On Jewels: An Appreciation of the Art

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

Alea

Heather Skowood's blog led me to the Alea Galeria in Barcelona.  I would definitely put this gallery on my must see list, if I were still in Europe.

They recently held and exhibition '40 Collars 40 Joiers' which included many exciting pieces. I am impressed with the variety of styles and medium in this exhibit.

What first caught my attention was the 'Collar Flimsy Bubbles' (2nd image) by Sabine Lang. I love the ultra delicate nature of the piece and the fact that it makes you take a second and third look to understand what it is. Sabine has a line of 'bubble' jewels which can be found on her website here and includes 'milky bubbles' and 'big bubbles' too.

I also like the necklaces by Natasha Grant, 'cause I love a bit of humor:

and Edith Bellod who's necklace is serene in its simplicity

(btw - if you are a  subscriber, swing by onjewels to see the new look)

advertistments

Bumming Around London

This weekend we found lots of exciting new jewellery venues on an amble from Spitalfields Market, through Brick Lane and then across the South Bank.  It reminded me of how special a place London is, no matter what your interests are.

@Work is a great contemporary jewellery gallery on Brick Lane (and Pimlico) where I found my self smiling at the often quirky selection of jewels, despite the grey weather. They give jewellery making classes in their Pimlico location.  Also, a quick peruse of their website showed an interesting upcoming exhibition. Wedding and Engagement Ring Exhibition – which they describe as, “Over 50 UK and International designers have been asked to create their ideal wedding and engagement ring set. From elegant and romantic to modern cutting edge design, everything from precious gold and diamonds to precious recycled.” – There will also be the opportunity to go in and work in the studio for the day with jewellers to design your own bands.  Sounds like fun and I like the idea of “precious recycled”!

Next stop was the OXO Tower Wharf, where there is a lot of exciting design work going on in all fields. If you are looking for a funky dress to go with your jewels, this is also the place to go.  While there check out: Alan Vallis, d’Argent Gallery, Parul & Venus and definitely don’t miss Studio Fusion Gallery.   Studio Fusion Gallery, is a contemporary applied arts gallery (much heavier on the jewellery than anything else) which is owned and run by six women who exhibit their work along with others.

Also along the South Bank, in Gabriel’s Wharf, one of my favourite little hidden parts of the London, is Mikala Djorup Gallery, a small studio/gallery which has some lovely pieces in the window.

All in all, not bad for rainy bank holiday weekend.

advertistments