Guest Star #72...Farrah Al-Dujaili

 

Necklace

Today's Guest Star is Farrah Al-Dujaili. Farrah's pieces are truly drawings in metal. They have a wonderful gestural quality created in copper with enamel paint, water color, pencil, and thread instead of pen and paper. I imagine these works developing just as a drawing would, but 3-dimensionally in space until they feel complete. I also like how Farrah treats the surface of each wire with a light touch and airy color palette.

 Brooch

 Brooch

Necklace

Brooch

Be sure to check out the modelled section on Farrah's blog to see images of the jewelry on a person. It's great to see how the pieces interact with the body and clothing and you might be surprised at the scale.

Thanks for reading.

Stumped

I acquired a nice stump a few months ago and last week I finally customized it (with the help of Adam Whitney) to fit my vice, stake, and bench block/dapping block. Chiseling was harder than I remembered it to be and it was tough on my hands, but worth it. Now I can better utilize my tools and they are safer.

 

More images on flickr. 

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Spectrum Pro-Shots

Here are some recent photos by Hank Drew of the pieces I made for Spectrum. I've posted a few different views on Flickr as well.

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This and That on Etsy

Mia Dolly Collar/Necklace by Emma Pardos

Just a few favorite jewelry findings on Etsy...

 

Jumbo Moon Rock Ring by Jillian Moore

Emerald Green Asymmetrical Fabric Necklace by Knobbly

 

Recycled Tshirt Necklace Scarf by Ann Dora Craft

  

Piece Braid Fabric and Suede Necklace by Thief & Bandit

Fragile Necklace from StudioKahn

Thanks for reading.

Guest Star #72...Christiane Kohne

Today's Guest Star,  Christiane Kohne, hails from Germany. When I first found her work I wasn't sure what the materials were (her website is in German), but was curious to find out. Luckily I found English captions on Klimt02 and confirmed what she has so cleverly used: artificial flowers! For some pieces, she cuts up the stems and binds them together with wire, while for others she pieces and layers lots of petals of one color together. I really love this use of the unexpected and the abstract compositions that result.

 

Be sure to check out her wonderful drawings, too.

Thanks for reading.

P.S. I just discovered Google translate. 

Courtney Starrett Solo Show

This is not Betty's Bundt Cake Recipe (Detail of Installation), sillicone rubber, vinyl and 

powder coated washers, upholstery tacks

On February 4 I went to Rock Hill,  SC with Angela Bubash to attend the opening reception of RubberMADE, the solo exhibition of Courtney Starrett. RubberMADE is a collection of colorful, cast plastic jewelry and objects inspired by Courtney's interest in the history of silicone rubber and its relationship with the culture of the 1950's. The pieces with titles like "This is not Betty's Bundt Cake Recipe" and "Almost Everyone Appreciates the Best" remark on life mid-century and post war. Some pieces have an organic, almost other-worldly feel, while others take a more rigid, recognizable shape. The display of the show was also fantastic--clear acrylic cut outs of an iconic image of a typical 1950's housewife.

Almost Everyone Appreciates the Best, silicone rubber

Strawberry-Kiwi Jello, silicone rubber, sintered nylon, stainless steel

All images by Zan Maddox at Social Design House.

The show is currently on view at Winthrop University's Patrick Gallery through March 25, 2011.

Thanks for reading.

I've Been Practicing My Knitting

Nearly every year I take up knitting in the winter and every year I get involved with others things and knitting gets left behind, unfortunately. Over the last couple of weeks however, I've been trying it once again. Every Wednesday during the winter here at Penland is "Textiles Wednesday" and the textiles studio coordinator, Megan Fluegel, leads a class in one of any number of textiles techniques. Knitting was the focus of the last two classes and I have been practicing away. Since I have knitting on my mind, I thought I would share one of my favorite knitters, Yokoo, who in addition to making incredible scarves and cowels, makes over-sized knitted chain necklaces.


 Thanks for reading.