At our holiday party, we honored Bob Grabowski, a retired jeweler who will turn 90 on December 21, 2022.
See the older post for the story of Bob and his opal collection for the holiday show.
INSPIRATION: Meet Jeweler Bob Grabowski
Hands of Bob-Grabowski, 2022
Here is the story about the inspiration for our ANNUAL HOLIDAY SHOW for 2022:
THE OPALS SHOW
Opals donated by Bob and Barbara Grabowski
by April Higashi
Roll back to January 30, 2022.
A client, Betsy Foi, was commissioning a necklace with a gorgeous family opal. She came by the gallery with an older couple who I learned were her mom, Barbara, and step-dad, Bob. We made our way up the stairs to our custom loft with Bob using a cane to help guide him. We sat down and looked at the beautiful opal and talked about the design sketches I had done. The sunlight was streaming in the window and Bob put his hands on the felt desktop to lean in for a closer look at my drawings. I noticed he was wearing big, crazy rings that only an artist jeweler could have made. I asked, “Were you a jeweler?” Bob’s whole energy changed as he answered: “Yes, and I started my career here in Berkeley.”
He showed me the rings on his hands and Barbara was also wearing two of his rings. Their hands in the sunlight were beautiful. I blurted out, "Can I take a photo of your hands?" And I did. Then they told me that they had a large opal collection but Bob was no longer able to work due to his eyesight. I jokingly asked if they wanted to adopt me and we all had a good laugh.
I posted their hands shot on Instagram which gathered over 190 likes and many heartwarming comments.
Later when Betsy picked up her pendant, she told me that Bob kept asking her to check the likes and comments on the post. It made me smile. I had seen through his age today and back to when he was a working jeweler.
I could imagine the spark in Bob’s eye. I saw how he once sat at his jeweler’s bench and loved to make his creations and the one-of-a-kind pieces in gold with beautiful stones. He once had a steady hand and a sharp eye. He was once young with the world ahead of him.
It made me think about getting older and possibly having one’s talents fade away with age. When we are young or even mid-career like myself, we feel like so much is still ahead of us.
I thought about Bob often in the weeks after and about his huge opal collection sitting at his house in their dark velvet boxes. I remembered how he lit up when I asked about his rings and his work. I thought about what I would I want in his position? And realized I would want to be remembered and to further help forward the art of creative jewelry making.
I came up with an idea.
I proposed to Betsy that Bob donate a portion of his opal collection and I would invite my artists to use them to create special pieces. The proceeds from these pieces would go to a jewelry-making school in the area and be used to fund a scholarship in Bob’s name. Bob and his family loved the idea.
And The Opals Show was born to honor Bob.
THE OPALS SHOW will feature work by 26 artists using Bob’s opals in their work.
Small sampling of Bob’s Opals.
SHIBUMI GALLERY is pleased to present our Annual Holiday Party : featuring Bob’s opals and work from over 26 of our artists.
THE OPALS SHOW
April Higashi, Ben Farnya, Big Sur Goldsmith, Claudia Alleyne, Eric Silva, Kate Eickelberg, Kelsey Simmen, Kirsten Muenster, Julia Effimova, Julia Turner, Laura French, Laura Leinhard, Lisa Ziff, Margery Hirshey, Maya Kini, Megan Rugani, Mew Chiu, Olivia Shih, Sam Woehrmann, Sandra Enterline, Sarah Graham, Ruth Tomlinson, Trevi Pendro, Tura Sugden, Wendy Wagner, Willum Tseng.
Model: Nadya Lateef , Hair/make-up: Rebecca Shine Forth Salon
All opals were generously donated by retired jeweler Bob Grabowski, to inspire emerging and established Shibumi artists to create new pieces for this show. Bob and retrospective of some of his work, will be joining us for the evening with a special Q&A from 4-4:30 pm, facilitated by Silvera Jewelry School and interviewed by April Higashi. Proceeds from opals sales will be donated to Silvera's scholarship fund in Bob's name.
Please join us in our original gallery space and studio, for this special gathering with food and drinks. RSVP requested.
May is for Mothers 🌸 // Meet Janae
ArticlesCommentWe are taking the month of May to celebrate Mothers!
Shibumi is dedicating the month of May to honoring mothers who had to go above and beyond during these past 15 months.
I have asked a few fathers to share a photo and some words about the mother of their children. I’ll also share a few of the things I remember about their visits to Shibumi.
With warmest wishes to all you amazing, beautiful and dynamic Mamas out there! We know how hard you work to make your kids thrive!
Meet Janae
"Janae has gone over and above during the pandemic by being an even more amazing master of family choreography. We’ve been dancing with child care for our three-year-old and toggling between on campus learning and zoom for our five-year-old, plus running two self-employed businesses out of our home. It’s been quite a juggling act and she has been a rockstar!
What I appreciate most about my wife is watching her unfold as she matures into the woman that she is. She’s expanding in her field, helping people connect with their best selves and a teacher of healing arts. I also appreciate the way she inspires me and the kids to be the best we can be.”
I met Janae and Aaron when they came to purchase their wedding rings. I often first meet clients this way. Then at some point they return with cute children in tow and l learn about their kids, their lives and the craziness the kids have added to their lives. I know that story well. And I appreciate that men like Aaron understand how much their partners do for their kids and their families and often as Janae does, fitting it all in between work or running a business.
Aaron is a talented landscape and garden designer who has helped me at my property. One day I was sharing a story about men bullying women and Aaron said, "That kind of stuff would not fly in my household with Janae and actually I'm really proud that Janae would never stand for that.” Some men today really empower their partners and that gives me hope when seeing these mother's raising kids with men like this with as role models.
What I love about the photos Aaron submitted is that they are real. They are the photos of what motherhood actually looks like. We are just trying to pull ourselves together, especially in the early days of raising little ones, hopefully putting on some jewelry to make ourselves feel good and then going about our crazy day.
We salute you mamas and all the fathers that support them!
May is for Mothers 🌸 // Meet Laci
ArticlesCommentWe are taking the month of May to celebrate Mothers!
Shibumi is dedicating the month of May to honoring mothers who had to go above and beyond during these past 15 months.
I have asked a few fathers to share a photo and some words about the mother of their children. I’ll also share a few of the things I remember about their visits to Shibumi.
With warmest wishes to all you amazing, beautiful and dynamic Mamas out there! We know how hard you work to make your kids thrive!
Meet Laci
"Just as so many Mothers have over the last year, Laci without hesitation put her professional and personal life completely on hold for the health and wellbeing of our family. Laci paused her thriving culinary practice to focus on our family’s health, to become a part time kindergarten teacher, full time preschool instructor, and the force that keeps it all moving peacefully together. Her innate ability to move into action and drive us through an extremely tough year continues to inspire me.
I have a long list of things I appreciate about Laci, but what I'm most grateful for is the extreme love, attention, and care she provides to our two boys. The smallest details of their childhood are considered so deeply by Laci. My sons and I may be a little biased, but we can’t see how it could be done any better."
I have had the pleasure of working with Laci and Travis for many years. I not only made the rings for their wedding but I also made the gifts for their wedding party. These days I see Travis most often because he is a prompt and timely gift-giver. Besides him being a glass artist and having a creative eye, Laci has sung praises for him as both a husband and father to me many times.
This holiday season their gift selections for each other left me both touched and secretly delighted. Laci contacted me because she wanted to surprise Travis with something special at Christmas. At first she thought of a second ring, but she ended up deciding on a cuff. We designed the cuff with two small grey diamonds representing their two boys and one bright white diamond on the inside representing Laci. It was beautifully symbolic in a very subtle way.
Later that month, Travis came to Shibumi wanting to purchase something special for Laci for Christmas. He mentioned how tirelessly she cared for their kids during the pandemic and how hard he knew it was. Travis ended up selecting a diamond slice bracelet/cuff for Laci.
After Travis left I laughed knowing that unbeknownst to one another, they were both going to be giving each other diamond cuffs for Christmas. I am honored that I got to witness this special bond between Laci and Travis and hold their special secret until Christmas day arrived.
May is for Mothers 🌸 // Meet Yoojin
ArticlesCommentWe are taking the month of May to celebrate Mothers!
Shibumi is dedicating the month of May to honoring mothers who had to go above and beyond during these past 15 months.
I have asked a few fathers to share a photo and some words about the mother of their children. I’ll also share a few of the things I remember about their visits to Shibumi.
With warmest wishes to all you amazing, beautiful and dynamic Mamas out there! We know how hard you work to make your kids thrive!
Meet Yoojin
"Yoojin is a front-line worker, so she literally put her life on the line each day she went to work. At work, she persevered through shifts wearing uncomfortable PPE and in the early months of the pandemic, reusing and conserving as many N95 masks as possible to stay safe. Then she'd come home and change clothes in the garage to minimize the chance of exposing the rest of our family. The stress was unimaginable yet she still managed to, as you say, hold our family together.
As you can tell from the photos, Yoojin is the silly one in the family. She fills our lives with joy and adventure."
Besides her fun personality, what I remember most about Yoojin was that she and Ken got their wedding rings from Shibumi. She came back one day to have them cleaned and told me this very lucky story.
As a doctor, every day she would tie her rings inside her scrubs at work. One day, very tired, she forgot about the rings and tossed her scrubs into the laundry at the hospital before going home. By some small miracle, the next day the laundry staff found the rings at the bottom of the laundry chute!
Many years ago, Ken purchased Yoojin a Mother’s Day necklace that we designed with all three of their birthstones. We mixed the greens and came up with the three stone necklace, above. And most recently Ken came by Shibumi to purchase some bangles for their wedding anniversary.
I’m honored that Shibumi has helped mark a few of these special occasions in their lives.
