Brown and Tan Leather Bracelet with Hill Tribe Silver, "Tan Textural Contrast"

"Hi, my name is Porchara Tongwat but you can call me Kong for short. I was born in 1976 in one of the northern provinces of Thailand and I am the older brother of Siriporn, a NOVICA featured artisan. You may already know her, she makes beautiful wrap bracelets. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support of her bracelets, because it helps to improve the lives of our family and she has made our parents happier.

"For many years, after our father retired, my sister has been the major provider in our family, taking care of all expenses in our family by making jewelry. As our parents have a lot of free time, they try helping her by crafting bracelets. It is amazing because my father has never been any good at crafts! He puts in a lot of hard effort to make the jewelry. He is always proud when my sister tells him he has done a very good, beautiful job of good quality. He jokes about the pieces he crafts going to the outside world.

These are the small pleasures that occur within our family. Our parents are proud that they can help daughter to do her work.

"For many years I had seen my parents craft wrap bracelets and I didn't think anything other than it was good for them as they had a lot of free time. Then I became responsible for driving Siriporn to her workshop and back home, so I had the opportunity to have more contact with the variety of jewelry that she designed and made. I started to pay attention to the details and see how the thread works with each bead to make beautiful jewelry. I feel amazing at the thought of my sister being able to take mathematical processes and express them through her jewelry design.

"I began to collect some left over waxed threads and tried knotting and braiding in different yet simple ways. I practiced for some time, had a few errors, until I felt satisfied with what I was doing. My sister said my creations looked nice and encouraged me to try to sell them. Then she brought me some beads and asked me to try to use them as decoration. I started by making designs for my personal use with the ones that I liked.

"It was a simple braid with plain silver beads, not too wide, which can be worn every day. Then my sister encouraged me to make some more to sell. When my work started to sell, I was very happy. I couldn't believe that I, who has always been interested in engine mechanics, would be making jewelry straight from my heart and joy! It seems others like my ideas as well, so I began designing seriously and making jewelry with my sister's advice.

"I am so glad that you invited me to join! Now our family has two artisans with NOVICA. Our parents told me to thank you all for supporting our work. It makes our family smile every day. Thank you very much."