a great sense that there is still so little I know and master about the material. My intention and will is constantly kept restrained by the my physical limitations, and the physical limits of the material itself. I find with other materials there is less compromise between deliberate interaction with the material and the aesthetic result. Glass as a material determines and limits very much what I can do with it, more so than with other materials.

Through your story, it was hard when you begun, how did you deal with it?
There was nothing else I wanted to do. I was completely determined to become a glass maker. I felt like I had found my voice. I didn’t really consider at the time that things were hard; I was happy!

Did you ever imagine yourself doing what you are doing now?
No, not really. Glass came at me as a surprise. I’m not so surprised I’m doing something creative though. Even from a very young age I was uninhibited creatively and confident. All other subjects at school were difficult and foreign to me.

How do you make your designs? Do you sketch before glass blowing?
I carry drawing books, or draw on anything I can find if I can’t find my drawing book. I will often design by cutting big sheets of stiff paper with a scissors to the desired shape. The scissors take the place of a pencil. Its easier to see the nuance of a curve this way. I always make sketches before glass blowing. As a teenager I had an art teacher who used to shout “ Make a drawing…No happy accidents!” That has stayed with me.

Working on a design, I might make a few pieces in glass before I’ve got it. It’s a bit like a rapid-prototyping process. I learn if it’s even possible for me to make the object, or see how I need to change the design to be able to make it. I need to teach myself how to make each individual design.

How your ideas come up?
When I finished University, concept was everything. I made landscape installations, then photographed them and documented them. Functionalism was simply too common for me! The more I learned about glass making though,function became the primary concern, but I have never eliminated my attraction to the concept. Light, shadow, line, or perhaps a quirky surprise are all elements of my design language.
I sort of have a memory bank of colours I have seen, or made pictures or notes of, textures that attract me, materials that sometimes take my breath away because of their simple beauty, or brutality.I love bright winter light, snow covered landscapes and leafless trees. I am overwhelmed visually by arid landscapes, or cityscapes at dawn and sunset. I strive to make pieces that slowly reveal their secrets.

You like more functional objects than decorative ones, which one is your favorite?
I drink everyday from a roundy tumbler.

My heart skips a beat when I see Hive Jars. Favourites.

You are making now several “luminaires”, what does light mean to you?
On one occasion, on a completely normal day, I was riding the bus to attend my University classes. I was looking out the window, and was suddenly and consciously overwhelmed by the fullness and beauty of the light outdoors. It was a visceral experience. I had for the first become aware that I was looking at light. And to look at light is to see colour.

You sign all your objects, how does it look like?
I sign my work with a diamond engraving tool so it’s completely my natural signature. What that really means is nobody can read what it says…but it looks nice!!

Talking about money, can you live from your work? Is it easy?
Money? Yes, I live from my work. I make glass full time. Good thing though I have modest material aspirations! Is it easy? No, it’s exhausting and physically tiring, but I’m very happy. There’s nothing else I would rather be doing. I meet many people who earn much more money than me, and many don’t like their jobs. I am very fortunate to do what I love.

Which are the surprises working with glass?
Glass never ceases to amaze me. I love to simply look at it in all its’ forms. That’s surprising.

What is beauty for you?
It is unadorned essence.

Tell us a how a normal day in your work is…
I start work very early in the summer at 6a.m. so we can work before it gets too hot. I get up very very early so I have time to “do nothing”, sit quietly and drink coffee; look out the window before I go to work. I look at the light. Listen to the birds…such a paradox, birds singing their hearts out in the midst of the city. I cycle most days to work.
I get to the studio and stand in front of the main door. I listen for the sound of the furnace. I prepare the colours we’ll be using for the day, turn on the annealing oven and start the heating drum. Turn on the ventilation fans. From this moment on the studio is alive, and warming up very fast. My assistant is at the studio too. Her name is Adriana. We make coffee, and hoover the shop floor. Everyday. Even if it doesn’t look like it needs it. I need a clean, unencumbered workplace.

I’ve made a list of what needs to be done that day. We’ll start often by making small colourless pieces, like drinking glasses, to warm up. Then we move on to coloured things, or larger things. We make a combination of things from my own range of work, or lamp bases and lighting components we have co-designed, or merely execute for a handful of our interior design clients.

Around 9:30 my partner Natascha Wahl shows up after she’s taken our child to school. She heads upstairs to the office. We just keep going, until we have a little rest for a cup of tea and a chat about the day with Natascha and some breakfast around 10:00. Then work straight through until 2pm, when we all stop for lunch together. It’s too difficult to stop for an hour to eat, then try to start up again in the heat. We began recording the temperature in the studio at the end of summer last year. The hottest day we recorded was 43 degrees. I think we were probably happier when we didn’t know!

We have lunch for an hour, then our assistant Adriana leaves. I continue working, grinding, cutting and polishing pieces, or packing work for shipment in what’s known as the “cold shop”. Sometimes after lunch I go straight up to the office to do design work for job enquiries, or I try to take care of correspondence before I head home hopefully before 6p.m.

We always try to schedule development meetings after 2 in the afternoon. We are doing more consultation and development for designers and retailers, so in a busy week we might have two or three meetings on various afternoons. Lots of days I’ll put in 12 hours at work. On Fridays I melt glass for the rest of the week. Sometimes I’ll go to the studio on a Saturday morning when it’s quiet, just me, and draw new ideas. I really love those days.

Which would be an ideal project?
I dream of accomplishing a large lighting installation for a hotel or public space, with a clear design brief and available budget, and all the right people to help with the technical expertise, specialist fabrication and installation at exactly the right time! That’s not too much is it?

Which ones have been the best moments of your professional life?
Probably the moment when we landed a big job for a big retailer the first year Natascha and I had become self employed. We thought the buyer had made a mistake when we looked at the quantities. We rang her up to confirm it. It took me and Natascha about eight weeks to make the work.

And the worst?
When the economic crisis hit in 2007 we nearly hung up the business. We held on.

Which is the most difficult from your work, and what you like more?
Most difficult? Not being paid on time!! We’ve put our hearts and often back breaking work into every piece we make, and then to chase for overdue payment is really demoralising . What do I like more? I am happy making glass. It doesn’t matter what it is.

Which is the best advice that you have received?
I worked in the kitchen of a busy restaurant when I was at University. After our shift, when we were congratulating ourselves after an especially busy evening, the head-chef came up to us. We thought he was going to praise us as he began to talk. He said ,” Boys….listen to me, I’m gonna tell you something…You think you know something, but let me tell you….you don’t know SHIT.”
I doubt I’ll ever forget that.

And the advice that you will give to?
Work even harder than you already think you are. Do what makes you happy.

If you could go back to the past, would you change anything? Would you work on glass?
I sometimes wish I would have discovered glass making a bit earlier!

Do you see yourself at 60’s working on this?
Definitely!

PAST

I always… look into things very close

As a child, I wanted to be … My parents say that I was always doing origami pieces even before I learned how to read, they had to read me the instructions. I guess I’ve always wanted to do things with my hands.

College was… very creative

I never saw myself… working in a boring job

PRESENT

Right now… I like what I’m doing

My favourite pastime… is looking for inspiration

My work represents… beauty in the simplicity

Working… is fun

I choose to work in my medium because…I can focus on the details and make special pieces

On a rainy day…I turn the melancholy mood on.

I couldn’t live without… sunlight.

I’ve always wondered… how do you know for sure if you’re doing the right thing or not?

I wish I knew… the solution for everything

Every day I like… to go for a walk to the Retiro Park

I love … gemstones

A little secret about me… I love tiny things

I wish I could have… a huge, old studio full of tools

A perfect day… can be any day

I would travel to… Madrid, go to the Retiro Park at sunset and sit down at Alfonso XII monument

I get bored… easily and then my thoughts take the control

FUTURE

Someday I hope… I’ll have my own studio-shop/p>

I’d like to … show other people the beautiful world of jewellery

My next step is… learning something new about gemstones

In 10 years…. I hope I’ll be proud of myself

Celia, why jewellery after having finished a degree in Architecture?
There are many ways of thinking Architecture, and the one I’ve always liked the most is the content one, with a justified minimum answer based on details, not so much the magnificent works with huge shows. In my final degree project, which was an ideal project for me to do, I already experimented with this world of details, planning a building which grew along the time by a series of different pieces anchorage in different positions. The most important part was designing the mechanism, its joints… beginning from the smallest parts in order to make it grow.

This is just a look into Architecture, but it also can be applied to jewellery and I love that.

5. How do you express your architectural knowledge through your jewellery brand MIGAYO?
Architecture and jewellery have one thing in common which is that they are both used. They are at the service of people so their shape must be coherent with their needs.
My philosophy is that beauty is a result of finding solutions in a smart and simple way.

The multi-faced bracelet is an example of this way of working. Its form is pure and minimalist, its folding angles flow with the wrist shape, working or writing while wearing it much easier. Its closing system is included in the design, it’s not an extra element and it’s designed by using metal tension. This simple element is in harmony with the entire piece and becomes the focus of it.

6. What is your inspiration for designing your collections? The material? The shape? The colour?
It has more to do with the structure. For instance, in “Organisms” collection I play with natural, organic and soft shapes cut in the wax blocks, that I afterwards melt into metal moulds. In “Minimum” collection, the silver thread allows me to shape and add details… Right now, I’m exploring the metal tiles folding which will end up in another collection.

Are you inspired by any designer in particular?
I usually check on relevant jewellers work such as Kazumi Nagano or Giovanni Corvaja, whose pieces have an apparent simple balance, while hiding a complex perfect technique. I also search for inspiration in other fields of activities like industrial design or even architecture.
I always find inspiration by going through the history of jewellery. In the past, a piece of jewellery had a significant symbolic power, meaning protection, hierarchy or membership in order to make a difference. I often write some opinion pieces on my blog about Etruria jewellery, classical Greece or Art Nouveau pieces.

5. What is your ideal dream work you could see yourself having in five years from now?
I’d love to keep a balance between made-to measure jewellery and collections like I do have right now. I’d also like to have a list of clients that would allow me to build all the pieces from a collection in noble metals (silver, gold and platinum). Actually I make each piece in silver or brass, gold is only used for special orders.

Is “made-to measure” for special orders the best way of expressing yourself in the world of jewellery?
It does for me. Adapting the piece to someone’s needs and personal background brings out a different and complex creative thinking, which I really like. Besides this symbology I was talking about earlier; the meaning of this kind of jewellery is powerful.

For you, what does a piece of jewellery have to express?
I think that a piece of jewellery goes with the person and it must be coherent with their style because it’s the key element that defines it.
The way we express ourselves through our aspect is quite curious. How do we choose the clothing, shoes or complements that we wear in order to be comfortable and transmit a determined image? You need all the elements; depending on your likes and dislikes you might chose one pair of shoes among others, but you’ll definitely wear them because you need to. On the other hand, jewellery is a special element, wear them or not, it’s optional. Their symbolic meaning helps you to express yourself and to make you feel nice and comfortable with them.

Are your pieces made for all kinds of hands? All kinds of people? Or are you thinking of a certain personality?
My pieces are simple and delicate; they create focus of attention to those parts of the body. They aren’t the main characters, so it could be said that they are thought for people who don’t hide behind big pieces of jewellery, but rather search for what’s natural and handmade.

What does colour mean to you?
I search for happiness, an effortless sensation and that also happens with colour. I like a natural colour palette, with earth tones, metal tones, and untreated gems… I try to keep away from stridency in shape, so also in mechanisms and in colours.

You design the pieces and you also build them…did the learning period take you a long time or is it in constant evolution??
Previous knowledge is needed. But after reaching them, it’s a perseverant individual evolution in which you learn and even develop techniques from your needs and your jeweller style. This is a very interesting period, refining building solutions that might have failed in the prototype piece.

How does the fabrication process go about?
Knowing how long it takes you to make a finished piece is highly important in order to fix the final price rate. On one hand, there is the design process length, tests and models, which I don’t measure because it might be irrepressible, but on the other hand, I do for the fabrication process. I try to measure each part of the process, however, this is a hand-made production and you must be aware of the existence of possible mistakes that can delay you and pieces that might sometimes break.
Mainly in jewellery, working with valuable tools and pure materials, you have to work quietly and carefully, forgetting a little bit about the timetable.

Each piece is unique; do you name them or mark them in any way?
I should have a better system to name them, actually. The official name is how I call them through the design process. Unresolved task!

What have been the worst and best experiences in your professional life up until now
The worst one was the incertitude before I decided to take the plunge. The best one was meeting somebody in the street wearing a piece of jewellery that I had hand-made.

Would you like to make a collaborative work with any designer or artist?
Yes, of course. I think joining forces between different disciplines is something creative and rich, so I’m open to any possibility.
I find there is a big relationship between jewellery and clothing to defining somebody’s style. I’d love to do a collaborative work with a fashion designer like Jorge Acuña or Amaya Arzuaga.

What would be your ideal order?
Those pieces that go with a special moment in somebody’s life are the perfect types of orders. The design process is even more beautiful when you know that the piece is attached to a feeling or experience.

What are the toughest and the best aspects in your work?
The one I like the most is the handmade part, being quiet at my workshop working with the pieces, mainly with prototypes, doing research and trying to stay true to the original idea I had in mind.
The hardest aspect is finding where MIGAYO takes place, how my brand should appear while still keeping its essence.

Is there something that scares you right now?
I’m afraid of bad reviews of my pieces. I know this is something you have to take for granted, you cannot satisfy everyone; however, this is something quite personal because it’s your idea, your design and your manufacturing.

Is there something you would repeat even if it was nonsense, let’s say just for the experience?
Moving to Kuala Lumpur. While I was working on my final degree project, the opportunity of moving there to work at an architectural office for a year came up. Moving alone to a country that I didn’t know anything about meant a stop in my career and in my degree (in fact, after coming back I restarted my final project).
At the beginning it was quite hard, but it turned out to be a unique professional experience in terms of personal gain of knowledge, it allowed me to stop, think and take a look. I met wonderful people completely different from me; some of them had gone there in order to radically change their lifestyles and others were natives from all different cultures from Malaysia.

What is it like to take part in design markets and fairs like Mercado Central del Diseño in Madrid, in Matadero Madrid?
This is a really good experience, these kind of events are perfectly organised, give you visibility and let you meet other designers whose work is highly interesting and full of illusion. That is very helpful.
There’s another kind of consumption, more deliberate, where people buy with love, they are interested in what’s behind each piece. I love telling them about the whole process, this is something that they enjoy and gives great value to the piece that they’re buying. Due to this, I’ve documented everything on my

Olga, How did you begin with jewellery?
Just by chance. Actually, I wasn’t thinking about getting into this world. Some years ago, I was with my boyfriend, who is a jeweller, I was looking at some methacrylate designs by a Japanese designer and he suggested that I try to reach a more elaborated finish than methacrylate and investigate it at his studio.

Having studied Geology at University, is there a relationship between your studies and your final products? Or does it help with your research into materials?
When I was studying I wanted to be a crystalo-chemist and to dedicate myself to new materials research. Back then it was quite a difficult issue in Europe, there were hardly any job vacancies. I am currently studying the appliance of new materials in jewellery, in a way, the empirical thinking remains but with more decorative aims.

You enjoy working with jewellery pieces, with fabrics, with clothing design, all of them are motivated by a creative thinking. When did you realise that you were hiding such creativity inside you and to professionally dedicate to it?
I think that since I can remember I have been doing handmade stuff. When I was a teenage I learnt how to sew just to make my own clothes, I lived in a tiny village and I hated going to the mass market which was the only accessible one. Later on, after moving to Madrid, I started a fairytales website, I used to spend the whole day writing children’ stories. Basically, as soon I have free time, I need to add creative projects to my daily life.

Could you imagine yourself six years ago?
It would sound like a joke, I was a programming teacher and media and web programmer. However, I always had the hope of being able to do what I am currently doing.

After five years, how was the beginning?
The beginning was the best part, having decided to professionally dedicate to it, I was willing to just enjoy my job. Any little recognition was very satisfying. It also had a negative side, inexperience made me too trusting in both projects and people that didn’t deserve it. Remembering how I was taken advantage of is quite painful.

Have you ever been discouraged or on the contrary, have you always seen the positive aspect of it?
Yes, many times actually, but it didn’t last long enough for me to even think about giving up.

How did the idea of making animal-shaped pendants come up?
I love old animal drawings, it is hard for me to think about other motives than these or geometric shapes.

Tell us about your creative process, from the first sketches to the finished product
It is not always the same, I usually get the idea for a new collection by being inspired by antique book illustration (my favourite one is Noah Webster’s Curiosity Illustrated Dictionary). On other occasions I check taxonomy websites provided by some illustrators, where details are best appreciated.
After having compiled all the drawings I turn a little bit Frankenstein and I start separating body parts of the images, the head from one, the tail from another… then I draw the silhouettes.

Why did you started with pendants instead of jewellery pieces?
Because pendants were the only piece I used to wear, it would have been hard for me to think about earrings or rings.

You use cellulose acetate and methacrylate, how did you learn about them?
Methacrylate was the first material I researched, it took me months of testing during my free time at my boyfriend’s family’s jewellery workshop. I tried to get both: an elaborated finish for this material and keeping the pieces together.
Cellulose acetate came later as the result of a collaborative work with an important fashion designer that eventually didn’t carry out. I am impressed by the infinite amount of prints in this material.

Do you get personally involved in the production of your designs in the workshop?
I take care of all the process. On one hand, it is hard for me to delegate to someone else and on the other one, getting my hands dirty is part of the creative process and, amazingly, I love it

Is each item unique? Or do you make a specific number of pieces for each set?
Due to the costs of production, it would be too complicated to make unique pieces. I tend to do limited edition or capsule collections.

Is there an artist that you follow?
I like absorbing information from everywhere. However, I am not in thralled by an individual, I discover new idols everyday.

Is it possible to make a living from this?
It is possible to survive, and hopefully, in the near future, make a living from it.

How did you manage to get through the whole process, design, production, opening a shop and selling your stuff? Did you have any commercial help?
Hmmmm, it has been and will be due to hard work. I have asked myself many times: how can I manage everything?

Do you spend time publicising yourself?
Sadly I don’t have enough time for any marketing or advertising, and, right now, I can’t afford any additional work.

So far, we leave you with Olga and Belén, and you will have in several days the interview part #2…..

Do you remember LINDSEY ADELMAN? Today i want to show you another great colletion that they hace developed, “Catch Collection”, and we asked Lindsey to explain us the idea of this great collection

The concept began with playing with the typical chandelier hierarchy of chain and a glass fixture. I wanted to enlarge and announce the chain links and allow the glass to hang in slumping bits within it. The Catch Suspension is a modular system with flexibility for any number of glass pieces to hang from the milled canopy contraption. Each piece of glass is unique, dictated by gravity and the way it behaves while being blown through the water-jet cut brass link in the hot shop. The floor lights combine this same strict language of brass square tubing with the sensual melting glass. They also resemble some sort of high-end hand-cuff grasping fair smooth flesh. Yes, they are made to order in my NYC studio. The collection is designed for Nilufar Gallery exclusively, and Salone 2013 was the first time I have shown with them.

Photos by Lauren Coleman

Photo by Robin Broadbent for Wallpaper* magazine

What do you think of it? Isn’t it great???

“Catch collection” available through Nilufar Gallery

Catch collection sketch of Lindsey‘s for the collection.

Catch collection sketch of Lindsey‘s for the collection.

Process photos of their glass blower, Michiko Sakano, blowing hot glass into the water-jet cut brass forms.

It is great the work made by Lindsey Adelman Studio, the modular systems that she uses in the design of her lamps and all the work she does with craftsmen for their production….

What does light mean to you?

I am interested in designing for this immaterial substance. Chandelier design is really about calculating form to create effects with light. I still am quite seduced by the process.

How did you begin?

I began playing around with electrical parts I could find and combining with more precious materials.

How was the process working with the metal artisan to get to “industrialized” the metal pieces that are part of your lighting collection?

I have a degree in Industrial Design which provided a terrific foundation to approach machine shops to engineer the parts further. I really love designing systems that can be used in endless combinations.

All the elements that take part in your objects are very important, because they are reduced to minimum, but working with glass, as each globe will be different, makes each unit unique?

Yes each globe varies by nature which makes each fixture unique.

How is working with Michiko Sakano? She does a great job. Do you design glass shapes and give them to her to get them fabricated or does she participate on the design?

For globes she fabricates them but helped to develop the process to arrive at the right form. For other Collections, like Catch, Michiko is very deeply involved.

You use glass with several finishes, milky or white; for the structure, you use brass, cooper, bronze, aluminium, high gloss black or white, and there are a few in which you incorporate colour, the two last ones, “Marina Illuminati” and “BB.14.05”, why you do not use colour often? What means colour for you?

I use color sparingly. But keep returning to gray, red, and pink.

What is the philosophy of your firm?

To design and build with care.

Have you ever had a mentor that has supported and guided you?

I learned so much working with David Weeks from 1999-2004.

How your ideas come up? Which ones are your sources of inspiration? Are you influenced by anyone?

Some examples of inspiration: I am influenced by walking on the beach, clothing by Tsumori Chisato, and sculpture by Calder and Richard Tuttle.

Which ones have been the best and the worst moments of your professional life?

Best: I love being in the flow of working on an idea. I love process. This is why I keep going back to it – it is a high and there is magic in the place where you can’t see the end.

Worst: EMAIL.

Which would be your ideal project?

My favourite project right now is designing a set for the next video I am shooting.

What is beauty for you?

Authenticity.

Tell us how a normal day in your work is

Take my son to school, meditate, return emails, meet with staff and clients, eat a kale wrap for lunch, more meetings, sketching, making he rounds to say hello to my 20 employees, email, put out any fires, go home.

Which one has been your biggest success?

I really enjoyed the porcelain chandelier installation we just completed at the Peninsula Hotel in NY.

What is your biggest dream for the future?

To continue to support Robin Hood Foundation fighting poverty in NYC. To screen my video in the spring and keep making more.

Any advice?

Follow what you love.

Images by Lauren Coleman