Lark Books

I just found out that the new Lark Books publication, 500 Silver Jewelry Designs, will feature two pieces, both bracelets. This will be the third book that I have been featured in!

Hammering

Lotus Lamp by Natasha Wozniak
silver, brass, cast glass

Before I started my jewelry business in 2001, most of the work I made was holloware. There were lotus sculptures, Japanese-inspired vases with delicate piercing, simple bowls of hammered metal. I also taught holloware at the now-defunct Craft Students League in midtown Manhattan. I really loved the contrast between the people in their corporate offices across the airshaft, and the studio in which I was practicing a craft that originated thousands of years ago. My students would come in from their high-stress jobs, and after 3 hours of meditatively hammering copper, would feel calm and rejuventated.

Before I began the craft business, I thought that there might be a chance to create holloware and make a living by selling it. Unfortunately, in the US, there is very little interest in holloware. This, coupled with the lack of support for young artists while developing a body of work, in terms of equipment, space and time, led me away from this aspiration.

Silver vessel by Hiroshi Suzuki

With all of this personal experience in mind, I was delighted to see, in The Economist, of all places, an article about a Japanese-British artist that has had success in holloware. His name is Hiroshi Suzuki and he is having a retrospective in London of his work. I had seen his work at the annual Sofa show in New York, and was always drawn to it, because of the beauty of his style, but also because it is so unusual to see silver vessels anywhere in the high-end craft world.

Silver sculpture by Junko Mori

He is represented By Adrian Sassoon gallery in London, also representing another Japanese-British artist, Junko Mori. She makes elaborate sculptures out of silver, and I remember seeing her work for the first time. I kneeled on the floor in the aisle of the show with another silversmith friend in order to see all of the pieces that were tucked away on a bottom shelf. I later found out that her early work was sponsored by a silver supplier in the UK. That is when the lightbulb went off and I realized once again that a little support for a young artist can lead to really sublime things.

Remember while admiring a beautifully crafted object the next time, that the concept of patronage should be a prominent thought in the decision to buy. The artist will be able to make something even more extraordinary the next time!

The Latest

I just got back from the latest show. This one was for gallery owners scouting for new work. While the show exceeded my own expectation, it is true that we are in the thick of some really unexpected realities. As the Chinese proverb says, "may you live in interesting times".

Well, as we all hold on and see how things will shake out with these interesting times, I have been in the studio, yes, making new work. I have been adding new pieces in the Wrought Inlay Collection. I also started playing around with some paisley-shaped cabochon peridot and rhodolite garnet that I have had in the studio for some time.

I have some big news about a trip I am taking this spring, but I am just going to save that for another post. In the meantime, the bracelet above is a new addition to my Brocade Garland Series. It has some repousse 18K gold, combined with blackened silver.

The new gold reality

Lions and Tigers and 900 gold, oh my!

It is sure that the runup in gold has reached the ears of most people by now. For those of us in the business of making our work in gold and silver, the recent runup in the precious metals market has given us a deep sinking feeling. Unlike the so-called "goldbugs", who are using a buy, hold, sell approach to gold as an investment, jewelers are much better off when the price is more stable.

Basically, we have to raise prices to keep pace with the market, and that means that just in the past month, that is a 10% increase. Believe me, we don't use this as an excuse to extract more from customers. It is necessary just to keep ourselves from becoming insolvent. If we sell something at an outdated price, we wouldn't be able to replace it with another piece because the amount taken in is less than the cost of making a new one.

Not only is it gold, but silver and platinum as well. I expect that in this year, a great number of jewelry designers and makers will be making very petite designs. The challenge will be to get a more substantial look without a substantial use of metals. I am sure that people involved in jewelry making in the early 80's have some insight into this.

As for myself, I am working on a very new collection of work. I will most likely be recycling some heavy gold pieces into work that has gold accents with silver. Trying to use this challenge to stretch my design skills seems to be the best approach.

For anyone with old gold or platinum jewelry that is not worn or is broken, etc, it would be a really good time to think about selling it off for the precious metal value. Keeping in mind, of course, that gains from small amounts are offset by the refining fee.