Metalsmith Benchtalk Past Favorites with Robert Liu, Editor of Ornament Mag.

This Thursday, July 30th, 2015 at 3 p.m. PST on MetalSmith BenchTalk, we will be re-airing one of our favorite past episodes with guest Robert Liu, Editor Ornament Magazine. 

About Robert: Robert Kung Shan Liu was born in Rome in 1938 and immigrated to the US from China after World War II with his mother and 4 siblings. Trained as an ethologist and ichthyologist, the Dr. Liu received his Ph.D. from the UCLA where he worked on experimental gerontology and immunology in the Dept. of Pathology, School of Medicine until 1975. Founder of the magazine "The Bead Journal" in 1974, Dr. Liu and his wife Carolyn L.E. Benesh are publishers and coeditors of its successor, "Ornament" since 1978. 

Self-trained as a jeweler and photographer, he has written extensively on ancient, ethnic and contemporary personal adornment, as well as gerontology, ichthyology (Ichthyology [from Greek] is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish), animal behavior, military technology, and construction equipment. Liu started collecting and researching beads in 1972, in addition to designing jewelry that incorporated beads and other artifacts. In 1995 Dr. Liu wrote/published what is considered to be the most thorough resource on beads "Collectible Beads: A Universal Aesthetic". Check out his book on Amazon: http://bit.ly/7ORn5L.

For additional information on Robert, see: http://www.ornamentmagazine.com/.