in naxos...

i am on the island of naxos today, leaving for santorini in a few hours. the trip has been just fantastic and it has only been a week! there is A LOT of jewelry here. shops line the streets and seem to be as prevelant in greece as coffee shops are in the u.s. i have spoken to several owners and makers and everyone has been so friendly and happy to talk about jewelry. i've been collecting cards and images and will share them all when i return.

thanks for reading.

bon voyage...

i leave for greece tomorrow! i just wanted to write about a few things before i go...

item of the week is now on hold until i return. i'll start that up again on june 10.

there will also be no guest-star friday posts until i return, unless i can get to a computer. i will try to blog while i'm away, but it all depends on internet availability. please do check back now and again, though! i will resume guest-star friday on june 13.

my studio and office are closed pretty much as soon as i post this entry. you are welcome to visit my site and place orders while i am away, but i will not be able to fill the orders until after i return. thanks for your patience! (i will be gone from may 6-june 1.)

my klimt02 page is now live. please check it out and while you are there, visit some of the other jewelers' pages. there are so many incredible artists to see!

i have a brand new shop that i am very excited about - artstream in rochester, nh. artstream offers a gallery and exhibition opportunities for emerging and established artists, art classes, and media designs services.

...and, finally, here are a few more greek jewelers i've found while researching contemporary greek jewelry.

rallou katsari

sonai riz

mania lyrintzi

loukia richards

bon voyage and, as always, thanks for reading!

penland happenings

i just got home from the penland school of crafts where i spent a relaxing couple of days. the spring concentration finished up on friday and i went up to attend the scholarship auction. many of the students and instructors donate work for this event which happens at the end of every session. all the money raised is used to fund work/study positions and various scholarships. i have bid on a number of things at past auctions, but this time i said i was not going to because i am going to greece. i should be saving all my money for the trip. well, i ended up being all talk because as soon as i saw the charm necklace the metals' class made, i changed my mind. as you may remember i was their visiting artist a few weeks ago. it was a wonderful experience and i definitely feel a connection to those students and their instructor, robert dancik. the necklace they made was one of the best class collaborations i have ever seen and i was immediately drawn to it. so i bid and bid and bid again and finally won. i definitely made the right choice.

earlier in the day i had a lovely visit with instructor and resident artist david chatt. david makes incredible bead work which i have admired for years. while we were talking he mentioned that his father, orville k. chatt, had been a metalsmith and showed me a book he authored titled "design is where you find it." it is a wonderful book that shows how ideas can be found anywhere and everywhere, one just has to look with an open mind. chatt shows a picture of something interesting , a leaf, an old barn, a mushroom to name a few, and matches each image with a piece of jewelry inspired by the image. the ideas were so thoughtful and inspiring. this book is a real treasure if you can find a copy for yourself.


thanks for reading.

sienna gallery

i am very, very excited to announce that sienna gallery is going to represent my work this summer! sienna is one of my favorite contemporary studio jewelry galleries and represents many of my jewelry heros. sienna will be showing my current studio jewelry series, line drawings. i will be able to make new work in this series which will be my top priority when i return from greece. what a fantastic task to come home to!

raissa bump

jimena rios

lina peterson

susie ganch

melanie bilenker

esther knobel

biba schutz

thanks for reading.

guest star friday no. 13...poly nikolopoulou

yes! i found another one! a greek studio jeweler that is...poly nikolopoulou. i found poly just a few minutes ago on klimt02. her work is abstract and sculptural with lots of brooches that i think could have just as much life off the body as on. i especially like her surface treatment which reminds me of dilapidated, abandoned factories. this rough and raw handling gives the work a sense of age and history. it also makes me wonder how she did it and i like that bit of mystery.

thanks for reading.

item of the week

this week's item of the week is my flat egg necklace. i started making this necklace a few years ago because i wanted to create something that was not a circle. at the time, i was producing circles over and over and each had to be near perfect. this was beginning to feel limiting and i wanted to loosen up a little. i thought creating an organic, slightly abstract form would do the trick. so i took some paper and began cutting. i had maybe 30 pieces when i was done, mostly soft ovals and beach pebble-like shapes. i had three favorites including the one pictured above. it reminded me of an egg...my egg and bean collection and an excellent compliment to my collections was hatched!

this will be my last item of the week until i return form my trip to greece...please enjoy 20% off the flat egg necklace for the week, april 29-may 5. (originally $75, on sale for $60)

item of the week will start again on june 3!

thanks for reading.

guest star friday no. 12...katerina ioannidis

i am so excited to say i found another greek jeweler - katerina ioannidis. as i wrote last week, i am going to greece in may and i've been trying to learn about contemporary greek jewelry. katerina makes really beautiful, well-crafted pieces. she combines the materials and techniques of traditional goldsmithing with faceted stones, pearls, and fibers, like thread and ribbons. the resulting jewelry is refined with an interesting mix of rich color and texture. katerina is from thessaloniki, greece's second largest city. she is also a printmaker.

by the way, the music that accompanies her website is excellent.

thanks for reading.