book reviews

i got a few jewelry and art books for christmas including from hand to hand: passing on skill and know how in contemporary european jewelry, adorn: new jewelry, beguiled by the wild: the art of charly harper, and terry winters: paintings, drawings, prints, 1994-2004. all four are loaded with beautiful and interesting pictures. charley harper and terry winters are two of my new favorite artists. charley made his mark with graphic, colorful images of animals, cute and often sinister, while terry creates drawings and paintings all about line. the other books, both on contemporary jewelry, are very stylish. the work found inside demonstrates current themes in art jewelry and feature many of today's most innovative jewelers.

thanks for reading.

back at it

i got back from my christmas break yesterday and ran off to the studio today. i was hoping to chill out this week and not do any work but with the impending move to penland this weekend, i just knew there was no time for resting. i filled a few orders and then finished my new collection pieces. i have posted a few pictures of my sketchbooks and my many notes-to-self. i don't always do a lot of drawing but i do make many notations. it was more challenging to design and create this year - i definitely feel i'm at a crossroads with my jewelry, both my collections and my studio work. i found my usual go-to shapes and ideas to be uninteresting, limiting, and frustrating. despite that, now that they're all done, i am feeling pretty good about them.

i can feel big changes on the horizon. i am so excited for it and even more excited that i just don't know what it's all going to entail.
thanks for reading.

guest star #33...anna lorich

today's guest star is anna lorich. i really like her pale color palette, her mix of materials, and that she combines traditional jewelry techniques with drawing and sewing in many of her pieces. i also like the little details and the handmade marks that give each piece more intimate character. the overall affect is nostalgic, sweet, and a little bit haunting.


thanks for reading.

penland residency

i am incredibly happy to announce that i got an artist residency at the penland school of crafts. the residency is three years long and i will be moving there early next year. i can't begin to express how excited i am! this residency is the chance for my work i've been wishing for. it will give me time that i don't usually have to experiment and explore techniques, materials, and concept. i'm also planning to redevelop my drawing skills and hope to make this medium a part of my work as an artist. this also means i will be cutting back on my collections, which i already started to do by retiring many pieces. making the collections more manageable will give me more time to work on my studio jewelry.

heather white

it is such a tremendous honor to have been selected for this residency. i started going to penland nearly 10 years ago. my first class was with heather white. the following year i took a class with lori talcott and that's when i met joanna gollberg. in the years since i have been a studio assistant, a substitute metals coordinator, a volunteer, and an instructor. penland has been a huge part of my career and this opportunity to live there and make my work is just so special.

lori talcottjoanna gollberg

thanks for reading.

guest star friday #32...katy hackney

today's guest star is katy hackney. katy uses vintage formica, plywood, and cellulose acetate along with silver and steel to create jewelry with a warm and sweet character. imagery in the form of flowers, branches, and leaves is simplified into clean lines and layered on top and alongside colorful backgrounds and forms. katy's work looks thoughtfully designed and beautifully made.
you can see lots of katy's work at velvet da vinci.

thanks for reading.

more student work

kate schroeder

i finally got a few moments to deal with all the photos i took at penland including pictures of the work by some of my students. here are a few...names are listed under their pieces.

collin blackmore

raina lee scott

marianne dages

caitie sellers

eve singer

claire buck

thanks for reading.

searchlight info

jessica benzaquen

i recently got a press release from the american craft council about the searchlight program of which i am a participant:

THE AMERICAN CRAFT COUNCIL ANNOUNCES THE 2009 SEARCHLIGHT ARTISTS TO EXHIBIT AT THE BALTIMORE SHOW

New York, NY (November 11, 2008)—The American Craft Council is pleased to announce that fourteen emerging artists have been chosen as Searchlight Artists to exhibit their work at the prestigious American Craft Council Show in Baltimore, February 27 through March 1, 2009 at the Baltimore Convention Center.

“The American Craft Council is the leading voice of craft in America—gallery owners, educators and show attendees look to us to identify new talent and trends,” said Andrew Glasgow, executive director of the American Craft Council. “The Searchlight artists were selected because they exemplify craft’s cutting-edge direction and we’re pleased to provide a national platform for them to present their work.”

Searchlight Artists are nominated by the leaders of national universities, museums and residencies and selected through a rigorous jury process. These artists, who have not previously participated in a national craft show, will present their work alongside more than 700 professional artists and their high-quality handmade jewelry, furniture, clothing, home décor and more at the largest, juried indoor craft event in the country.

The work of the Searchlight Artists will be presented in a unique, collaborative space on the show floor. In an effort to create a dynamic retail space, the artists will work with Amy Shaw, this year’s Searchlight Retail Advisor. Amy Shaw is a curator, blogger and owner of Greenjeans, a gallery shop in Brooklyn committed to craft, sustainability and conscientious living.

2009 Searchlight Artists:

jessica benzaquen (albuquerque, nm)
eun-suh choi (rochester, ny)
annica cuppetelli (detroit, mi)
jennaca davies (north kingstown, ri)
hiroe hanazono (philadelphia, pa)
matthew hutton (portland, me)
maya kini (sacramento, ca)
sylvie rosenthal (asheville, nc)
richard saja (jackson heights, ny)
nanda soderberg (richmond, va)
amy tavern (asheville, nc)
stacey webber (chicago, il)
kai wolter (santa fe, nm)

The AMERICAN CRAFT COUNCIL is a national, nonprofit public educational organization founded in 1943 by Aileen Osborn Webb. The mission of the Council is to promote understanding and appreciation of contemporary American craft. Programs include the bimonthly magazine AMERICAN CRAFT, annual juried shows presenting artists and their work, a leadership conference, the Aileen Osborn Webb Awards honoring excellence, workshops, seminars, and a research library.

sylvie rosenthal

thanks for reading.

guest star friday #31...beate eismann

today's guest star is beate eismann. i was reminded of beate earlier today as i was reviewing adorn: new jewellery (ed. amanda mansell.) i have seen her work before and liked it very much but today it really caught my eye. i love her linear designs and constructions. after visiting her website i discovered her yellow pieces and, as you may know from previous posts, i'm really into the color yellow. her paper pieces with drawings were also of particular interest to me. there is something so appealing about little abstract drawings like this. beate's work is the kind of stuff that makes me want to drop what i'm doing and make something.



there is a wonderful embroidered brooch on klimt02 that cannot be downloaded so here's a link.

thanks for reading.

heidi lowe multiples

i sent some new things to heidi lowe gallery recently for the multiples show. multiples is a group exhibition featuring artist-made limited editions. heidi has been representing my line drawings for a few months so i made smaller pieces based on this series to add to the collection she currently has. i wanted to keep the pieces simple, fun to make, and reasonably priced. multiples is going on now and runs through january 30. the gallery is located at 328 rehoboth avenue, rehoboth beach, de 19971.

thanks for reading.

mint museum

on sunday i went to the mint museum of craft and design in charlotte, nc to see ornament as art: avant-garde jewelry from the helen williams drutt collection. as a whole the exhibition is pretty incredible. it includes some 275 pieces by jewelry artists from around the world from the 60s-90s. these pieces are important for many reasons namely due to the ground breaking nature of the work. jewelry like this had not been seen before and has paved the way for studio jewelry today. i have to say, though, much of it looks dated and many pieces appeared dingy and dull. however, despite that, the collection remains impressive.

my absolute favorite piece was a square necklace by tone vigeland made of hundreds of sterling silver squares with a square neck opening. the squares measure maybe 1/2" and form a grid. i can't find an image of it now to share, unfortunately. i also loved seeing pieces by manfred bischoff like the brooch above. other highlights include work by fukuchi kyoko, annelies planteijdt, and janna syvanoja.

i also checked out the mint's fantastic contemporary jewelry collection which includes work by vera siemund, melanie bilenker, tracy steepy, and my studiomate geoff giles.

thanks for reading.

december jewelry of the month

i am incredibly excited about this month’s jewelry of the month - the twig & flower necklaces - because i finally got to collaborate with one of my favorite artists, jill bliss. jill and i have been talking about collaborating ever since we first discovered each others’ work a few years ago. for our collaboration we made necklaces of oxidized sterling silver twigs and fabric flowers and leaves. the necklaces are all unique and measure about 2-3 inches long. the leaves and flowers are made from cotton fabric and are hand stitched to the twigs. there are four different necklaces - no. 1 is pictured above, no. 2, no. 3, and no. 4 are listed below consecutively.

the necklaces are $112 a piece and each comes with a numbered and signed card…signed by both me and jill.

no. 4 is sold. one of my jewelry of the month mailing list members snatched it up immediately. if you would like to be on this list and receive advance notice too, you can sign up here.

thanks for reading.