"You have to be first in class with a name like Best," her best friend told her when she enrolled in YTEPP's first Precious Metal Design course in 2012. "Apply yourself!"
"Okay," she had told him.So said, so done. At the end of the six-month intensive course, Malika Best, living up to her marital surname, was granted the award for Outstanding Achievement in Precious Metal Design (April�November 2012).
"It was a lot of hard work," she tells me as we sit at a round table in her home discussing her jewelry and drinking fresh lime juice. She explains to me some differences between sterling and fine silver–the latter being her preference, as it is easier to work with."You can lay fine silver over things like leaves and flowers to replicate what is in that leaf or flower," she says, going on to explain this can't be done with a sheet of sterling silver, which has to be cut into the desired shape.
To recall the difference in the percentages of silver (92.9 per cent for sterling and 99.9 per cent for fine silver), she flips through a binder containing six months of course materials and notes.It is as thick as a few large encyclopaedias combined.I comment on the book's overwhelming appearance and Malika confirms that the course was no joke.
Even without her saying so, I can tell that the high level of detail and professionalism in her work was not achieved by one who whizzed through a fly-by-night crash course."How come you named your studio 'Virgo Studios Tobago'?" I ask.Her zodiacal sign is Virgo, plus she likes the fact that its astrological symbol looks like an M, the first letter of her name.She supports her statement by showing me a finely crafted silver Virgo symbol, embedded with a precious stone.
Virgo, being an earth sign, also reflects her love of nature, the main source of fuel for her design concepts.Delicate silver flower rings, one-of-a-kind fine-silver leaf earrings ("No two are alike because each leaf is different") and other botanically-inspired works predominate in her portfolio.
"I should go to the forest, take pictures of leaves and do different things with them," she says after showing me a bright green realistically-shaped leaf pendant made of polymer clay, another material with which she works, since "not everyone can afford fine silver.""People are surprised I do such intricate work," she says of the jewelry, which speaks out boldly for itself–and, in a way, also for her, with her quiet, humble nature.
She explains how, over the years, her practice of Nichiren Buddhism and chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo progressively brought her out of hiding and helped her to see her "true self," beyond the limitations of other people's thinking and perception of who she was or could be."I was ashamed to be different and unique and now I see my uniqueness."This uniqueness reflects in the graceful pairs of earrings she shows me.
The fact that no two will ever be quite alike is evidence that the quirky twist in her personality comes out to play in her creations. Having worked consistently at fine-tuning her skills, Malika tells me she is ready to give one and two-day workshops (in polymer clay and fine silver) for up to three people at a time."I supply all the tools and whatever piece you make is yours to take away."
"Sign me up," I tell her.(Interested? Malika will have a booth at the Christmas Market–Market De'–at The Shade, December 14, 10 am�3 pm.)