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Benjamas

"My name is Benjamas Siriraungkeaw. I have two younger brothers and I am very attached to them. My family has always been very warm and we have a good relationship with each other. My father was a woodcarver; he made wood sculptures and everyone in my family helped him. From the time my brothers and I were young, we wanted to learn his skills and make nice sculptures by ourselves.

"My family could not afford my studies, so we helped in the house and with the woodcarving. At the beginning, I learned how to work with wood. Then, because I am a woman and like feminine things, I thought about making accessories for women using wood.

"Little by little, my father stopped working because he was too old, but he wanted to help me with my idea of using wood to make jewelry. But honestly, I would have never gotten to this point if I hadn't met Wutiichai, who is my husband now. He is a very skilled man with great ideas and, with him, we came up with these designs that combine wood with cotton thread.

"Before starting my own business, I had done many things in life. I wanted to finish my studies, so I worked hard in order to earn money to study accounting. After that, I worked in a jewelry shop for ten years and I loved it. I got many ideas for my personal designs and I could see what people liked. Quitting this job has been a real challenge for me – I left something I liked because I wanted to work on my own. Since I wasn't sure of what might happen, I was a little bit scared and worried. But today I am so glad I made that decision.

"I am always improving my designs to keep them modern. The technique we use is not easy, so we have to be very careful when we make each piece.

"I am happy to show my work with Novica. I hope you like my jewelry."