Capturing the essence of the craft
Much praised for her talent, Liu earned a master’s degree from the Graduate Institute of Applied Arts at Tainan National University of the Arts. In 2004 she won a National Crafts Award for a piece titled Impression Bloom, which is now in the permanent collection of the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute. Grass Hill has also been featured in the Taipei City Guide published by Louis Vuitton, boosting its international reputation. “Creation is more often than not the result of fortuitous accidents,” Liu says.
Liu and her husband, Shaw A, both excelled in their graduate studies in Tainan, where they got a solid foundation in their craft. The Grass Hill Jewelry workshop operates under the open workshop model, which allows everyone to observe the craft process and participate in creating new products. This has helped contribute to the resurgence in the popularity of silversmithing.
Grass Hill was started 12 years ago in Liu’s personal studio, which was located on a balcony in a building at the foot of Yangmingshan. Today the firm is flourishing and expanding. “I’ve had help from so many people along the way,” Liu says.
It was a big step for Liu to start teaching after spending so much time squirreled away by herself working on her craft. “My manager Xu Xiaogui gave me the courage to start teaching,” she says.
Liu uses an eclectic range of motifs in her work that add beauty to her designs. “We use simple clean lines to add style,” she says. “This also makes it easy for the students to master skills and gain confidence.”
In 2013 Grass Hill Jewelry was invited by Eslite’s Spectrum Songyan branch to set up an outlet there. Since then Liu and her husband have offered jewelry making experience workshops. Within three short hours participants can come away feeling proud of their creations. The events are enjoyed by young and old alike.
The immediate popularity of the couple’s workshops helped spur them on. They divided the work between themselves and created an aesthetic feast from a once-rigid artform. Their workshops have been so popular that they are now featured in department stores in Taipei and Taichung. “They have been in such demand that we sometimes struggle to keep up,” Liu says.
Because the items are all handcrafted by the workshop participants themselves, they are truly something to treasure, and so much more meaningful than buying someone else’s product. “Each piece contains the affection and goodwill of its creator,” Liu says.
Liu is most moved by the couples who attend her workshops. “The store has seen so many marriage proposals,” she says.
Moreover, there is no telling when these romantic scenes will play out. On the day we visited the workshop, a young couple had come in to try making their own rings. As they slipped the rings that they had personally created onto each other’s fingers, an irrepressible atmosphere of joy permeated the space.
An instructor teaches students at a Grass Hill Jewelry workshop, which provides a safe, comfortable space for participants to experience the craft.