For some, Valentine’s Day is about hearts, sweets and flowers. For others with a darker view of love, those hearts are more likely to be bound in chains, fractured or pierced with thorns.

The dark heart is a recurring theme in the work of artist Candice Wakumoto, who says, "The heart speaks to a lot of people, but I have the feeling the person who buys my hearts is not necessarily one obsessed by love. They’re not cute, puffy or diamond-encrusted hearts. They have a little bit of edginess to them that tempers them."

Wakumoto’s heart-shaped, silver-clay jewelry is more likely to be purchased by its wearer, rather than a beau who may fear having his head chewed off should he fail to recognize which side of the romance camp his beloved belongs.

Like any true love, a piece speaks to its wearer’s soul, and Wakumoto said it’s not unusual for people to look at her jewelry dozens of times, even over years, before finding the right piece.

She spoke of one woman who had searched a long time, yet always complained the pieces were too big and overpowering. Then one day, she stopped into Jeff Chang Pottery & Fine Arts at Pearlridge, where Wakumoto works, and did a double take when she saw a piece Wakumoto had just placed in the window.

"She asked to try it on, and it was perfect for her. It was the right size, the right color, the right theme," Wakumoto said. "It was like the planets aligned, like when you meet the love of your life."

COINCIDENTALLY, it was the love of Wakumoto’s life, her husband, Paul, to whom she’s been married 35 years, who introduced her to the silver clay medium that is a close second love in her life. As a longtime graphic artist, she had managed to convince herself over time that her talent was purely working in two dimensions, not three.

"My husband made beautiful lei, and I’d try and it wasn’t so nice. It was the same with flower arranging."

Then, in the late 1990s, he told her about a new clay that could produce silver jewelry. (The metal is mixed with a pliant, claylike binder that burns away in a kiln, leaving the pure metal.) Her initial reaction was disbelief, but she said, "When I started using silver clay, I said, ‘OK, maybe I can work in more than two dimensions.’

"I had taken metal fabrication classes at the University of Hawaii, and liked it, but silver clay was more immediate and a way for me to make personal pieces that are one of a kind."

She discovered the metal clay medium at the perfect time, when the medium was just being introduced from Japan. She and her husband both attended classes offered by a visiting instructor from Japan, and she stuck with it, saying, "The textural part really intrigued me. That’s the part that doesn’t have a limit as to what an artist can do with it."

Over time, she turned out pieces inspired by nature, including dragonflies and seashells, but kept returning to hearts, whether as sharply pointed as an arrow or as curvy as a Grecian urn. Some pieces include a mix of large, small and unusual gemstones.

For her efforts she’s been a two-time winner, in 2002 and 2003, in the precious metal clay category of the jewelry industry’s prestigious Saul Bell Awards.

As for spreading the love on Valentine’s Day, she says people shouldn’t be afraid of or feel selfish about showing themselves some love.

"I always tell people this at the store: ‘If you want it, you need it.’ I think people feel guilty about spending money on themselves, but I think we all work really hard, we all do things for other people, our families and friends, so if you see something that brings you joy, why not treat yourself?"

She said it’s gratifying to see the expressions of those who fall in love with one of her pieces.

"It’s really nice to get to work with customers because working as an artist is very isolating. Everything is in your head, and when I finish a piece of jewelry, all I see is myself in the mirror trying it on. When you see other people wear it, it gives you another perspective.

"Everybody has different tastes, and my jewelry is not for everyone, so I think it’s really nice when somebody gets me. When that happens it’s the ultimate high."