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.

guest star friday no. 7...my studio, plus a little wrap-up

today's guest star is not a jeweler, but the place i make my work..my studio. this morning i took a few shots of my space located in lovely downtown asheville, nc. i share this studio, composed of one big working area and several small rooms, with three other jewelers, joanna gollberg, geoff giles, and molly dingledine. our work is all very different, as well as our working styles and schedules, but we get along great and love sharing the studio. i feel very lucky to be a part of this special group of artists.

one final note about snag... i hoped to spend more time contemplating the conference and then writing about it, but i've been too busy ever-since to process it the way i would have liked. so, to summarize now and move on, the conference was a totally worthwhile experience for me. i listened to some excellent lectures including iris eichenberg and carlier makigawa; i met lots of interesting people, talked about jewelry and the field, and made some great connections. AND, the best part, i got to spend some serious quality time with a few close friends who live far away.

oh, yes... there was the presentation i gave. that was pretty fantastic, too!

finally, please do visit my website. i just added all kinds of new collection pieces, created a direct link to my blog, organized the art jewelry section (now called "studio jewelry), added a next button in the shop, and a few other little things. of course, i'm not done... my website is very much a work-in-progress. you'll see more changes in the near future.



as always, thanks for reading - have a great weekend!

guest star friday no. 4...sybille richter

i just discovered the work of sybille richter earlier this week as i was perusing velvet da vinci's website. i've tried to find more information about her, but haven't had much luck. i do know she's from germany and has that signature minimalist german aesthetic. i love how sculptural and abstract her pieces are; very simple shapes and designs with a lovely, quiet treatment. it looks like she's using basic fabrication techniques to manipulate the metal and monochrome enamels for added color. you can see more images of sybille's work at velvet's website.

the above images are from left: brooch and necklace

thanks for reading.

guest star friday #3...joanna gollberg.

joanna gollberg makes great jewelry. she is also my good friend and studiomate. we met at the penland school of crafts years ago when we were both students in lori talcott's class, ancient techniques for modern metalsmiths. i have always been impressed with how prolific joanna is and that her work is constantly evolving and ever dynamic. it seems like she has tons of ideas all the time and she actually makes each and every one. she uses lots of ovals and other simple shapes and incorporates repetition of form, movement, and interesting mechanisms. her work is very thoughtful and well made. lately, she has been making these cool triangular forms with her ovals. i love the contrast between the rigid triangle and the softer oval. please see above image.

joanna also has a lot of fun in the studio. she made this mossy ball necklace a few weeks ago. so fun!






just last week she started making these rings, my new favorite...the bands and settings are delicate wire. then, trapped in the top, are rough-cut stones, bits and pieces, and other odd little objects. they look amazing stacked!

in addition to all the jewelry, joanna also write books and teaches.
she is incredibly giving of her knowledge and talent. right now, joanna is showing and selling her work at the philadelphia buyer's market of american craft show and then next week at the american craft council baltimore show.





here's where you can find her online:

her website
on flickr
her blog the stirling news
on etsy

thanks for reading.

new images from the past

i had a few older things photographed recently including these sterling, felt, and resin rings. the felt-dipped-in-resin "chips" were one of my experiments from the class i took with maria phillips a few winters ago...i would like to keep going with this idea, someday. i made the rings at the penland school of crafts when i assisted joanna gollberg, my good friend & studiomate.i also made this sterling and carpet ring during that penland class. this will be part of an interesting and fun series, someday, too. you should see my collection of flooring samples!and finally, an oxidized sterling bracelet with gold rivets. i consider it to be the start of my line drawing series. it is based on some danish-made vases.
all images by hank drew.

thanks for reading.

guest star friday no. 3...iris bodemer continued

i ended up tracking down a copy of the iris bodemer catalog i mentioned in last week's installment of guest star friday. i found it at charon kranson arts in nyc. charon has an extensive collection of studio jewelry books and exhibition catalogs for sale. my copy arrived yesterday and is more wonderful than i remembered. the cover is different (maybe the cover design varies from book to book?), but it still has the staples, AND a strip of green shiny tape. tape, i say!




thanks for reading.

this is why i heart lace.

yesterday i read and studied two different books on lace. they were mesmerizing. i made a list of why i am interested in and how i relate to lace, including phrases and key words:

1. repetition of shapes and patterns - both positive and negative space
2. patterns within patterns
3. repetition of line
4. "system" of patterns and shapes that coexist and rely on each other to simultaneously create the over-all look as well as the individual elements
5. certain patterns and lines create/suggest movement and/or rhythm - can be subtle
6. combination/interplay of organic and geometric imagery
7. lace is an exercise in contrasts
8. words that come to mind when i look at lace:
grid-like
structural
organized
rigid and flowing
order
highly detailed
intricate
complicated
delicate

when i look at lace i am attracted to all the things i listed above but i also see these things everywhere i look. they are often the most noticeable or appealing aspects of objects and scenery to me. i even strive to create them in my work. (and i strive for them - order, structure, organization - in my home, office, and studio.) my sculpture teacher, bob booth, at SUNY fredonia, often talked about how the eye moves or travels along a sculpture. i haven't forgotten this concept and think about it when i make my jewelry and when i am observing things. i refer to it as "visual movement." i think this applies to looking at 2D images as well, including lace.

thanks for reading.

all images from: pictorial archive of lace designs ed. carol belanger grafton

much needed day off

i finished my new collection pieces (all 35 of 'em!) and sent them off to my photographer, hank drew, in seattle. i am very pleased with the finished jewelry and had a great time making it, but i am (temporarily) spent. it takes a lot to make new work and it can be an intense process. plus, my fingers and my right wrist hurt. time to recharge. day off. (and maybe tomorrow, too.) so here i am, it's monday, i'm in bed with my laptop, a stack of books and magazines, a cup of tea, and my purring cat. the stack of books has been sitting here for a few weeks, neglected due to busy-ness. here's the break-down... martin puryear (the book from his recent moma show), pictorial archive of lace deisgns, antique lace patterns, the new vogue, the new metalsmith magazine, and 500 necklaces. good stuff. now i am going to stop this entry so i can get to it.


thanks for reading.

guest star friday no. 2...iris bodemer

back in january 2004 i was feeling a little burnt out by the previous busy holiday season so i took a week off from work (my studio) and took a class with maria phillips at pratt fine arts center in seattle. it was one of the best things i have done for my jewelry/career so far. i had five 8-hour days to learn new things and experiment. this is when i learned how to solder steel which has lead to a successful line of jewelry that i love making. it was also when i first heard of german metalsmith, iris bodemer. maria had brought in all kinds of jewelry books and exhibition catalogs, among them a book of iris' work. i remember it had staples as part of the design of the book itself and they gave it a lovely handmade feel. inside, her work was unlike anything i had seen before. the pieces were like sculptural drawings: abstract, minimal, and quiet. she used metals and alternative materials and i especially liked her use of thread. in 2006 i went to see an exhibition of her work. it was a duel show with maria phillips titled "sculpture becomes jewelry." one of the gallery walls was covered in 12 x 18 canvas boards that served as the framework for 64 different jewelry compositions, each made up of an abstract brooch and a simple drawing; the two meant to be viewed as one piece. i loved the emphasis on form and how the jewelry related to the drawing and vice versa. they were captivating and it was thrilling to see one of my hero's work up close.

images from top: cover of the aforementioned book. a piece similar to those in the 64 canvas board installation, 2005-2006. mixed media.

thanks for reading.

one way thinking

you may have noticed i haven't posted in a week and there was no "guest star friday." (i do have a draft started. hint: iris bodemer.) last week i was completely caught up in making my new collection pieces and couldn't think of anything else. i am into it. totally. i started designing in december, quickly sketching every new earring, necklace, ring, bracelet, and brooch i could think of. many of these ideas have been in my head for months or even since last year and didn't make it for whatever reason. i also jotted down notes on process, sizes, materials, etc. then over the last few weeks i've added and subtracted and reworked all on paper. the really fun part, making the pieces, was just waiting for the right time to happen. i finally had a few days to just make this work last week. i started with what was most interesting to me at the time and one by one made many of these new pieces. as i worked, i got new ideas and ran into troubles. (the two often go hand in hand. the work is not always the same on paper as it is in "real life.") plus, since i am making these pieces for the first time, there is no finesse in the process. i often make mistakes, but i often turn these into very happy accidents. then i think "i never would have come up with that on paper!" so fun! so exciting! i have a few more days to work and then the samples are off to my photographer in seattle. i absolutely love this time of year.

thanks for reading.

upcoming exhibition

i will participate in a group exhibition at bainbridge arts and crafts in washington this april. the show, "twenty-first century jewelry," was curated by mary lee hu, the former professor of metal design at the university of washington in seattle. all the artists, including myself, were students of mary's. the participants include:

lori talcott
jana brevik
fred miller
phil carizzi
vina rust
maria phillips
jan mandel
gina pankowski
and mary lee hu

i am pretty stoked. these people are all amazing jewelers and metalsmiths. i am good friends with many of them, went to school with fred, vina, and phil, and have studied with lori and maria. i feel honored to be a part of this group.

what will i make...? so excited about that! i will keep working with the line drawing series i started last fall. (the above necklace, "line drawing no. 3," is one of the necklaces from this series.) only now i want make the work more 3d. such a challenge for me. my work tends to be pretty flat.

show details:

twenty-first century jewelry
april 4-29, 2008
bainbridge arts and crafts
151 winslow way east
bainbridge island, wa 98110

thanks for reading.

sarah loertscher...faceted steel earrings and structure earrings in oxidized sterling silver.

guest star friday

i was thinking the other day that i want to write about another jeweler's work maybe once a week and then thought maybe friday would be a good day for that. it's friday today so...it's guest star friday with sarah loertscher. sarah is an amazing jeweler. she makes these light, airy wire structures that are both expertly and thoughtfully made. Most of her current work is based on her "interest/obsession with rocks and crystalline structure and how a few straight lines can rapidly turn into a chaotic mass. when constructing a piece of jewelry, [she tries] to either repeat a basic line into a tangled structure or distill forms down into their structural supports."

the above image is titled "structure necklace" and it's made of sterling silver. sarah emailed me after she finished this piece, excited that it had more than 300 solder joints. over 300.

i met sarah at the penland school of crafts a few years ago while i was assisting in a summer class and sarah was a core student. since then we have become very good friends. i admire her aesthetic and her craftsmanship very much.

sarah is part of a group show that opens today at velvet da vinci gallery in san francisco. if you live in the bay area you should go to the opening and/or gallery talk or stop by during the show's run. (or stop by whenever, really. this gallery has incredible studio jewelry. definitely one of my favorite galleries.) here's some info:

new west coast design - jewelry and metalwork
january 16 - february 17
artists' reception: friday, january 18, 6-8pm
gallery talk: saturday, january 19, 6:30pm
velvet da vinci - www.velvetdavinci.com
2015 polk st, san francisco, ca 94109

besides the velvet da vinci show, you can also find sarah's work on etsy, (her shop is "lucy machine"), at the penland gallery in penland, nc and at quirk gallery in richmond, va.

thanks for reading.

artist studios

i enjoy visiting and reading about artist studios. i just read "birth and present," a collection of photographs of the studio of japanese artist, yoshitomo nara. (i have loved his work ever since i went to see "superflat" at the henry art gallery in seattle.) the photographer, mei morimoto, has taken a series of pictures of the studio and all the things in it, works-in-progress, collections of objects, moments, and, yes, the artist himself, occasionally. the pictures and the point is definitely to bring focus to the workspace, to create a portrait of sorts. (there are brief, yet informative captions in the back.) i like this different view very much. artist studios often have a life of their own. i like seeing what sorts of things the artist keeps close by, how things are organized and arranged. i spend much (most) of my time in my studio and so i try to create a special place to not only make art, but to be. i am still settling into my new studio. i am in the process of decorating my space and customizing my new work bench. pictures to follow soon... also, the lighting in mei's photos is lovely. very soft and warm.

thanks for reading.

my very first post

hello and welcome to my blog. this is my very first post. i was planning to do this a week ago, but i've been procrastinating. this blog thing is strange to me. a bit daunting. it's hard for me to talk about my work generally, so the idea of writing about it in this format is just plain weird. but here goes...i will be writing about my work, my interests and inspirations, and upcoming events and news. i will also talk about other jewelers' work on occasion. i know some very talented people and admire a bunch more. i would love to share them with others.

so what's happening now...? i just finished designing all my new collection pieces for the spring. there are new shapes and styles in each collection and more gold pieces. these new items will be available for viewing and buying on march 21. i will probably give a sneak peak in february once the new photos are ready so stay tuned. i have also decided what to "retire." you can find these on my website now with a little note in their accompanying descriptions. it says something like "retired - only available until the end of january." i am also in the process of going as green as i can, meaning i am now only buying conflict-free silver and gold sheet metal and wire (i already use conflict-free stones), using as little paper in my office as possible (i heart my mac's "stickies") and only using recycled paper when i do. i am trying to find an alternative to my printed wholesale line sheet, too. the solution will be in the form of a cd or perhaps an online something or other. i have also switched to a few safer and more environmentally friendly chemicals in my studio. i'll keep adding to this list...

ok. that wasn't so bad. thanks for reading.