Malaysian clay jewellery designer creates awareness on endangered animals via her designs

Tan's Rimba, also known as the Pak Belang and Friends series, features the Malayan tiger, Borneo pygmy elephant, Malayan tapir, proboscis monkey and the rhinoceros hornbill. Photos: Studio Kittuco

At one point, Juliah Tan Feizal Tan used to stay awake at night, worrying that her jewellery creations were not up to scratch.

Back then, she had just thrown herself into learning the basics of making polymer clay earrings, and had invested in tools and equipment.

“My first few releases, I am ashamed to admit, were not top-notch. Some pieces broke because they were brittle, and earring posts kept popping off.

"It used to keep me up at night, dreading to receive complaint emails from customers.

“But I am thankful that I have been blessed with customers who have been very understanding and encouraging since day one.

"Perfecting your craftsmanship takes extensive research, experiments and countless number of failures. I have come a long way and am definitely more confident of the quality of my work now, ” said Tan, 35.

For her designs, Tan draws inspiration from people around her and causes close to her heart.

The designer’s jewellery pieces all have stories behind them; Rimba, also known as the Pak Belang and Friends series, is inspired by a cause close to her heart.

It took her almost a year to design these pieces, which feature the Malayan tiger, Borneo pygmy elephant, Malayan tapir, proboscis monkey and the rhinoceros hornbill.

“All but the hornbill is now considered endangered. As an animal lover and long-time donor of WWF Malaysia, I wanted to help spread awareness of the near-extinction of some of our Malaysian rainforest animals due to loss of habitat or poaching.

“I wanted people to also be aware that our daily habits are causing these animals to lose their home and if we don’t change what we are doing, these animals will soon be extinct, ” she emphasised.

Other designs are simply inspired by the people closest to her. A colleague’s love for mythical creatures ended up being Zaa’s Mermaid Dreams, a friend’s obsession with the galaxy found its way into Miriam’s Space Adventure, while another friend’s favourite lunch is immortalised in Summer Salad.

The romantic at heart will also swoon at how she incorporated elements from her wedding into a collection that commemorated her first anniversary.

“I had an outdoor wedding with a Malay-Chinese theme filled with colourful tanglungs and vintage-looking nyonya umbrellas strewn about for guests to take photos with, ” she shared. These lanterns and umbrellas found their way into her jewellery too.

On her first wedding anniversary, Tan created a series of polymer clay jewellery with elements from her wedding, including lanterns and Nyonya umbrellas.

In the spirit of keeping things as green as possible, whenever a gift-wrapping request comes in, Tan uses the batik cloth from her wedding for an elegant furoshiki-style wrap.

Attention to detail

Her handmade jewellery journey started almost two years ago when she decided to take matters – quite literally – into her own hands.

She had been trying to get a pair of polymer clay earrings from a Singapore-based maker, but the pieces were so sought after that they would sell out within seconds of being released.

After trying in vain to get her hands on a pair, she decided to make them herself.

“I signed up for a workshop and learned the basics of making polymer clay earrings. After the class, I thought to myself, ‘Hey, this really isn’t that difficult’, bought a bunch of clay and tools and set about making myself some cool earrings. Little did I know that there’s still so much to learn!” she related.

Behind the scenes of Tan’s polymer clay jewellery-making process.

Tan had a full-time job in marketing and was always looking forward to the weekends so she could work on her jewellery.

She takes pride in the fact that hers is a one-woman show; she works on each piece from start to end by herself.

“It is so easy to cut corners and put out something for the sake of it, but I do take pride in slow-making my jewellery to have as little flaws as possible, ” she shared.

Just the clay conditioning and mixing to achieve the desired colours could take an entire day, depending on how many colours are required.

“Then I start working on the elements such as cutting out leaves and animals. Once everything is laid out, I use clay cutters to cut out different shapes before curing them in the oven.

"Then it is on to the messy part of the process – sanding, buffing, drilling, milling and glueing, after which I assemble the pieces and put them on earring cards, ” she said.

Tan's Miriam's Space Adventure slab is ready to be cut and made into jewellery.

Despite having been at it for some time now, Tan relates that each collection release is just as nerve-racking as it was in the beginning.

“It never gets easier, even after doing this for two years. So naturally, there is always a tremendous amount of gratefulness whenever a release sells out within a day.

"My personal record, so far, was the release of the Rimba series where 40 pairs sold out in under six minutes, ” she recalled.

The Whimsical Forest collection.

“It is a dream of mine to one day bump into a stranger wearing my creation.

"That hasn’t happened yet, but the closest I’ve gotten was someone approaching a friend of mine to ask if the earring she was wearing was from (my brand). That really was a high point for me, ” she said.

While we can expect more new clay jewellery designs from Tan, she has also been experimenting with a new water-based acrylic material and hopes to have her first batch of homeware out soon.

“Collaborations with other local brands and makers are also in the works for next year, so I’m very much looking forward to what I hope to be an exciting year ahead, ” she concluded.