When Jennie Bosak looks at an antique silver spoon, she sees its potential to become a bubble blower. She can't explain it. It's just something that happens in her head.

Her hands then take over as she does surgery on the spoon's bowl and solders a little circle onto it. Voila! A pendant is born, and an eternal optimist can now wear her "I'm forever blowing bubbles" philosophy around her neck.

Bosak did not start out as an artist. Quite the opposite. For many years she was a scientist: Until 1996, she ran the research and development laboratories at Bayer in the Bay Area.

"My Filipino family said, 'You're going to be a doctor,' and I had no choice but to go into a scientific field," Bosak said with a shrug. "Once a week I made presentations to the FDA in Washington, D.C., and at first I thought it was so glamorous, but it just was not me."

Bosak sees some similarities between her old career as a scientist and her new one as a jewelry designer. Experimentation is a key. "I waste a lot of silver, but I always can melt the scraps and recycle them as clasps or whatever," she explained.

In addition to her retail jewelry, for those who might have a treasured old belt buckle or brooch that belonged to Tutu or Auntie but is never worn because it's just "not my style," Bosak can dust it off and create something new with it, something that will be made into a design for today. Her work is sold exclusively at Riches Kahala; prices range from $110 to $350.