With SHIBUMI founder, April Higashi
Welcome to the SHIBUMI Custom Design Studio, located in the heart of West Berkeley!
While many of you are likely familiar with our Gallery on Fourth Street, we thought we’d show you our design studio and office space also located in West Berkeley.
Soon we will begin offering our clients Custom Experiences at our design studio location. (Keep reading for details!)
This location is home to APRIL HIGASHI JEWELRY Design Studio, as well as our SHIBUMI studio and offices. We recently refreshed the space with new paint, adding color and a sense of tranquility. Let me show you around!
APRIL HIGASHI JEWELRY Design Studio
We affectionately call this area ‘The Conservatory’, as it’s decorated with a collection of plants we acquired during the pandemic. When I recently returned from Paris, I wanted something new, so I decided on a color refresh to shake things up. This space has always been painted white, so I decided to paint it with two different color greens from Farrow and Ball - #calkegreen and #sutcliffegreen.
I’m absolutely loving working doused in these new green walls, surrounded by all the lush foliage!
At the Design Studio, Claudia Alleyne and I work side by side to create new pieces for the gallery, as well as detail our custom projects. Claudia is our Design Lead, Studio Coordinator and my right-hand here at the Design Studio.
We're excited to announce that soon we’ll begin booking custom appointments or Custom Experiences, in this space. Meeting here will be very beneficial if you have already been to the gallery and are ready to hone in on ideas for a unique custom project. The beauty is that it is adjoined to our studio, so we can easily chat with the technicians and discuss in detail your choice of materials, stones or special techniques.
Next we have the SHIBUMI Studio
This is where the magic happens. All APRIL HIGASHI JEWELRY and SHIBUMI'S custom work and repairs are done right here, in house. The studio hadn’t been painted in 20 years, so I picked this dark greenish-grey color, #douter, and washed the walls and ceiling with it.
Ben Faryna is the heart of SHIBUMI Studio. He is our Lead Technician and has spent over fourteen years with us. None of SHIBUMI’S magic could happen without him!
Zoe Holtzman is our newest Assistant Technician. She is our Repairs Specialist but also spends two days in the Gallery on Fourth Street.
Claudia, along with her Design and Gallery roles, also works as our stringer and chain maker.
Our team is committed to excellence and craftsmanship, ensuring that every piece we create is artfully designed and meticulously crafted. We have fun making things every day and enjoy sharing our passion for what we do. We welcome visitors by appointment.
We also hold two special events a year at our Design Studio - a Summer Showcase in July, and a Holiday Party in November or December. (You can sign up for our email newsletter to receive information about our Studio shows and upcoming events at our Gallery on Fourth St.)
Finally, we have the SHIBUMI Offices
This is the engine of the business, and is the home base for our operations and marketing. I painted in here as well, with an accent wall in #castlegray, updated the ceiling with #douter, and hung some paintings by my grandfather, Kenneth Higashimachi.
In here is where I often find Trevi Alohilani Pendro, our Gallery and Operations Manager. They know where everything is and where it is going. They know who is doing what and assigns the work to the appropriate party. They keep the team on track and also handle client relations. They are a master of people and spreadsheets. Trevi also works in the Gallery on Fourth Street and is the second mama to Samurai, the Cat.
Vivian Cheung is our Layering Expert, Photographer, and Marketing support. All the beautiful photos of our pieces on our site or in our emails are thanks to Vivian! She is Trevi’s right-hand woman and also works in the Gallery on Fourth Street.
I’ve found that I love hiring makers, evaluating their skills, and tailoring responsibilities to best match skillsets and interests. Each team member has a role that is specially created just for them. I like to believe that I am mentoring the next generation to greatness and helping them discover how to be their best creative selves. In some miraculous way, we’ve always been able to weave everyone’s skills and tasks together to keep SHIBUMI going!
Currently our team has twelve members to keep things running smoothly. While we have to run a tight ship with so many different aspects to the business, I make sure as the boss that there is still the time and space for everyone’s creative process to unfold.
We love what we do and want to share how our small business has evolved over the years. Our passion for our work is what drives us to create uniquely beautiful pieces for our clients. And we hope this beautiful sanctuary that we’ve created adds to your experience as a client, or even simply as an admirer.
And we’re looking forward to offering our clients our new Custom Experience at our studio location!