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.

Comments

[Michelle Pajak-Reynolds]

Hi Katrina,

Thanks so much for blogging about my work and the upcoming show. I greatly appreciate it :)

Best
Michelle

[Francesca]

Katrina I'm with you 100%!
Beads were my first love when I was a kid and growing up, and now I still love them but they must have "challenged the maker", and Michelle's work is among those!

[Heather]

Fantastic! I love Michelle's work.

[Freda Zeh]

Great post, Katrina. I agree w/ you & don't consider your opinion "snobbish" at all. In fact, it exemplifies Saddington's quote at the top of your page.

The way I see it, beading primarily is about design, and obeys such rules as pattern, proportion, color, and the like. When beads are used as an element of art jewelry, the result can be exciting, as Michelle's work is- or Stanley Hagler's was. Beads can also be used to craft a design- the result- "Chico's-type" jewelry. Not necessarily poorly designed, but hardly the same as art.

Too often, folks confuse handmade jewelry and art jewelry by lumping them into one category. Sort of the same way folks confuse made-from-scratch and Duncan Hines, I think. Both are "home made," but only one is original.

[Echo d'Amour - Alexandra West]

fantastic post - well said and the piece you chose to show are goregous!