SF

Lucy Walker used to teach in Raffles College but decided that it wasn’t for her. Not the teaching, she just wanted to be in control so she can simply buy all the necessary tools without having to go through the hassle of asking the higher-ups. So, she decided to open her own jewellery school.

She has her own bench in the workshop close to her students’ benches. The tools placements in her bench are exactly the same as her students’. Since jewellery is small, her bench is equipped with a video camera that’s connected to a flat-screen tv so her students can see what’s happening during the class.

She has provided custom made benches for her students. When making jewellery, jewellers can’t just use a normal table. They’re dealing small stones and metals so they need their working space designed for their needs. 

Not just benches, she also ordered special and very expensive tools for the students to make it easier for the students to learn how to make jewellery.

She organised all the tools so everything her students is all there in their own drawers. Every tool is in the same drawer for each bench. It’s her system. It just makes it easier to tell the students which tools they need and where it’s located.

She also has a station for filming her online classes. It has more specialised tools than the one in the workshop.

In between the two stations mentioned, there is a soldering station and a table with all the machines used for polishing etc. 

Not just a workshop, she also provides classes for kids and a room with benches that can be rented if any jewellers don't have a space to work. Tools are also provided but usually, they like to use their own tools. 

This is how she organises the things needed for the class. It’s labelled and colour coded so it’s easier for her to spot anything missing.

She just orders the high-quality materials in bulk so the shipping fee will be cheaper. All the stocks are kept in a room so it’s easier to find when they need it. And it also saves time so they don’t have to wait for the things to arrive if they run out of it. 

Since she spends a long time there in a day, she provides a couch for her and her colleagues to take a nap/rest for a while when they’re tired. It’s a simple and comfortable air-conditioned room. 

This a display of metal with textures on it for students’ reference.

All the products they get from each class, they will put it on display and sell them. 

Lenny and Howie, Lucy’s pets. People sometimes come just for them!!

Different type of wood affects the outcome of the craft. The way of handling it is also different. So, many things can be learned from exploring how to work with new material. He also wants to change people’s perspective on how oddly shaped trees, different colour, non-uniform grain, all the other “imperfect” traits can be beautiful too. As I would say, perfectly imperfect.

Traditional crafts can be expensive. From tools to materials and other things, it costs money. But the world has evolved from the past when it was hard to find or make the right tools for various craft-makings. Like the greenwood spoon carving, people are becoming more interested in this activity as the Swedish carving knives and axes are more affordable now. 

As for designers, participating in craft making and including the crafts in their design can enhance their skills and make them think outside the box on how to work with wood from the not-so-straight, not-so-perfect trees because what we always see is the straight, uniform boards. It also gives them opportunities to design something using local materials instead of importing from outside as so much of the forests in the UK are unharvested. It is a waste of resources and the costs of materials can be kept low as well if local wood is used as there is no need to import. 

My choice of traditional craft is batik. Batik is widely used in some countries in South East Asia. Even Africa has their own batik design. We still see or wear batik in our lives now because it is a part of our tradition and tradition is an important part of our culture. It is an identity. But I will focus more on Malaysia’s society. We often see someone uses batik as a piece of clothing. It is considered a formal garment where one wears it to a formal event or like government staffs who usually wear Batik kurung or shirt on Thursdays to their workplaces or during festive events like Hari Raya. 

Malaysia is a multiracial, multi-ethnic, multicultural country. Although usually worn by the Malays, other people from different from races wear batik garment too. It’s one way of sharing cultures between different races. Just like how batik skirt is a part of kebaya Nyonya. Baba & Nyonya or Peranakan is an ethnic group descended from the Chinese settlers from the southern provinces who came to the Malay Archipelago. 

Nowadays, there are quite a number of batik classes/workshops being held around Malaysia. There is one in Pasar Seni (Central Market). Locals and tourists can go there to get the hands-on experience of painting batik. This is especially good for millennials or gen z’s who live in the modern era where traditional craft making is not so common anymore. They can broaden their knowledge of Malaysia’s culture.