juggling act

so there's a lot going on right now. a lot. teaching at penland, trunk show preparations, holiday wholesale orders...when will i sleep exactly? not much, that's for sure! the class is going well. so far we've covered designing basics, surface textures, forging and simple metal forming, and simple findings. today we began soldering and we'll be working on that through wednesday.

my class is great! in addition to a few projects (a pendant, a pair of earrings, and a cuff bracelet), i asked them to spend some time over the weekend drawing in their sketchbooks and also asked them to make a few lists (i do love lists!!) - 3 goals for the class, 3 favorite artists, and 3 things that inspire them. then today i spent time with each student going over the lists and drawings. it was fantastic to get to know them a little bit better this way. i am enjoying working with them so much! they are talented and seem eager and excited.

in an effort to reduce stress, i am postponing item of the week and guest star friday until next week.

back to work!

thanks for reading.

guest star friday #26...liana pattihis

today's guest star is liana pattihis. liana's jewelry consists of simple frameworks that are covered in layers of enamel. the enamel is applied in such a way that certain areas are covered completely, while others remain visible, giving us a glimpse of what's underneath. i like the texture she achieves through her process and her use of layers to create depth and dimension. due to the application process she uses, there is probably little she can control. the results lend a lush, organic quality that can only be achieved by allowing the materials to do what they want.


thanks for reading.

this just in

yesterday afternoon my studiomate, joanna gollberg, and i were asked to teach beginning jewelry at the penland school of crafts for the next 8 weeks. (the teacher originally hired for the session had to leave.) this was a complete shock! the fall session began just days ago on monday! i will be teaching the first half of the class until i leave for my west coast trunk show tour and joanna will teach the second half. this morning the two of us met with the class for the first time to introduce ourselves and set forth our plan for the concentration. then i spent some time with each student to discuss their individual skill set, to find out what they were working on, and to learn about their expectations. i also demonstrated a few basic techniques. we'll continue with more basics tomorrow and then move on to soldering on monday.

i have to say, i am completely awestruck by this whole thing. i am so honored to be here as a teacher, thrilled, excited...

it's going to be an interesting couple of weeks.

i'll keep you posted.

thanks for reading.

domino magazine

my very thin gold rings were given a little love in the october issue of domino magazine. one of the magazine's regular features is "make me happy" in which a stylish girl tells domino readers about her favorite stuff. this month's girl is lena corwin, a brooklyn-based textiles designer and illustrator, and she picked my rings.
i am doubly excited about this little bit of press. i've had a love affair with domino since i moved into my current apartment and have admired the work of lena corwin for years. (here's one of her pillows.) it is so nice when these things happen!
thanks for reading.

item of the week

for the next couple of tuesdays i plan to write about my new fall preview pieces for item of the week and i want to begin with my absolute favorite, the scallop links necklace. when i designed my pieces back in august, this style was not included because i hadn't thought of it yet. the idea didn't exist until i was actually making my preview pieces a few weeks later. i was working with another completely different idea for the steel and gold collection, playing around with various shapes and combinations, but was really struggling. nothing satisfied me. a few days later i remembered my desire for more dimension in my work and considered how i could make this happen in my new pieces. i had also just gotten back from the beach and had shells on my mind, specifically scallops. i started manipulating my long oval shape with a hammer and was very happy with the resulting curve. when i linked a few together i found they created a wonderful scallop edge. i also liked how loose the pattern was, changing as the necklace shifted on the body. the above picture shows this quality nicely.

all my new fall preview pieces are 20% off from now until october 15th.

thanks for reading.

fall preview!

i just added some new pieces to my shop. there are 10 total, a few in each collection. these pieces will give you a little taste of what i am working on for next year. to celebrate, all fall preview pieces are 20% off until october 15.













thanks for reading.

guest star friday #25...sabrina meyns

i discovered new designers online this week, a uk site that features scores of emerging artists. as i explored the long list of jewelers i found the work of sabrina meyns. sabrina is interested in flowers and particularly in what happens to them at the end of their life cycle. she is fascinated by the "ghost-like" quality of petals and leaves and tries to capture their fragility and translucency. i especially like how the combination of off-white paper and silver creates a soft warm glow.


thanks for reading.