I’ve worked at lots of different places over the years. In every
place I learned something new. I would usually last about two or
three years and move on for one reason or another; sometimes,
I just got bored. One place that I was at for five years, I left
because I wanted to learn to make gold jewelry instead of the
silver. So, I moved on to a place called The Gold Works. I was
probably 19 or 20 at the time.
Q: So what brought you to Portland?
I was tired of Albuquerque. I had 2 young sons,1 and 3 years
old, and I was raising them myself. I had family in Salem, my
mother, so I decided to just come up here and check it out. She
was going to help me out a little bit. I got an apartment there
and I started commuting to Portland to get to work. In 1985, I
moved to Portland.
Joseph on the process:
Q: Could you explain the general process of the way you make
your jewelry?
Most things are going to start out as wax, which is sculpted.
After that is done, you start the next phase, investing, where you
basically encase the wax in plaster. The wax melts out, which
leaves you with this cavity. Then you begin to cast it, which
Left: Sterling & Bronze
Salvage Ring designed by
Joseph Cordova in 2012.
right: A Sterling and 14 kt
Gold Emerald Ring designed
by Joseph Cordova, 2012
below: Joseph, cleans up
a recently cast ring. He
is progressively buffing,
sanding, and shining the
ring surface with power and
manual tools. The business
of making this ring shine is
obviously a dirty one.
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