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Photo by Devin Courtright/The Advocate
Lee Haga (right) talks with student Kiel Hoff in class Tuesday.
Jewelry instructor work featured in national magazine
The Advocate
Lee Haga, a part-time MHCC jewelry and metalsmithing instructor, has an article featured in the March issue of Art Jewelry Magazine and said Tuesday her students were “pretty excited.”
“I hope it will inspire students and other artists to keep persevering with their artwork, so they can get some recognition too,” Haga said.
Last April, Haga finished her article and submitted four images of her jewelry to the magazine. In January, the magazine contacted Haga and said that her images would be on the cover of the magazine.
“It’s pretty amazing. You would never expect something like that to happen,” said Haga. “One of my evening students bought it at Borders bookstore and she brought it in to class. It was really nice to see it.”
Haga said a friend of hers named Daniel Van Rossen, a local photographer, photographed her jewelry for submission to the magazine. “His photography is so good that that’s why they (the magazine) decided to put that image (of the bracelet) on the cover,” said Haga. “They’re very professional.”
Haga said a previous assistant editor of the Art Jewelry Magazine contacted her four years ago, giving a lecture in a metalsmithing conference at the Northwest Jewelry/Metal Symposium, in Seattle, Wash. She said the editor was interested in featuring her work and writing an article about her Japanese style jewelry.
Haga says her bracelet and earrings featured in the magazine took about four hours to make and is made out of a Japanese metal called “Shibuichi,” which according to her article is a “copper-and-silver alloy that gives jewelry makers the chance to play with colorful patinas.”
“The alloys were used for the arms and armor of the samurai warriors about 1,000 years ago,” said Haga.
Haga said the magazine is published six times a year and “is one of the top three jewelry magazines in the country.”
The March issue of Art Jewelry was published at the end of last month and can be purchased at newsstands or bookstores for $6.95. This is her first article published in a magazine but she has had her bio as an artist written and published by “Lapidary Journal.”
Haga has been an instructor at MHCC for 17 years and she’s the only jewelry/metalsmithing instructor, teaching levels one through three. Haga said MHCC’s metalsmithing program has been around “at least 25 years” and is one of but a few programs in Oregon. “We are lucky to have this program here,” said Haga.
A student from Haga’s night class, Dave Poirier, said “It’s validating, too, as a profession to see it (your art) in a publication. She’s great, she’s inspiring.
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