Alicia Goodwin joins co-hosts Paulene Everett and Scott Bradford on this For the Love of Jewelers episode. She is the owner and creative force behind her business—Lingua Nigra. Alicia’s vibrant energy is contagious as they discuss her intense passion for raw, sculptural design and the influence of Mesoamerica and other historical jewelry on her work. Learn how Alicia celebrates ancient jewelry-making techniques like acid etching and metal reticulation and uplifts the beauty of handmade imperfection.
Alicia Goodwin joins co-hosts Paulene Everett and Scott Bradford on this For the Love of Jewelers episode. She is the owner and creative force behind her business—Lingua Nigra. Alicia’s vibrant energy is contagious as they discuss her intense passion for raw, sculptural design and the influence of Mesoamerica and other historical jewelry on her work. Learn how Alicia celebrates ancient jewelry-making techniques like acid etching and metal reticulation and uplifts the beauty of handmade imperfection.
Scott Bradford:
You're listening to the fifth season of Rio Grande's For the Love of Jewelers podcast. A celebration of jewelers, the jewelry community, and the art of jewelry making. In this new season, we're excited to announce that there will be a rotating cast of Rio Grande Jewelry Tech Team members hosting the show. We will share our love and knowledge of jewelry making, along with interviews featuring industry leaders, educators, and fellow jewelers in the community.
Paulene Everett:
Hello, and welcome to the fifth season of For the Love of Jewelers podcast. I'm your host, Paulene Everett, and joining me on the show today is my co-host, Scott Bradford. Scott is a fellow Rio Grande Jewelry Tech Team member who many of you have seen in our tech team videos on YouTube and Instagram. Scott, why don't you tell the listeners a little bit about yourself?
Scott Bradford:
Well, thank you for having me, Paulene. I have been at Rio since August 2015, so almost nine years. And I come from the repair and jewelry industry out of Dallas, Texas. I graduated from the Texas Institute of Jewelry Technology in Paris, Texas. Studying watchmaking, jewelry making gemology and CAD/CAM.
And then started doing custom bridal work, general custom jewelry, everything that needed to be done in the shop, everything from doing the mold making and cutting, to wax injection, to casting to CAD design. It's where I learned 3D printing on a solid scape. Doing stone setting and just general repairs, retipping, repronging, sizing, anything that needed to be done really.
So my area of expertise is CAD/CAM, 3D printing and casting. And did a lot of research prior to coming to Rio into casting 3D printed resins kind of in the early days of those castable resins.
Paulene Everett:
So in your time in the jewelry industry, you've also taught classes locally, haven't you?
Scott Bradford:
Yes.
Paulene Everett:
And so you were doing more of like CAD-centric classes. I mean, I've taken your Rhino courses, always full of puns and very fun. You have to very much be listening to what you're saying to hear the puns that you give us.
Scott Bradford:
You're welcome.
Paulene Everett:
Yes, thank you. And so a lot of that blends into our next segment with our interviewee, Alicia. She's taught a lot of classes as well, more for wax carving and other things within the industry. But she is a wonderful instructor and has a lot of information and knowledge to share with us. We're really excited to have Alicia Goodwin from Lingua Nigra join the show.
Alicia is one of my favorite jewelers and an inspiration for other women jewelers looking to get into the jewelry business. Alicia has been featured on Good Morning America, the Kelly Clarkson Show and Huffington Post, along with many other shows and publications in her own classes.
I met her at my first trade show, Snag. We hit it off almost instantly, and she was so kind and welcoming to me, and we have kept in touch ever since. Her dedication, talent, and sincerity as a jeweler and an individual are so admirable. She's one of my favorite people that I've met through the jewelry industry.
Before we get to our interview with Alicia, we'd like to take some time to answer a few questions that we received from some of our listeners and viewers of this podcast in our Riolive Tech Team Tuesday streaming show. Tech Team Tuesday is a new weekly streaming show that we stream each Tuesday at 11:00 AM Mountain Standard Time on YouTube and Facebook.
On the show, we talk shop and answer questions from our viewers about jewelry making techniques, tools and tips. What's our first listener question, Scott?
Scott Bradford:
The first question comes from Steve LaRantz. He asks, "What is the best way to get a bright shine on gold pieces? Rotary tumbler or magnetic?"
Paulene Everett:
I think that depends on the piece itself. If you've got a piece with a lot of detail, it's easier to put it into a magnetic pin finisher. But that also depends on what stage of polishing you're at for your actual piece. Because if you throw something into a tumbler and it's got a lot of dings in it, the tumbler's not going to take it out.
So if it's a fresh casting, that might be a little bit easier but you still need to do more cleanup. If it's just like a plain flat band, nothing with a lot of detail a rotary tumbler will be better. But again, it depends on where you're finishing in your piece.
Scott Bradford:
Well, I would imagine the level of finish is going to be similar between the two, it's just where it can reach.
Paulene Everett:
Exactly.
Scott Bradford:
And nothing will compare to the high shine of some compound and a buffing wheel.
Paulene Everett:
The buff. Yeah. That would be my preferred method, I would rather do a three-step polishing sequence than throw it into a tumbler. Because tumblers are great and they can do mass production really well, but if you spent a lot of time on your piece, you want to spend a lot of time making sure it's at a nice high finish if you were looking for that. Cool.
And then our second question comes from Blue Storm on YouTube. She asks, "I was told by my metalsmith class teacher that the Smith Silver Smith torch is a better choice than the little torch. Is one gas more dangerous than the other, i.e., propane versus acetylene if using indoors?
Scott Bradford:
When it comes to propane versus acetylene, they both have their ups and their downs. Technically with acetylene, you are going to get... when used with oxygen, you get a hotter flame, so things are going to heat up quicker. However, acetylene is considered a dirty gas, so it does put off some soot when you're using it with oxygen.
Propane on the other hand is much cleaner, you don't get that soot, but technically you don't get the high temperatures of something like acetylene and oxygen. My personal preference is propane. However, when it comes to the safety aspect of it, everyone should be aware that with propane tanks, because they're typically designed to be... the most common use is with barbecue grills, which are outside.
So those tanks actually self-regulate. So if it gets too hot outside and pressure starts to build up in the tank, that will actually release a little bit of gas. That gas being heavier than air will actually start to build up on the floor. So you do want to be in an area that has some good airflow if that's the case. But the reality is that if you're indoors, you have a heater on or your AC, so the temperature stays around 70 degrees or so year round. But that is one thing to be aware of.
Paulene Everett:
Well, and then that too, we can't really advise on if you're using propane and oxygen or acetylene and oxygen, if you're using it indoors, how that affects somebody as far as fumes.
Scott Bradford:
Right.
Paulene Everett:
Probably be best to talk to a primary care physician or talk to an environmental specialist about your specific area so that way they can give you the best recommendation. Because we are not doctors, even though it would be really nice if we were doctors and jewelers, but not enough time in both. So can't really recommend on that.
But even with propane, propane is still a vaporous gas too, so you get some buildup on your actual equipment from it. So like you said, there's a benefit to both. I use a silversmith at home, but I also have a little torch and a casting torch. So it just depends on the application.
I think the silversmith can do a lot, but if you're doing gold, especially really fine gold propane and oxygen, I find I have better results with and more control with. But I think it's really learned preference. There's not a downside or a benefit to either, in my opinion.
Scott Bradford:
And it depends on the piece. I mean, if I'm going to be smithing a large cuff bracelet or something, then I'm going to lean more towards the acetylene air because it is a much bigger torch.
Paulene Everett:
Right.
Scott Bradford:
But if I need to solder on all... make tiny little components or things like that where I need real precision, then I might go more towards something like the Smith Little with a smaller flame.
Paulene Everett:
And it definitely depends on what you're doing. I know a lot of people, especially locally, we have gone with the silversmith torches, but again, I don't think that there's necessarily a good or bad, it just depends on the application. There's a tool for everything. And so making the decision on what you want to go with with with your pieces will help you lean more towards a decision on flame output or heat output, I think.
Scott Bradford:
It's convenient, it's one tank.
Paulene Everett:
One tank, one regulator, one hose. Yeah, you don't have to worry about flashback arresters with a silversmith system.
Scott Bradford:
Yeah, that's another thing. I mean, it's basically one pressure with the silversmith torch, and that's going to count for all the tips. But then when you get into the Smith Little, there is recommended pressures that are-
Paulene Everett:
... variants.
Scott Bradford:
... different for each tip and that sort of thing.
Paulene Everett:
Yeah, absolutely.
Scott Bradford:
Thank you to our listeners for sending in these great questions. Do you have a question you like answered on the show? Send us an email to podcast@riogrande.com. And don't forget, be sure to watch Tech Team Tuesdays every Tuesday at 11:00 AM Mountain Time on our YouTube and Facebook pages.
Today's episode is sponsored by Lindstrom Tools founded in 1856. Lindstrom is one of the oldest continuous manufacturers of jewelry tools in the world. Setting the standard in precision tools, Lindstrom strives for perfection, delivering the high performance and long service life their customers have come to expect. Now through the end of April, use code LINDSTROM1 at checkout to get 10% off all Lindstrom tools.
Paulene Everett:
So joining our show today is one of my favorite people, I've had the pleasure of meeting in the jewelry industry and an inspiration to all women entrepreneurs. Alicia Goodwin, thanks for joining us. It's so nice to see your face even though it is virtual.
Alicia Goodwin:
Hi you all. Thank you for having me. It's nice to see you too.
Paulene Everett:
So we wanted to start off with what you are currently working on. We wanted to start off with your processes and how you work. So when you sit down to create a new piece, does that start with pencil and paper, a CAD program, wax, or do you jump directly into metal when you start working?
Alicia Goodwin:
I'm all over the place, even though I'm a Taurus, make fair, holler to Taurus people. I like to do something different every day, and I get bored very easily. I like a routine, but I get bored very easily. That being said, I wish I could pen to the studio because it looks like a tornado just hit. A tornado and a hurricane and an earthquake.
Scott Bradford:
That's proper.
Paulene Everett:
Yeah, it's fitting.
Alicia Goodwin:
So I'm doing a few different things. I'm part of the Radical Jewelry Makeover project. I was here... That's why I was late. I stayed here until 3:00, I was supposed to leave at midnight. I do this... You know.
Paulene Everett:
You have a tendency to do that, though.
Alicia Goodwin:
I'm always at this... I should just not pay a mortgage and just live here. But I'm working on that. So I was getting inspired by cutting up this bunny and then I'm going to melt this Molly chain, it never had a nameplate, so I thought, "Oh, that's a weird." So I'm just trying to think of things to repurpose for the Radical Jewelry Makeover and change it up and make it different. But I'm also... I was fulfilling orders and... What else was I doing? I just bought a new wax bench, it's a secretary.
Paulene Everett:
Oh yeah, that secretary bench that you got. It looks so cool.
Alicia Goodwin:
It's so good. It's small, but I'm going to work with it. I got it more for aesthetics than functionality. But yeah, once I move stuff over, I think I need to get started. This was supposed to be my off week, which it wasn't, I was sick. So I'm trying to get back into the groove. But I want to work on wax. The process is very random.
Just long story short, my background is in costume jewelry, I worked in the industry forever. And you get used to a formula of doing collections, and I don't work like that. I'm not disciplined, I have no idea how I'm self-employed. Because you have to get paid, I have to make money. And I force myself to do that by saying, "I'm going to have so many things done." I'm very goal-oriented, so I need things done by a certain date and then I can tease it. But sometimes that tease lasts for a month, sometimes it lasts for a year, sometimes it lasts for a few years.
So that's what I do. I'll either start with the sketch and I'll carve it and wax. Most of the time I'll carve it and wax. And then I have a library of reticulated sheets of metal from almost 20 years ago, just when I get the chance to reticulate something or etched metal. And then I'll marry the two depending on what the sketch looks like or how I want the sketch to be. But I like a nice brain bender, I don't use a lot of stones or color in the work. So when I do, it has to be something really special. Like the beetle wings, the green.
Paulene Everett:
Yes, I did want to talk about that. I love that you use found objects, but also things that have a lot of color. But maybe aren't something that you would see in a normal jewelry store, like a beetle wing.
Alicia Goodwin:
Yeah, yeah. So yeah, I'll use that or I have a huge cabinet of stones, because I'm a hoarder, and I like to buy things.
Paulene Everett:
We all are though.
Scott Bradford:
Solidarity.
Alicia Goodwin:
Right?
Paulene Everett:
Yeah, solidarity for that one.
Alicia Goodwin:
You'll never see it again. So yeah, I have a huge cabinet of things. I like to go to Rhode Island. The last time I was there I went to Wolf E. Miro, which is the Mecca... Which side note, I don't know, have you all ever been to Wolf E. Miro?
Paulene Everett:
No, I didn't have a chance when we were in Rhode Island to tour around.
Alicia Goodwin:
It's so good. It's so good. But also a safety hazard, I didn't realize that you go downstairs and the floor or the ceiling is held up by jacks. It's all-
Paulene Everett:
Ooh.
Alicia Goodwin:
I know, I didn't notice that. And the floors are like 120 years old. So yeah, I was like, "I could really literally die, dying for jewelry." But yeah, I got some really cool bone beads and I just like to buy things and think of whatever to do later. I usually never have a plan for it, a lot of people do. You will never see me in Tucson because I have no self-control.
And also, I'm trying to think of new ways, the jewelry that I make is not sustainable, I don't try to pretend like it is. So if I could just buy stones that have already been cut from 50, 60 years ago, instead of getting new things and then not buying anymore. Making that run out, making it a limited edition, making it one of a kind. I'm trying to go more in that direction, although it's a lot harder because I still want things to be under a certain amount. I don't want things to be 7, 800, $900. I mean, if I could get away with it, I probably would, but I'm not going to.
Paulene Everett:
Right. It's trying to clean out your fridge.
Alicia Goodwin:
Right. Pretty much.
Paulene Everett:
You have to go through everything in your pantry and your fridge to get through the next thing. But there's always that one craving that you have.
Alicia Goodwin:
Yeah. And hopefully is sticks. Also, back in the day, you would do a collection, you would show at a trade show and whatever a store didn't pick didn't go on the line. When the pandemic first began and the show stopped, I was like, "Oh, I don't have that option anymore." My favorite trade show stopped showing, Capsule, it ended right before. And so that's when I started just doing drops and then just adding stuff to my line sheet for wholesale.
So it's a reverse, but it's really nice. I love everything, but the public opinion helps a lot. Well, what I think is popular is very different from what people purchase. And sometimes it doesn't matter how much it costs or the size. I hope that answered your question.
Paulene Everett:
That definitely did. It was a perfect answer.
Scott Bradford:
So you had mentioned costume jewelry, what attracts you to costume jewelry?
Alicia Goodwin:
Everything. I've been in the industry for over 20 years. We learned a little bit about it. I went to the Fashion Institute of Technology for jewelry. I went for fashion actually, and graduated and went across the hall for jewelry. And this is how old I am, we did a white metal... we had a white metal class. I think complete with lead, I'm pretty sure there was lead in our white metal. And we were just carving. And it's so old school and a lot of people don't know about that.
And later on when I started to work for other companies like Lee Angel and Rachel Reinhardt and places like that, they would go to Rhode Island makers because there were so many talented people there from just Italy and Cape Verde who were naturals at carving. They didn't carve in wax, they made these models in white metal. And it was a one-to-one, and they knew the shrinkage, and it's a whole other school of thought.
So that's how I got into it. I just thought it was incredible and really fun. You can make really fun, approachable things that are quasi affordable. I mean, in the greater scheme of things. It's not five figures, it's three figures. It's two figures. Unfortunately, everything's changed a lot. And I mean, it's still a really big industry, but it's... all the companies that I worked for are gone. No wait, two are but they're hanging on by a thread. Because all the places that I worked for, they were the middlemen to the bigger stores, and now the bigger stores just go straight to China.
But yeah, I just love costume jewelry, and I didn't realize how much I loved it until I transferred into jewelry. I didn't know what I was doing, I just wanted to take jewelry. I did not think it was going to be a career. Not at all.
Scott Bradford:
Well, it feels like the designs, the designs are so interesting and they're so elaborate in some cases. And yeah, I love the designs of costume jewelry and...
Alicia Goodwin:
Yeah.
Paulene Everett:
Also, I think with the market of people going more... thrifting is a much bigger thing now, you can find more interesting costume jewelry for a more affordable price. And I think it has this back to an attraction to it because it is inexpensive, but it could be vintage, it could be something that somebody's really looking for. And so there is a resurgence of costume jewelry. And I think that the stigma around it is, especially with my generation or even younger generations, is starting to fade because it has its own interesting quality to it.
Alicia Goodwin:
It's wild because there were just so many talented people making this costume jewelry, people who drew and looking at these drawings and then seeing how they were made and the beginning to end. Even I worked with Juicy and I would draw. That's how I taught myself, illustrator, got myself into a few jobs that way and learned on the job. And then I really learned how to design and draw a lot better in Illustrator at Juicy, just drawing charms all day and listening to podcasts.
But that being said, Juicy was really big in seeing how popular things were. But also at Lee Angel, I was at Lee Angel, and that was a very high-end costume fashion jewelry place. But Juicy, the quality was bananas. And I don't think people know... Even the clothes, the quality, no poly, everything was cotton, silk, the jewelry, all Swarovski stones. The plating was IP. So ionic plating. I got to go to the factory. I wasn't working for Juicy at the time but... And the ionic plating is, it's the plating that you use for stainless steel or watches. So it's pretty durable. And it was actual gold, which I was used to. But in the end of my freelancing consulting career, I would ask how many mils or the thickness of gold I should ask for something. And my boss, who was my friend, she was like, "What? It's just gold." I was like, "Oh, it's just a [inaudible 00:20:37]"
Paulene Everett:
I don't have an answer for that.
Alicia Goodwin:
"Oh, this is not... I can't do this." So it went from all the way down. It was just a... I should go like that, the line is like a stock market crash of the quality. And the stones were plastic and the tear wasn't there at all. And it wasn't collectible, it was more disposable.
So I'm happy that people are getting back to that collectible items. At the end of the day, I want people to be collectors, and I really appreciate that. People, hopefully, at least the people who purchase my work understand that it should last for a long time.
Paulene Everett:
Right. And you had mentioned FIT because you'd gone to FIT, but you've taught several courses through FIT Center for Continuing and Professional Studies, like technical design for costume jewelry. What effect has teaching had on the way you design your jewelry or you make your jewelry now?
Alicia Goodwin:
It doesn't. Teaching makes me... It gives me horrible anxiety, I get physically ill. I actually stopped because I was getting so sick because I get nervous about people's expectations, and I want everybody... they're taking time out of their evening, weeks out, and I want them to have a good class. Also, I spent so much time putting the class together.
So yeah, no, it doesn't... I'll say teaching it to people who don't know anything about jewelry. Sometimes people had to fulfill it for a certificate, like the graphic design certificate because it's illustrator three. I used to teach illustrator, two... Illustrator as well. And people who didn't know anything about jewelry, they're like, "What? Wow." One woman, I remember she was like, "Wow, your ears are different. Your left or your right, or your fingers are different sizes." There's just things that people don't think of.
Paulene Everett:
Yeah.
Alicia Goodwin:
I know.
Paulene Everett:
From an outside perspective, you don't really think of stuff like that. You don't think of your foot, one side is bigger than the other, your eye is bigger than the other. Your ears, your fingers. Yeah.
Alicia Goodwin:
So it was interesting to just jump out of it because I'm so deep in the jewelry world when I talk to a non-jewelry person or teach somebody, there are just so many things. And we would joke about this, especially at Lee Angel because there's a lot of crying and costume jewelry, a lot of tears that people didn't know, this charm that they're going to throw away in maybe two months that how many people cried in the hallway for that, or cried in [inaudible 00:23:08]
So, I don't know, the teaching, I haven't taught since I've moved. I've been in Chicago for almost six years. I haven't taught at all. I used to teach a lot in New York. It would stress me out, but I like the end results. Some people really got really amazing with it and really took off. And the whole point of me teaching the technical design classes, I got so inundated with work, and I don't want to turn down money, but I had to. And so I just wanted to teach other people like, "Hey, you could do this and you could make a lot of money an hour and not really have an overhead if you take this class." So it worked out.
Scott Bradford:
I've been reading some articles or interviews that you had been in and some of the videos, and you had mentioned being inspired by the local architecture. As I recall, you had called out some of the architecture of Chicago. Is that correct? Like Louis Sullivan, that sort of stuff?
Alicia Goodwin:
Yeah. Yeah. I love Louis Sullivan. He's probably a favorite because his biggest thing was saying that form follows function. And I try to do that in the work somehow. I like how things are kinetic, but if you are in costume or fashion jewelry, there are a few sayings, "No money in the back of the neck." So if you do castings, if it's really cheap jewelry, it's just going to be chain and then one casting, you don't go all the way around.
And I forgot the other sayings, Paulene you would know. But I try to think of that when I make things, I'll try to make things that I can cut away. I'll have a casting or I'll make a piece and I want to use it in several different ways, but it needs to look different. It can't look like I'm just using the same casting. Some things I want to look like that, but a lot of things, I want it to look very different. I want it to look like there are four different castings on here. But I also know that's going to be a lot of money.
So yeah, no, Louis Sullivan, even though he died penniless, which I feel like a lot of people, are dying penniless. But his work is so noticeable.
Paulene Everett:
Don't put that for me.
Alicia Goodwin:
I know, right. Yeah. I was up north last year and I never noticed that there was a building across the street from this piercing place I would go to. And it was a Louis Sullivan building. And his work is just so recognizable, and I walked up to it. I was like, "This has to be a Louis Sullivan." And it was. So yeah, the work is just so intricate and bold and just, oh, it's just so dynamic. It's so beautiful. Yeah, he's definitely a favorite.
Scott Bradford:
Oh, as soon as I heard that, it's like, "Yes. Finally someone called out Louis Sullivan." Someone had shown me, there's a chandelier in, I believe it's in a bank in Minnesota. And I mean, it's one of those designs you can just get lost in and find something new every time you look at it. But do you find yourself looking towards outside the jewelry industry for inspiration, or do you have some favorite jewelry designers?
Alicia Goodwin:
A little bit of both. I've noticed since I've been in this... I sound old. I'm like, "Since I've been in the industry for so long." I try not to look at other jewelers because in the industry they would just say, "Oh, let's go and knock this person off." Very unethical things that I was not a part of, I was very much the person against it.
There are people that admire, but I definitely go outside of that. I travel. I actually just booked a ticket to go to DC for two different shows to see two different artists. My favorite artist of all time is Alma Thomas. And she created a brand new technique of painting with all these different dots and dashes and these layers. And it looks like you're looking at a dream sequence and you're trying to look in between these lines and the patterns that she does, and it's incredible.
And she was really prolific, and she really didn't become a full-time painter until her 70s, I believe. But she was painting up until then. She taught children, she did a lot of work in paper. So I traveled to Tennessee to see her work. And I'm going to DC and then when it's in Colorado, I'm going to see the show in Colorado and I'm going to try to harass the museum and see if I can sell my work there too.
Another favorite is who was a jeweler, but he was a metalsmith... He was in everything is Harry Bertoia.I wish he would've been around or I would've been around when he was around. He seemed like such a very cool person. I've seen his work. I went to Dallas, I think it was Dallas, it was somewhere in Texas. It was a sculpture museum. They had a retrospective, they had his own ambient pieces, they had a movie with him, they had his gongs. It was such a gorgeous show and just a beautiful tribute to his work.
And it's just incredible to see people so prolific and who know what... not even who know what they need to do. I guess, they've found their calling and they were just allowed to be in it. And then the fact that he just happened to make jewelry and these little tiny sculptures. And I stumbled on his work. When I saw it, I was like, "This looks just like mine."
It used to be a bank on Fifth Avenue, and it's historic because his work is in there so they can't tear it down. It's been a retail space for maybe like 20 years, but it's this massive sculpture of reticulated metal. It's beautiful. So I would just go and visit it every now and then, especially if I was in the area, I was consulting around the corner and I would go, it's right near 47 Street, the Diamond District in New York. And I would go and just check it out and just be in awe. And it was behind a cash wrap. So people were like, "Oh, do you need help?" Like, "No, I'm just staring."
Paulene Everett:
Looking.
Alicia Goodwin:
The store was Joe Fresh at the time, and then they covered it up. It was The North Face and they covered it up, which is wild to me. I don't know if they uncovered it. But yeah. And he has a lot of public work, and that's when you delve into somebody like that he did a lot of private work, but he did a lot of public work, which I feel like that says a lot. It just says a lot about the person. I hope he wasn't a jerk. It doesn't seem like he was.
Yeah, I look all over and I admire so many jewelers and I have so many jewelry friends. I've been really fortunate to just have a really nice connection... or not nice, but an amazing connection with so many talented people. But I definitely just go outside to see how other people's brains work. And for some reason, that inspires me to make more jewelry or... I don't know. I'm like, "Wow, these people are really working. They're really doing-"
Paulene Everett:
They're really putting it out there.
Alicia Goodwin:
"... whole museum piece up. This is wild." I can't wrap my head around that. I can't, like a whole museum. It's not just a wall or... It's wild.
Paulene Everett:
Just a part of an exhibition. It's just a whole thing.
Alicia Goodwin:
It's a whole museum. Yeah.
Paulene Everett:
And on that note, so you do use a lot of asset etching and reticulation to achieve texture in your designs. What about that specifically speaks to you and the way that you want to create your pieces around that? Obviously it's interesting that your designs match somebody else who had already been doing reticulation. What about that spark something in your brain?
Alicia Goodwin:
So I used to love... Well, not used to, I don't live there anymore. But I would go to the Met all the time because it was free. And once I stumbled on the Mesoamerican, like Mexican, Central American jewelry, I was like, "Oh my goodness, this is incredible." And I feel like it's not highlighted as much as jewelry from Europe and certain times in Asia.
And the way that people who made these things before there was electricity, before so many modern things. Not to say that their things weren't modern, people knew zero, which was like, "That's a big thing." So seeing that, and no offense to Rio because I love you all. I don't need to buy everything. It goes back to, "Okay, I don't need this equipment. I could work without doing X, Y, and Z."
Obviously there are things that it makes it easier for us, but there are things that I have to stop and say, "What makes me like this piece of jewelry so much? Look how well it's designed." And somebody just made a hammer from jade and hammered it out and made these beautiful intricate pieces without any other... I guess, just not that much equipment.
So I try to think of it that way. When I learned reticulation, I was really broke. I was in college and I didn't have any money for silver, silver was $4 an ounce. I could not afford that. So I was buying brass.
Paulene Everett:
Yeah, it's at 27.
Alicia Goodwin:
I know, right? Which is weird though, because inflation is about the same. And gold was $400 an ounce, and this was 2002, 2003. I know. But-
Paulene Everett:
I know.
Alicia Goodwin:
I mean, for perspective, my rent was $400. So there was still a lot of money. But I just learned how to reticulate and brass instead of sterling silver. Every time the professor would say, "Hey, all right, everybody get some silver." I was like, "Can I do this in brass?" Some of my classmates were like, "Alicia..." Like, "Can I just do this in nickel, silver? What about..."
Paulene Everett:
Copper, please.
Alicia Goodwin:
So yeah, I really liked those techniques, learning about beeswax and just wax carving and how ancient that was, and lost-wax casting. And I use cuttlefish too, I'm going to melt this little chain and cast it in cuttlefish. Just simple, easy techniques that aren't... because it's alchemy. So that goes into the process, the reticulation and the acid etching.
I mean, I guess the acid etching is... I don't know, you could still etch in a different way. But I don't use super crazy techniques. You'll never see me... I'm not going to say... I'm going to say it here, I'm very anti-CAD. I'm sure there's a place for it. But there's no hand.
Paulene Everett:
There's a defined line between people who love it and people who hate CAD. There's such a thing of people would rather wax carve and would rather do CAD, but there's a very definitive line between the two.
Alicia Goodwin:
There's no hand in it. And that's what I really liked when I came from fashion, and no disrespect to anybody, but with fashion, there's so many people who never... you never had to learn how to sew. And that was a big thing. There were people who could draw beautifully and FIT, you have to learn how to do everything. But then our rivals, Parsons and Pratt, you didn't have to do that. It was more expensive, it was the private schools. I went to public school and they would just hire somebody to do all these things.
So that's why I loved jewelry, learning about jewelry, like, "Oh, you needed to have some kind of talent." And I mean, for the most part, you have to have this skill. You have to know how to do that X, Y, and Z. I feel like CAD cuts it out, but there's just no hand in it. There's no hand, there's no imperfection. And it spoils the customer or the unknowing eye to see that this is perfection and we can't... We're human. I like that the left and the right don't look exactly alike.
Yeah, it's part of the design. So yeah, no, I'm very... It's funny, I'm anti-CAD and I had a whole career consulting and doing someone illustrator [inaudible 00:35:51]
Paulene Everett:
Well, and it's like that, it's a Japanese way of... it's wabi-sabi.
Alicia Goodwin:
Wabi-sabi. Yeah.
Paulene Everett:
The human touch is in something, you can see a fingerprint, you can see one side is a little bit lower than the other and a pot. And so it's something that is very culturally throughout of having the human element within something.
Alicia Goodwin:
Yes, yes, exactly. Yeah. And I think because everything's just so natural and the work is natural, I just try to also not try to overthink things. And because I have such a limited amount of time to create and make new work, as much new work as I want to, some things are rushed and I've just let it go. Like, "Okay, I don't need to smooth this out. I'm just going to send this to the caster. It is what it is." And it sits well anyway, and the point comes across. No one's like, "Ooh, this isn't..." I mean, maybe they say it-
Paulene Everett:
[inaudible 00:36:53]
Alicia Goodwin:
Because not everything is for everybody, right. Don't make me cry at my booth.
Paulene Everett:
But it's also, I feel like that's part of, especially you talking about Mesoamerican, I feel like that's part of your design. I sent you that picture of those earrings from that TV show however long ago. And I was like, "Did you make those?" Because it almost fit into your design of how you make things. But it's funny that you bring up Mesoamerican and lost-wax casting. That's my weird special interest is looking at old techniques of making jewelry.
And especially the Riace warriors, I'm obsessed with them because they were these huge bronze statues, and I talk about them all the time. But these huge bronze statues that were cast pieces and they were found at the bottom of the ocean, but it was like 2,000, 3,000 years ago. It's just amazing what a human brain can do with the resources that they have.
Alicia Goodwin:
Yeah, no, I'm in awe. I just love looking at just what everybody can do. I remember going to Dresden, Germany and there was this crazy show. And I mean, it was obsessive, it was bananas because it was all objets. So this is when you're really rich, like, "Let me have a little ship, a miniature 22 karat gold ship." [inaudible 00:38:13] Or ivory objets, these long things that it's one piece of ivory, but it's movable. It has these rings. It's like a thing with rings on it. I mean, it was bananas just to see how people worked and... Yeah. Yeah, it's incredible. It's incredible. I'm always in awe.
Scott Bradford:
So I do have a question. So the rubber ears, what was the story behind the rubber ears and do you still have them?
Alicia Goodwin:
Wait, what rubber ears?
Scott Bradford:
You remember the earring display?
Alicia Goodwin:
Yes.
Scott Bradford:
Do you still have those?
Alicia Goodwin:
Yes. Where'd that come from?
Paulene Everett:
How do you know that?
Alicia Goodwin:
Yes, I still have them. They're in a tray somewhere. I bought those in 2020. Because I didn't think... I'd like to do a photo shoot every year with all of my things. I have my favorite model... I have a few favorite models, but I have one who's been in almost every campaign, Sada, she's incredible. It is also cool because she was like a baby when I started taking her pictures, and she's just gotten older. But I use those rubber ears, but those are weird. That's such a weird question.
Scott Bradford:
Oh, I saw them and I loved them. Those were great.
Alicia Goodwin:
Oh, I can send them to you. They're weird.
Paulene Everett:
Are they squishy or they're actually rubbery?
Alicia Goodwin:
Yeah. No, they're like silicone ears. So I got a whole bunch of silicone because at the time my ears were stretched. I stretched my ears in the '90s, and so I had big holes, so I couldn't model my own jewelry. But ever since I got them sewn up and so now I can wear... I haven't worn earrings like this since high school. So weird. Yeah, sorry, the rubber ears are retired.
Paulene Everett:
So one last question before we let you go. What tool could you not live without?
Alicia Goodwin:
Is the torch really a tool?
Paulene Everett:
Yeah.
Scott Bradford:
Sure.
Alicia Goodwin:
I guess not in that sense-
Paulene Everett:
I'd say that's a tool.
Alicia Goodwin:
I guess, two things though because it's like the tip and then you got the little handle-
Scott Bradford:
Absolutely.
Alicia Goodwin:
... and you got the thing and then you got maybe the caliper.
Paulene Everett:
That's a good one.
Alicia Goodwin:
Either my caliper or... and I've had a lot of my tools since college. Yeah, that's a good question.
Paulene Everett:
Got to think about that one.
Alicia Goodwin:
Either that or My Joyce Chen shears that I picked up in All Craft. All still around, super OG and all the books, all the old jewelry books, the old jewelry books, All Craft is around. So yeah, two very sharp things. So one or the other.
Paulene Everett:
Sharp things and measuring things. Well, and I think that's a big thing is we don't realize having a caliper or a set of pliers those are our most used tools. But we always think about the big, fancy, expensive things. But calipers are so essential for jewelry making.
Alicia Goodwin:
If you just have the calipers, you can score on wax with it and on metal, if you don't have dividers or anything. And it's exact. I like looking at the millimeters. So yeah, maybe that might be it.
Paulene Everett:
I love that. That's such good answer. I really like that answer. So we're out of time now. Thank you so much for spending even just the 35 minutes with us, I know you're super busy right now. But thank you for spending time with us and I really love talking to you. I can't wait to see you in Albuquerque soon. So come visit and we'll spend some time together. Love spending time with you.
Thanks again to Alicia for joining us today and spending the time to sit down and talk with us. Before we close out the show, I'd like to talk about a tool that I got to play with at MJSA that I hadn't had the chance to look at yet. It's the AGILO CABSHINE, they are little polishing, diamond embedded wheels that there's a lot of different diamond wheels out there, but I got to sit down and use a huge variety of those at the bench that we had at MJSA. And I thought that they had a lot of potential and I could see how I would use them in my own work. And I think that they're a really great compact, long-lasting diamond tool.
Scott Bradford:
So are you using them on stones, or metal or gravers or?
Paulene Everett:
A mix of all. So I like to take my old burrs and I like to shape them down into burnishers or new tools just because tools are expensive. And also if I've got a broken bit, it's a lot easier to use and make a tool that I need right in that moment than it is to wait for something to get to me.
And then I buy a lot of stones locally, and so some cabs show up and they're maybe a little wonky on one side or just not as even as I'd like them to be. So I like to use that to shape down my cabs and get things a little bit more precise, but there's a lot of benefits to those. And I also do some hand-push engraving, so I've been using that to kind of brighten up my faces too on my gravers.
So they're really good, all-purpose little diamond wheels, and they have a really large surface area. I don't think they're that expensive at all. So they're just a great thing to have added onto the bench for those specific things. What kind of tools have you been getting into lately? What's new for you?
Scott Bradford:
I finally decided to cash in the shop square jar and I got a pneumatic engraver and a microscope taking the plunge to learning engraving. So I'd always done stone setting and engraving just by hand with my OptiVISOR and a loop to check it. But finally decided to make that big purchase and try to step it up a little bit.
Paulene Everett:
Finally listened to Phil and got a scope.
Scott Bradford:
And get in the seat time to learn engraving. And I mean, the principles of it you can grasp fairly quickly, but you got to put in the seat time in order to really get good at it.
Paulene Everett:
Actually learn how to do it. And I think with... OptiVISORs are great, but having an actual microscope and seeing actually what you're doing, it helps you learn your mistakes faster and it makes it easier to correct those mistakes.
Scott Bradford:
Absolutely.
Paulene Everett:
I think even just in general, having a scope for anything is really great, but especially when you're doing micro work like engraving or stone setting.
Scott Bradford:
Yep.
Paulene Everett:
That's all for today's show. A huge thank you to Alicia Goodwin for joining the show today. If you'd like to learn more about Alicia and her instructional classes and podcasts, visit her website at www.linguinigra.com. We'd also like to thank today's sponsor, Lindstrom Tools. Lindstrom strives for perfection, delivering the high performance and long surface life their customers have come to expect. Buy your Lindstrom tools today at www.riogrande.com.
Do you have any questions you'd like answered on the show or want to submit ideas for future episodes? Email us at podcast@riogrande.com. And don't forget to check out Tech Team Tuesday, every Tuesday at 11:00 AM Mountain Standard Time on our YouTube and Facebook pages. Until next time, thank you for listening and have a great day.