guest star friday #37...alexandra bahlmann

for today's guest star friday i looked for a jeweler whose work doesn't fit among my usual favorites, but is instead quite the opposite. normally, i am interested in jewelry that is modern, abstract, or uses alternative materials, but alexandra bahlmann's fantastic work is feminine, decorative, and highly reminiscent of the antique. i like that she takes inspiration from historical pieces by using the basics of gold, stones, and familiar shapes (scrolls, arcs) and updates her pieces with her own modern aesthetic. the resulting jewelry, despite its ornate qualities, has a subtle minimalism to it, perfectly complimented by the unusual and more modern-looking stone cuts and open, airy structures.


thanks for reading.

something new...part 1

i worked on pieces for acc baltimore yesterday including some new things and it felt ridiculously good! due to my recent move, i've been feeling distracted and unmotivated but the last few days and especially yesterday that all seemed to fade away. i felt clear and focused and i got a lot done. i even finished my to do list for the day.
i needed that list...when i started the day i began feeling those familiar feelings of being overwhelmed. i realized i needed to break my big mental list down into manageable parts. i chose a few things and wrote them down. then i moved through them one by one, reminding myself to stick to the list. it really helped. i'll talk more about the new work soon once i take more pictures of the finished pieces.

thanks for reading.

now in switzerland

i just sent a box of jewelry from my egg and bean collection to a gallery in lausanne, switzerland called cbijoux. it's definitely fun and exciting for me to have my work in other countries. cbijoux is a beautiful gallery, modern and minimal and very fitting for my work.
here's a map

thanks for reading.

bilingual design

i found these super cool necklaces by bilingual design over the weekend. bilingual was created by marta niegowska and is based in australia. these "stopover" necklaces are ingenious! here's a quote from the site:

"This collection of unisex neckpieces has been designed to reflect the motion of travel by rail, air, road and sea. Each neckpiece is reversible and has the unique ability to anchor itself onto the wearer’s clothing and,‘stopover’. These sterling silver pieces have a matt satin finish which also exhibits a sense of direction."


thanks for reading.

guest star #36...edith bellod

today's guest star friday is edith bellod. edith works with a variety of materials and her porcelain pieces are my favorites. i like the simplicity and repetition of the shapes, the starkness of the color and composition, and the overall softness and subtlety. i find this ring series especially interesting - i love the manipulation of the silhouette.
thanks for reading.

elevation 2757.04

i've been living at the penland school of crafts for nearly 3 weeks now and i think my mind is beginning to quiet down from all the moving, unpacking, reorganizing, cleaning...i've been working a little bit, mostly keeping up with mail orders. i also finished work for my taboo studio group exhibition which opens on february 13. then yesterday i spent most of the day making samples for the buyers market of american craft show, also in february. i only have a few things left to make for that. after i finish getting ready for that show i can focus on acc searchlight. february is such a busy month! when i return i will have nothing planned, indefinitely, and i'm pretty excited. this is the first time in a very long time that i have no plans. i'm looking forward to just being here and making work.

i took a picture yesterday of the front of the building where my studio is located. (see above and look towards the end of the building. you'll see a window in the roof - that's where my studio is.) i also took a picure of the tiles in the entryway which state the elevation and latitude-longitude. seeing this information every day makes my place in the world more concrete in my mind as i imagine penland on a globe or world map.
thanks for reading.

forgotten pictures and a comment on bye bye

i came across a few january jewelry of the month photos i took awhile back and then forgot about. these are a few in progress shots. they aren't terribly exciting, though. i often set out to photograph the entire process of making a piece from beginning to end. i take a few pictures and then i forget the follow-through.
i also wanted to mention that my sale ended on friday and with it i removed all the retired pieces from my website. i felt a tremendous sense of relief when i did this. my collections became a little too much for me this year, mainly due to the number of pieces. there were just too many in my opinion, too many too keep track of, too many to make. now i have three working collections - egg and bean, steel and gold, and preface. i like the compactness of the three. i feel that focusing my attention on three collections increases their presence and importance.

i haven't had my web designer update the shop page yet, so the retired collection thumbnails are still present. (they will go away soon.) for now it looks like signature and layered are still available, but you'll find when you visit that there are no images left. (also, men's is now a part of preface, but it appears as its own separate collection.)

the new spring pieces are done, photographed, and will be available as usual on march 21.

thanks for reading.

bye bye

today is the last day of my annual holiday sale. it's also the last day you will see the retired pieces on my website and be able to purchase them.

thanks for reading and thanks to everyone who made purchases during the sale and in 2008!

guest star #35...lucy sarneel

i just found the work of lucy sarneel last night and was immediately attracted to her mixed media necklaces. i love her combination of traditional looking textiles with modern metalwork, namely simple and bold geometric silhouettes. i like that the metalwork both contrasts and complements the fabric. the varying characteristics of the materials and the shapes, patterns, and final compositions are striking.
be sure to visit lucy's page on klimt02. you'll be able to see more images of her jewelry along with a few pictures of people wearing the work. it's fantastic to see the true scale of these pieces and how they exist on the body.

thanks for reading.

attention! 30 minute earrings call for project proposals!

i'm working on my own submissions for lark books new book design challenge: 30 minute earrings. here is a link to details and the application. the deadline is coming up - january 26. should be fun...

thanks for reading.

last week, last chance

this week is the last week of my annual holiday sale. i've retired many pieces including the entire signature and layered collections. friday will be the last day to enjoy 25% off until next year and the last day to purchase any of the retired pieces.

new collections pieces are coming...march 21!

thanks for reading.

guest star friday #34...claude schmitz

i was just looking around on klimt02 for new guest star friday blood and found claude schmitz. claude's work is interesting to me because of its simplicity and subtly. he has a few different themes happening, minimal geometric forms, line studies, and painted antiquities, all of which are beautifully executed and equally appealing. here are a few different examples, including this vibrant yellow laurus brooch because as you may know, i like yellow a lot.

be sure to check out blue bloom brooch on his website. it is similar to the above piece, only a lovely shade of blue that reminds me of greece. it is one of my favorites.
you can find a good selection of his work at gallery deux poissons and klimt02.

thanks for reading.

love at first sight

i moved to the penland school of crafts on sunday and finished setting up my studio last night. i'm in awe. i've never had a studio as big as this one - it's about 1200 square feet. (it's probably bigger than any apartment i've ever lived in, too!) my studio is one of several in an old barn that is surrounded by trees and overlooks a rolling meadow. (i will post exterior pictures soon. it's pouring outside!) my studio faces this meadow and gets great afternoon light. right now the space seems massive with only my little bench and office area. i will be filling it up in march after my february commitments are complete. i will also do some work on the walls and maybe give it a fresh coat of paint. i'm glad i have two months to think about it all. it will be so fun to really make it my own.
thanks for reading.

january jewelry of the month

happy new year!

january’s jewelry of the month has been in the works for a long time. when i started planning jewelry of the month nearly a year ago one of the first thoughts i had was to use wallpaper in some way. i went on a hunt for vintage wallpaper in early 2008 and had a great time tracking some down. but it wasn’t until recently that i was truly inspired to make a piece of jewelry with it.

i created 7 different necklaces each with a different piece of flocked wallpaper. the teardrop shaped swatch is set against an oxidized sterling silver back and held in place by tiny tabs. the blue one is pictured here. the other colors are olive green, pink, red, yellow, cream, and gray. the back of each pendant is also unique with a complementary drawing cut with my saw blade. the pendants measure 1.25” wide by 2.25” long and come with an 18” chain.

the necklaces are $98 a piece and each comes with a numbered and signed card.

colors include:
blue (pictured above)
olive with light olive green background
pink with pearly white background
red with metallic gold background
yellow with white background
cream with pearly metallic gold background - SOLD
light gray with metallic bronze background - SOLD

thanks for reading.