Then, in 2004, at my first Baltimore show, Andrea ended up being in an adjacent booth at the show. It was great to have an old friend there with me in the "rookie" section of the show. At the time, she was showing a line of work that incorporated suede inserts into very sleek sanded silver forms. To get an idea, have a look at her website and the bumps group in particular. She has always had impressive craftsmanship. Having spent a considerable number of hours sanding flat silver surfaces myself, I was blown away by how much care she was putting into the pieces.
Since then, she has added a patent leather flower element to her work. It has led her in a less restrained direction as the leather is no longer bound by the silver frames. One of my favorite pieces that she has made recently is this Meadow Bracelet. I love how the bracelet is a sleek silver frame for the leather liner, but how the addition of the flowers scattered on the surface breaks the severity of geometry.
Andrea has a very tidy workspace, which is good because it is also very small. Not uncommon for jewelers here in NY. She had been made many domes of various sizes to be used in necklaces, and other components of her pieces can be seen, ready to be put together. Sometimes I think I have too much space, which allows me to spread bits an pieces of jewelry everywhere!
Here are the necklaces that were in progress when I visited, all one-of-a-kind.
Finally, me modeling one of the new necklaces. This particular one has small pearls nestled in the folds of the flowers and a hammered banding of silver around the flowers. The texture is quite a contrast to the minimalism of her earlier work.
Andrea will be showing her work at the Crafts Park Ave. show at the Park Ave armory on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, this November 30-December 3rd.
