On Jewels: An Appreciation of the Art

New Book: Read My Pins

Madeleine Albright's new Book Read My Pins was released late last month.  I haven't had a chance to get it yet, but it has gotten some good reviews on Amazon and I will definitely be adding it to my must read list.   I am fascinated to see jewelry used in politics.  If you are interested in this topic you can also check out Brooching It Diplomatically: A Tribute to Madeleine Albright by Helen Drutt, in which 61 artists were challenged with creating brooches, "themed with Albright's strategic use of adorment."

Here is the book description from Amazon:

Before long, and without intending it, I found that jewelry had become part of my personal diplomatic arsenal. Former president George H. W. Bush had been known for saying "Read my lips." I began urging colleagues and reporters to "Read my pins."

It would never have happened if not for Saddam Hussein. When U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Madeleine Albright criticized the dictator, his poet in residence responded by calling her "an unparalleled serpent." Shortly thereafter, while preparing to meet with Iraqi officials, Albright pondered: What to wear? She decided to make a diplomatic statement by choosing a snake pin. Although her method of communication was new, her message was as old as the American Revolution—Don't Tread on Me.

From that day forward, pins became part of Albright's diplomatic signature. International leaders were pleased to see her with a shimmering sun on her jacket or a cheerful ladybug; less so with a crab or a menacing wasp. Albright used pins to emphasize the importance of a negotiation, signify high hopes, protest the absence of progress, and show pride in representing America, among other purposes.

Part illustrated memoir, part social history, Read My Pins provides an intimate look at Albright's life through the brooches she wore. Her collection is both international and democratic—dime-store pins share pride of place with designer creations and family heirlooms. Included are the antique eagle purchased to celebrate Albright's appointment as secretary of state, the zebra pin she wore when meeting Nelson Mandela, and the Valentine's Day heart forged by Albright's five-year-old daughter. Read My Pins features more than 200 photographs, along with compelling and often humorous stories about jewelry, global politics, and the life of one of America's most accomplished and fascinating diplomats.

Also:  200 of Albright's Pins will be on exhibition at the Museum of Art and Design in NYC through Jan. 31st 2010

Some Thoughts from Jewelry Artist

Growing up I had a subscription to The Lapidary Journal way before I knew I was going to study actual jewelry design.  I ordered it because I was interested in beading and was selling easily make stuff at local craft fairs with a friend.  It looked like a good magazine for tips etc, and besides I have always had a soft spot for magazines of any kind.

But was I grew to love were the step by step instructions and that photos of different projects.  I am sure that this magazine was a major influence in my decision to get more serious about jewelry making.

Now I subscribe to their newsletter, and will most likely buy a "real" subscription again.  But I thought that I should share two of the pieces in this month's newsletter as I think that they would hit home with my readers.  I will post them here, but you can find the actual newsletter here as well.

These were written by, Helen Driggs is Managing Editor of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist magazine

The Flash from Helen’s Bench Every now and then, I am reminded of why I do this. The other night, I was hammer forming and I crossed over to that very calm, focused and quiet place of concentration where it was only me, my hammer, the anvil and the metal. Nothing intruded – I felt my breathing slow, my vision focus sharply forward, my mind go quiet, and I blissed out. The studio was silent, dark and still except for the sound of hammer strike and torch flame. I totally lost track of several hours' time, and I felt like I’d received a great gift when I came back. The rare feeling of that place is where I am so happy and most alive. It’s where I want to go and stay whenever I can and I fiercely fight for space to get there. It is the place of focus and creativity. It is the place of excellence.

Do you have 10,000 hours? I recently sat in on a lecture on becoming a “master craftsman” by Lew Wackler, one of our long time contributors to  Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist. His main point was that for someone to reach master status, they had to practice their craft for at least 10,000 hours. He’s done that and beyond. Lew’s concept made perfect sense to me because traditional art school training set me up to expect to invest lots of time making bad art to get good. I’ve been lucky enough to have studied with masters in every creative arena of my life: painting, dance and metals. The masters I’ve respected, become awestruck over, and have admired most were artists who had given up everything to focus on the one thing they wanted to excel at. They had the talent, desire, drive and dedication to do only “the one thing.” Most people, myself included, could not do what they had done. Even if you are bursting with natural talent, you may never get there. It is very hard to abandon a “normal” life and do “the one thing” without diverting energy on family, friends, a home, stuff. And I will be very un-PC here and say especially for a girl. Sorry. It’s just a biological fact, so please don’t send me a nastygram. I am too interested in too many things to choose only one. I love my son and my friends and family, I like to cook, paint, work on my house, garden, dance, and I have a genetically driven need to constantly make things with my hands. Happily, I’ve become accomplished at many of those things, but I have given up other things I passionately loved because I knew that to get good at them it would take more life than I could possibly give – so I abandoned them rather than do them badly. But I can’t imagine doing that for everything but “the one thing.” I don’t have forever in front of me like I thought I did in my art school days, and I want to make the most of what I do have. It’s hard to give things up. But it is worth it sometimes, and choice is what makes us human. I figure I’ve spent roughly 3,500 hours so far on metals. I’m not even halfway to becoming a “master” yet. There are processes and techniques out there I’d like to try, and I fully enjoy every moment I spend at my bench. Yes, I hope I get to 10,000 and beyond, but to tell you the truth, I don’t even care.  I love working in my studio with the skills I have.  I'll just love it more with more and better skills. To me, the funniest thing about it is that someone quantified it, and I’d never really considered it in those terms before. And it would be cool if you got a gold medal when you clocked 10,000 – but silly for a metalsmith, because they would probably just melt that medal down to make something. Sort of the point, right?

I bet more than a few of my readers are familiar with the feeling that Helen describes in the first piece.  I sure remember the best days at my bench in college being when I would look up and suddenly realize that it was almost time for the building to close for the night and I had no desire to leave.  

The second piece, I posted because I think that it makes some interesting points about mastering your field.  I don't necessarily agree that it is harder for women to master a field, I think historically it has not been as acceptable for a woman to give up other interests and responsibilities for their art or any given field for that matter, but I think that things are changing.  I have met many women who are dedicated to their work as much so as men.  It is all about finding a balance that works for you and what you are trying to achieve.  Not, that I have managed it myself, I grapple daily with how much time I want to spend on creativity versus other responsibilities, but my hope is that someday I will find a good balance and feel at peace with the choice that I make.  What do you think?

2Roses Jewelry

Heavy-Handed Allegory Ring, originally uploaded by 2Roses Jewelry.

This ring by 2Roses Jewelry caught my attention when it came up in the Fine Art Jewelry Flickr Pool.  It is the product of an artists swap, which is really interesting.  Made out of sterling silver, plastic, resin and fire opal, it came about when the artists were sent pieces in an artist to artist element swap.  What a way to get unexpected inspiration.

In looking at their Etsy shop, Flickr Photostream, and website, it turns out that they are quite and interesting duo who work together to create an outstandingly varied collection of exciting jewelry. Check out a few of their pieces.

I love that they have included notes about the creative process, materials etc, with their Flickr pics, they also have included pictures of their studio, in progress pieces and each other, really interesting to be able to have a little peak into their world.

Diane Weimer

I came across Diane's work while surfing Flickr for inspiration for my posts over at CraftGossip.  You can find Diane on both Flickr and CraftHaus. 

What originally caught my attention was her "Anne Boleyn"  necklace composed of cast elements and freshwater pearls.  It is intricate yet lovely and clean.

 

Diane creates exciting pieces in both simple and complex designs.  I loved looking through her Flickr images.  Pretty great work for a self described retired school teacher with a garage studio who has been taking jewelry classes since 2004.  

New Gig

I am now writing as the Jewelry Making Editor for CraftGossip.  Posts there will be more about making jewelry rather than showcasing jewelers.  But I am hoping to have mini-interviews with artists and will of course still feature jeweler's work which fits in with the topics discussed.  So if you have something you would like featured on CraftGossip: your work, tutorials on making, new products that you have come across, etc., please drop me a line here.

Here is a link to the first post.

The Stimulus Project 2009

Just a quick note about the Stimulus Project 2009 at the Sienna Gallery.

Above by Suzanne Beautyman

I love this idea for two reasons.  One the basic concept:  To stimulate the "flow' of money to artists in the US and Canada though the sale of jewelry in the price range of $100- 500.  There are 80 artists involved so far.  The price range also enables those of us who would like to collect contemporary jewelry to do so at far more accessible prices - thus encouraging us to buy now rather than wait for better economic times.

Above by Sharon Church

Secondly, I love the tech element to this exhibition and that the Sienna Gallery takes as a whole. You can read about this exhibition on Facebook - something that I am starting to see more and more with jewelry galleries and think is great.  You can become a fan of the Sienna Gallery there and follow what is going on.  I am one of those Facebook addicts and it think it is great to get this sort of information right there so that I can indulge my addiction but also follow the things that I am interested in way more than what type of beer my friend's personality is. More than that, you can view photos of the works on Facebook as well.  Lastly, The Sienna Gallery website is tech savvy in that a pop-up box occurs on their site prompting you to promote their exhibitions on a number of sites including Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, etc.  Excellent!

Above by Sharon Massey

If you are interested in buying a piece, you can browse them right on the Sienna site by clicking on the individual artist's names.  Have fun shopping!  You'll find big names like Bruce Metcalf, Joe Wood, Myra Mimlitsch - Gray and Jamie Bennett as well as young jewelers.

Above by Jennifer Trask

Summer Celebration

It feels like summer most of the time here, but right now at the height of the actual season, when the orange trees are bursting with fruit and enormous bumble bees are buzzing around my yard, I feel that it is time again to showcase jewelry which celebrates nature.

Most of the jewelers below where found on the excellent blog The CarrotBox

Saskia Bostelmann works in many different styles from the natural to the geometric and in many mediums as well.  I found her pieces inspired by antique lace but made out of recycled measuring tapes, magazines and post-it notes very interesting.

Most striking however were her "hybrid" pieces of mix materials, as shown here.

Carrie Garrot's work is soft and subtle in a way that one might expect from pieces made with petals and wax, yet it has a unique air about it.  She describes her fragile works as illustrating the transience of nature, and this they truly do. The wax softens and blurs the petals but also gives them a slightly deteriorated feel, as if the viewer/wearer is actually experiencing the piece as it ages and wilts, yet it then seems to hold them right at that moment before they lose their inherent beauty.

Carrie's "bottle" works feel as if they are attempting to preserve the beauty of nature, as if the flowers were bottled into formaldehyde in order to keep their vivacity.  She also achieves tremendous movement in these pieces considering the seeming stiffness of the use of the "bottles".

Japanese artist Shinjo Nakaba creates spectacular works out of mixed materials, often recycled and always stunning in their composition, as if he is creating an arrangement rather than a piece of body adornment.

It is thrilling to see what he can accomplish with used plastic bottles, resin and steel.  Also, as you may have noticed, I am always interested to see the process.  Excitingly included on his website are in-progress pictures so that you can understand a bit more about both the process and the materials.  That is truly great to see.

Jewelry blogger 18k also featured Nakaba today, so it is fitting that I found this last artist on her blog.

Danish jeweler Alidra Alic's "Alice's Adventure's In Wonderland" series is a self-interpretation of the novel itself and floral motifs of the late 1880's with a "self-invented"  plastic technique.  They are naturalistic and yet surrealistic at the same time.  They are imbued with a similar feeling of deterioration as the pieces by Carrie Garrott, and yet they are girlishly-powdery, sinister and innocent at the same time.

The photographic display of the jewels and their context is lovely to have as well.

Been a while

I have been on a sort of hiatus, as you might have noticed, with finding a house, moving, taking care of the little one and being pregnant again.  But I am back and determined to get back to the business of publicizing great jewelry artists, jewelry events, books and exciting networking/marketing opportunities available to today's jeweler.

Again, I urge any jeweler, from the experienced to the those currently studying to let me know what you are working on, where you will be exhibiting and where you can be found on the web.  I would love the chance to hear about new things and the hopefully help spread the word about your work.

That said, here are a few things going on at the moment.

In my local area:

Lireille - Gallery of Contemporary Jewelry and Art Friday August 7th from 5:30 - 8:30 - Meet emerging jewelers Fran Grinels (though I think that her better work is shown on the Lireille website itself) and Sherry Cordova at the artists reception during the First Friday Art Walk.

Opening on August 5th at the Velvet da Vinci Gallery is The Enamel Show which celebrates the new book 500 Enameled Objects by Lark Books.  

This looks like it will be an excellent exhibition as it includes jewelry and sculptural objects by 65 international artists, including: Natalya Pinchuk, Tura Sugden and Lisa Crowder.

Also not to miss are:

GlassWare at the Museum of Art and Design through Sept 20th. This exhibition includes masters of the material such as Wendy Ramshaw as well as up and coming jewelers working in glass.  It illustrates the possibilities and excitement of working with a wide variety of types of glass from pyrex to recycled glass, in this international exhibition which is a collaboration between The Museum of Art and Design and the Schmuckmuseum.

At the Facere Gallery - Metal Magic: Chasing and Repousee  an exhibit celebrating these ancient techniques, and including stunning works by artist such as Linda Kindler Priest and Billie Lim

Confessions of a Snob

Ok, if you are a regular reader, you have probably already figured out that I am a jewelry snob.  I want it creative, exciting, original, innovative and above all else extremely well made.  Mind you, I have lots of leeway in those terms, I admire jewels made of all sorts of materials in all sorts of ways which is to be worn on all sorts of people. 

But my pet peeve is beading.  Don't get angry, stay with me here.   Beading is a great craft, probably accounts for a huge percentage of the jewelry sold and worn world wide,  I even do the odd beaded pieces myself, but doing a string of pearls or hanging a few faceted beads from jump rings on a necklace just doesn't satisfy me.  I want to see something that challenged the maker.

That is not to say that beads ruin a piece and just to prove myself wrong:

Here is Michelle Pajak-Reynolds who is another Crafthaus member and who's work is exciting, is creative and looks like it to a heck of a lot of skill, let alone patience.  Michelle is a textile and jewelry artist, a combination after my own heart, and her work shows it.  It is both textilel-ish in nature an definitely jewelry.  She has a gentle touch with color and you will find exciting pieces in both her "Drawing" and "Serendipity" lines on her website.

Michelle's work will be exhibited in a solo show at Luke & Elroy Gallery, owned by Crafthaus creator Brigitte Martin from June 20th to July 25th.

Crafthaus

So far I have blogged about Etsy and Flickr as tools for jewelers to promote their work, so I thought now was a good time to discuss Crafthaus.

Crafthaus is a social network for artists.  I was introduced to it by Heather Skowood who I blogged about previously. It is not solely for jewelry artists, but includes many.  You can join Crafthaus free of charge - upload images of your work, talk to other artists about upcoming events, submission deadlines, inspiration, whatever.  I have found members to be very friendly and interested in a dialog.   I don't know, but am guessing that there are other like me who are using the network to find out about new artists and new work, rather than to showcase our own work.  In this way it could be an invaluable tool with which to expose your work to bloggers, gallery owners, curators etc.

I plan to do a series of posts about Crafthaus artists, so here goes:

Shana Kroiz was an exciting find.  She describes her work here:

I construct these three dimensional pieces using formed metals, 
transparent and opaque enamels, carved woods, and 
sometimes electroforming.  This lends my ideas a contextual 
medium.  I use color and texture to give personality and feeling 
to each form.  The combination of these elements allows each 
piece to express its individual personality while uniting the work 
through common materials and techniques.  

Her work has been shown in numerous places including the American Craft Museum and Mobilia as well as being included in many publications and she is currently the "Special Events and 

Workshop Coordinator, and founder of the Maryland Institute College of Art, Jewelry Center"

I am most taken by the seeming physical strength of her formed pieces.  They are so bold in their complex shapes and steely simple color which portrays an impenetrable skin for these animalistic pieces.

Further, I am very impressed with the variety of her work from the playfully textural pieces with striking colors

to the fanciful mixed medium boxes

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