Art Jewelry Forum Award

Blue Brooch

sIlver and suede

2007

I found out the other day that my friend and colleague Andrea Janosik is the recipient of the Emerging Artist Award from the Art Jewelry Forum. I am so excited for her. This is a competitive award and it will give her deserved recognition in the art jewelry community. I previously profiled her in this post, when I went to do a studio visit.

Andrea has been a great inspiration to me, pushing me in new directions in my own work. When we go to the SofaNY show together, we have very clear and very different preferences, but I appreciate her perspective. I expect her to have a long and fruitful career in art jewelry.

The Art Jewelry Forum is a collectors group and they will be presenting her with an award at the Sofa show in Chicago, (Novermber 1-4th 2007). I expect that one of the galleries showing at Sofa will have Andrea's work on display as well.

Orange Bracelet
silver and suede
2007

Gross Misrepresentation

I have considered using adwords for my site and my blog, so I sometimes search for things such as "engagement rings" or "handmade jewelry", to see what comes up. Imagine my horror to see Zales, Blue Nile, and yes... Target (didn't show up at this moment as I tried again). Don't be fooled. The term studio jewelry is meant to describe work made by a single jeweler, or atelier, pursuing a particular vision of jewelry design and making.

I have been noticing this misappropriation of words for some time now. Starbucks likes to bill it's lattes and frappaccinos as "handcrafted". Yes, indeed it is made by hand, but aside from those automated machines, how else are you going to make a latte? It is stating the obvious and making the word less powerful.
'
Another prevalent misrepresentation was discussed in an interview with author Dana Thomas on the Leonard Lopate show, which aired on WNYC. If luxury is massed-produced and marked up, where is the luxury in that. I think true luxury comes with having your purchase attended to by the maker or a representative of the maker, with very little remove between the oneself and the originator.

Wrought

As I previously mentioned, the move to Park Slope in Brooklyn has been making it's impact on my work. Brownstones, wrought iron, bluestone sidewalks, all giving me a push into new territory. The Wrought Collar, pictured above, is one of the new pieces in the collection. It hangs asymmetrically, with the center curl resting just to the right of center. The curls undulating above and below create three dimensionality in an otherwise very graphic piece.

Here is the corresponding Wrought Cuff bracelet. Same concept as the necklace, but with more symmetry. I made the sample in my size and I love wearing it. It has a definite presence.

I was on fire with this new collection and there is more to come in the next few days. I have finished my two back to back shows and will be travelling only to trunk shows for the rest of the year. More time to make an abundance of new designs in this vein.

Recycling

As a maker of objects, sometimes the use of materials does not align with my efforts to use as few resources as possible. Especially in the case of precious metals. These metals are not easily extracted from the earth. However, doing this work is a compulsion, almost as necessary to my well-being as eating or sleeping.

Fortunately, there has been some activity to push the metals industry into more ethical practices. One of my suppliers of metal, Hoover and Strong, has published a pledge that all of their metals come from recycled metal or mines that they monitor for socially and environmentally friendly practices. I haven't been in touch with them to find out exactly what their standards are, but I am glad that they are making steps to commit themselves to these practices.

Pictured above is my own scrap box to be sent to a supplier to be melted and refined into sterling silver. Every time I sweep the floor, the dust goes into the scrap bin. Everybody that works in precious metals is very vigilant about collecting as much metal as possible from their workshop. Now, some may wonder why I don't just melt it down myself, but that is not a desirable thing to do. The scrap usually contains solder, which is a different combination of metals as compared to the sterling silver or gold alloy. If it is melted into the silver or gold, the resulting wire or sheet will have pits and cracks. There is also dust from abrasives mixed in with the silver and gold dust. So, this process is better left to a larger facility.

Sometimes, however, it is possible to re-use the metal from old jewelry and make it into something new. The old jewelry would have to be the same alloy as is going to be used in the new piece, and also has to have a minimum of solder joints. Since all of the point where there are solder joints have to be cut away, if there are many joints, there might not be enough metal left over to make the new piece. Above is the photo of a ring I made for a friend and client. She had platinum engagement rings from both her mother and grandmother. Fortunately, one of the rings was a heavy cast ring, with only a couple of solder joints, so it was quite easy to make enough wire for the new ring. I am really happy about the way that this project combines sentiment with conservation of resources.

A friend of mine, Susie Ganch, teaches at Virginia Commonwealth University, and she hosted a workshop this winter that was very intriguing. Called the Radical Jewelry Makeover, it was a chance for people in the Richmond area to donate their old, unworn jewelry. Over the course of five days, the students at VCU re-made the old jewelry donated by Richmond residents into new pieces under the guidance of Prof. Ganch and two of the founders of an organization called Ethical Metalsmiths, Christina Miller and Susan Kingsley. At the end of the workshop, those that had donated jewelry, were able to choose pieces from the resulting collection. A great way to highlight the potential of the unworn jewelry and of the young and talented metalsmiths.

Ethical Metalsmiths, which also includes Jennifer Horning, has a range of intiatives, but one of the most interesting for me is the list of willing jewelers, a list they are gathering of jewelers willing to use old gold and re-make it into new jewelry, as I did with my client's platinum rings. They are not publishing the list, but will refer people that contact them directly. Hopefully, certified responsible gold will be available to all of us soon, but in the meantime this is a good option.

Sofa NY 2007

Lola Brooks

Brooch: Untitled

stainless steel, 18K gold

photo courtesy of Sienna Gallery

Every spring in New York and every fall in Chicago, the Sofa Expo takes place, which is not about sofas, but rather stands for Sculpture Objects & Functional Art. On June 1-3 in New York, 58 galleries will be representing artists that work in craft mediums: metal, wood, fiber, glass, clay. However, this show differs from the more common craft fairs in that the work shown is one-of-a kind and curated by the gallery owners to present a certain vision of what is current and new in the field.

Representing jewelry and related metalwork exclusively are: Charon Kranson, Aaron Faber, Ornamentum, Jewelers' Werk Galerie, The David Collection, Sienna Gallery, and Clare Beck at Adrian Sasson and Yaw Gallery. Also representing jewelry and metalwork, among other mediums are: Mobilia Gallery and Gallery Gainro.

One of the highlights for me last year were the vessels by Junko Mori at Adrian Sassoon/ Clare Beck. Composed of square forged fine silver and steel, they have the apperance of sea anemones, but the weight of the material and the hard edge of the metal, made them anything but soft and floating. On her website, she mentions being inspired by Thai red chiles. I had a hard time not touching those pieces.

I am looking forward to seeing the work at Sienna as well. Pictured above is a piece by Lola Brooks. She has been working with these faceted stainless steel shapes for a number of years, but on the Sienna website I noticed new work that incorporates her earlier stainless curls with antique ivory roses. I hope the new work will be on view at Sofa.

Melanie BIlenker
Hairpin
Gold, sterling silver, boxwood, epoxy resin, pigment, hair
(Photo: K. Yanoviak)

Sienna also shows Melanie Bilenker (above) and her drawings with hair under resin. I saw her show in person at the gallery and they were very subtle and poetic images of daily life. In addition, I will be looking for the latest work by Barbara Seidenath and Bettina Speckner.

Aaron Faber will be showing works in conjunction with their "Memories of New York" show at the gallery. In addition to his complex works with watch hands and loops of high-tech wire, Sergey Jivetin has a ring that is inspired by our famous bridges in NY. I had the opportunity to meet him and handle the wire pieces last year. The wire has amazing qualities that allow it to retain it's shape and tension, even as it makes way for your finger.

After looking at Mobilia Gallery's website, I noticed that Mariko Kusumoto has begun a new series of works, which are interactive, like small puppet theatres. This is a departure from her previous Buddhist temple inspired works. I also noticed from looking at the Mobilia site that Jennifer Trask seems to be heading in a new direction, and I will be interested in what she has on view.

Once again, it's June 1-3 at the Park Avenue Armory/ Park and 67th St.

500 Earrings

This spring, the latest on the series of books by Lark was released. They have previously published 1000 Rings, 500 Necklaces, 500 Bracelets, and 500 Brooches. On the cover, you can see earrings by Todd Reed, with his trademark raw diamonds. The book was expertly juried by Alan Revere, a master jeweler with his own jewelry training school in San Francisco.

I recently found out that the gallery Velvet Da Vinci in San Francisco will be hosting an exhibit with many of the earrings featured in the book, October 17 to November 25, 2007.

The big news for me? I made two of those 500 pairs of earrings. Included in the book were my Spiral Foliage Earrings, fabricated in 18K gold, with chalcedony and sapphires:, which are currently in Vermont at the Grannis Gallery

Also included were my Wish-Fulfilling Vine Earrings. They are also 18K with green tourmaline. The name sounds quite fanciful, but I didn't actually make that bit of poetry up. It is a plant mentioned frequently mentioned in Buddhist texts. Since it is not an actual plant, I felt that it was possible to allow myself the luxury of giving it whatever shape I liked. The earrings can be seen at Lisa Reisman et Cie in Philadelphia

After carefully looking at the book, I chose a few of my favorites. Just choosing these gave me an insight into how hard it must have been to select the images that ultimately ended up in the book. I decided to let my personal taste show through in my list of favorites.

Page 10: I was so flattered to have my Wish-Fulfilling Vine earrings on the opposite page from Jacqueline Ryan's exquisite composition of tiny petals arranged in a gold frame. She has a level of precision with these tiny shapes, which she arranges in multitudes. In a way, her work is also very minimal in that it has very little variation in surface texture and no extraneous addition to the theme of the overlapping petals. It is also suggestive of other organic textures, such as feathers or scales.

Page 87: I saw a pair of earrings by Rebecca Hannon at the last SOFA NY show, and I really surprised my friends by seriously considering buying them. The reason they were surprised? Being enthralled by earrings which incorporate compact discs is not my usual taste. Her use of a non-traditional material was exceptional, as well as the craftsmanship of the overall piece. I notice in the book that one pair of earrings seems to be flipped over and features very composed florid metalwork, which will only be seen by the wearer. Her use of traditional pendant and chandelier earring shapes also makes the CD material less obvious and more like a discovery.

Page 123: Another great use of plastic was by Kathleen R. Prindiville (sadly, I could only a find a reference to the fact that she graduated from RISD in 2006). When I first saw the image, I thought of queen Anne's lace, but was surprised again by the materials. The overall design of the earrings is very uncomplicated, just a circle of plastic with a wire rim and prongs. and that complements the composition of carved divots in the plastic. The composition of all of these carved dots can suggest the galaxies, or even the beginning of white fuzzy mold, but with a soft beauty.

Page 136: Annette Ehinger has successfully taken a classic faceted gemstone and turned it into something a bit radical. By leaving part of the stone rough and unfinished, she is reminding that gems don't appear full of facets and sparkles. I also have an image of a stalactite, with the startling evidence of human hand emerging off of it. I do have one little qualm about this piece. I really wish the wires that wrap around the stones were not twisted. Or is she also making a statement about crystal wire-wrapped jewelry?

to be continued...

Masriera

Isolde brooch by Lluís Masriera i Rosés1910- collection of Metropolitan Museum

Despite the fact that I live a subway ride away from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I don't often spend the time to see what is being shown. I saw a poster in the jewelry district for a show of Masriera jewelry. Being an admirer, I decided to take a break from the studio and have a look.

It turns out that the show is actually called Barcelona and Modernity: Gaudi to Dali. There were about 11 pieces of Masriera in all, representing both the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles.

The most delightful piece was a brooch that was in the Art Nouveau style. It had a pale pink background of plique-a-jour enamels, and as I looked at it, I thought "is that a plane?!". Reading the label confirmed for me that it was a plane over Barcelona. It struck me humourous and I'd like to think that the maker and wearer also found humor in it as well.

While Masreira is a much larger firm that my own, I read on the website that the company was started in 1839 by Josep Masriera i Vidal, a goldsmith fresh from his apprenticeship. His aspiration and love of metalsmithing give a great feeling of kinship with this man and his company. Sort of like the time I stood in front of the "tools from the time of Ghengis Khan", display in the Mongolian National Museum and recognized many tools that I have in my own studio.

Even thought we metalsmiths are anachronistic in the digital age, it still makes sense to us when we see that fashioning objects in metal is one of the oldest and most persistent creative activities of mankind.

This show is up until Jun 3, 2007

Out on the Web, on my Hand

Today I was e-mailed by Marta in Barcelona. She writes a blog in Spanish about contemporary jewelry. I have never come across most of the artists that she is featuring. While looking at her site, I discovered a link to a great site called The Carrotbox All rings, almost every day! I love the idea and I admire the blogging discipline. Again, many new (to me), artists mixed in with the ones that I have encountered in the US.







I have also begun to collect rings by other jewelers. So far I have an Ananda Khalsa,

(This is a miniature painting under hand ground glass, set in silver)

two by Dahlia Kanner,

(Textured silver rings with blackened details)

and another by Todd Reed.

(Silver and 18K ring set with rough diamond cubes. Todd's signature material)

I would like to get a ring by my good friend Deborah Harrison Miller soon. This is the one I have in mind:

(18K ring with diamond accents and a mint green tourmaline)

The best thing about having a ring collection is that I can enjoy looking at the rings on my own hand.

Germantown Craft Show

This weekend I am travelling again to the beautiful and craft-loving city of Philadelphia to participate in the Germantown Friends School craft show. A small well-curated show, it should be easy for collectors to see and contemplate all of the work available.

I managed to make a new pair of earrings and a new necklace, both hand-fabricated in gold, since I arrived home last Friday from the last round of shows.

The bracelet above is one that I made from some beautiful aquamarine beads that I happened upon last year. There is also a matching necklace and they are both accented by orange sapphires and my metalwork in 18K gold.

It may be strange to use the phrase "happened upon" when describing sourcing the materials for my work, yet with colored stones, that is usually how it happens. Supply and demand are so volatile that if something is nice and not too expensive, it will not be around later when I decide that I wanted it. Likewise, if one should happen upon a piece of colored stone jewelry that astounds and is unusual, don't hesitate to buy it. The stones may not be available to make that piece later! I know people who have been haunted for years by the one that got away.

The February Shows

As an artist that has chosen to work closely with galleries across the US, one of the adventures/ordeals that I undertake each year is showing at two shows in February. One of them is located in Philadelphia and is sponsored by the Rosen Group. The other show is in Baltimore and is sponsored by the American Craft Council. These are the primary shows where galleries across the country come to meet and select work from a couple of thousand artists.

Not all of these artists are in both shows, partially because they are back to back in two cities. The most stressful day of the year is the day that I must break down my display in Phildelphia at 3PM and be phisically present in the Baltimore convention center by 8PM the same day. Well, that would fall mostly in the ordeal category, but fortunately it went smoothly this year.

The thing that was most apparent this year is the reality that shows are becoming less important in the plans that gallery owners make for finding new artists. That is combined with the fact that the gallery business in the US has been having a number of difficult years, with 2006 being the toughest. under those conditions, galleries are disinclined to take on new artists, and thus the urgency of going to shows is eliminated.

This all ties into the question of where the American craft movement is headed. When the first craft show started in a field in Vermont in the 60's, there was nothing like it. No craft galleries, no craft shows every weekend, no craft artist websites. The artists put their works on a table and after a frantic weekend of selling, went home and bought a house. Yeah, I hate it when the veteran artists talk about the good old days. Yet, it really puts in perspective the current market. We exist in a very saturated market... for our own work. At the same time that we are growing in numbers, the interest in what we make becomes less and less.

One of the greatest controversies is the word "craft" itself. To talk of dropping that description, well those are fightin' words to a large number of craft artists. I am personally ambivalent about the word. I don't neccessarily call myself a craft artist, but I wouldn't deny it either.

So, what I am getting at is the fact that I sense a great upheaval on it's way in the craft world. I have entered the world of shows at their twilight. Is it going to be blogs and websited from here on out. Isn't touching part of the experience of buying handmade objects? Am I anachronistic in my shopping habits as well as my profession??

OK, enough of that. I came home from the shows and made some new earrings. I am still fired up after the projectOBJECT workshop that I took in January. Now that I have digested the experience, I will blog about it soon.

The earrings are 18K gold with beryl:

projectOBJECT

It has been some time since I have posted. Since then, I have moved to a great apartment on a classic brownstone Brooklyn block, sent out a lot of packages for customers of the Guild, celebrated the holidays, spent almost a week with my head buried in the wonderful novel, A Suitable Boy, by Vikram Seth. What else? Well, there was a housewarming party attended by 50+ guests, and not least of all, the beginning of my new design and show preparation frenzy.

Speaking of my new neighborhood, I have been finding that there is a lot of inspiration right there on the street as I walk to my studio every day. The wrought iron fences, the ornamental trees that are often planted in the small yards in front, the plasterwork visible inside the parlor floors of brownstones, and the chandeliers inside the parlors.

Tomorrow I will be off to the Baum School of Art in Allentown PA. I am participating in a workshop conducted by Thomas Mann called projectOBJECT. The idea is for four teams of four metalsmiths to spend three days creating a production line of jewelry from concept to finished sample line. Sort of a Project Runway for the real world of surviving as an artist. Even though I am already fully active in my metalsmithing based business, I am looking forward to getting some fresh perspective on how to go about creating a body of work meant for in-studio production. I am always amazed at what other artists are coming up with and I wish that I could spend a little time in each of their studios, so this is a chance to get some fresh ideas about the design process.

Lack of blogs

It is quite apparent that I have been inactive in my blog lately. It certainly isn't because I have nothing to say about metalsmithing or jewelry! After 9 years in Jersey City, I have the opportunity to move to a beautiful block in Brooklyn, near my studio. Please check back in December to see what is new.
In the meantime, Guild.com is featuring me online and in their print catalog, along with many other talented jewelers!

JanosikNY

A while back, I went over to visit my friend Andrea Janosik at her home and studio in Williamsburg Brooklyn. I met her back in 2000, when I was a bench jeweler in a studio that did work for many designers. At the time, she was just finishing up at Parsons School of Design. She ended up getting a design job and we didn't see each other for a number of years.

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 is Andrea herself, cutting out some of the leather flowers that she has been using.

...and the flower after cutting, but before it is compressed and shaped.
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.

Katy Beh

Just this year, I began working with a really great gallery owner, Katy Beh. Ever since one of my students showed me the beautiful catalog that she puts together, about four years ago, I have admired her work as a gallery owner. She is the kind of person that all artists hope to be able to work with. So smart, very honest and responsive, and with a great sense of humor.

Katy also has nerves of steel. Her gallery is located in New Orleans. She has continued on this year by moving ahead and loooking forward optimistically to the future of her home city and her business.

In celebration of a season without hurricanes in New Orleans, she is putting on a Purple, Green and Gold jewelry show. Those are the colors of mardi gras and New Orleans. Even though it isn't the mardi gras season, there is a reason to celebrate nontheless.

So, best wishes to Katy and her city. May they have many reasons to celebrate in the future!

This is the collection I have sent to her:If you will be in New Orleans, Katy Beh will be hosting a great party on October 7th for the city's Art for Art's Sake gallery tour. As I understand it, there will be a very loud brass band involved!

Early work continues

On seeing my work, it is pretty obvious that the curling form is one of my obsessions. As with many obsessions, this one started early for me. I distincly remember using up the ink of my pens as I filled my high school notebooks with curling forms, searching for the perfect arrangement.

Fortunately, at my high school in Wisconsin, I was able to take classes in art metals. I had an outlet other than my trigonometry notebook in which to expore this obsession. Since, I hadn't yet encountered art from Nepal or Tibet, the art style most near and dear to me at this time was Art Nouveau.

This necklace was mabye the fifth piece I made in metal. I like how it is connected it in a way that is very free-form and not fussy. I was about 16 years old and it took me the entire semester to finish.

After high school, I started making sculpture rather than jewelry. I still had a fascination with curls and vines, but also began exploring branches and tree forms.

During my study abroad in Nepal, I made quite a few of these tree-inspired sculptures, like the one at the right. The trees were always somewhat twisting and weather-beaten. Much like I saw when I was in the high altitude regions of the Himalayas.

Most of the time, the jewelry I make is easy to wear. However, I decided to challenge the wearer a little bit. I had a longing to combine the wearibility of the jewelry with sculpture. A necklace that is a bit heavy and substantial and that actually has branches sticking up off of the body.

I returned to the tree theme and also mixed up some the same wax that is used in traditional casting in Nepal. The wax is a mix of beeswax and tree resin, which brough from Nepal with me. It becomes very soft, like clay when heated. Then, as it cools, it becomes hard. It is a bit too sticky to be carved when it is hardened, so most of the shaping is done when soft. Each section is then cast and joined with rivets.
I am calling this necklace the Yunnan Mountain Necklace. It is sterling silver and 18K gold.

Custom

I recently completed a very special engagement ring for a friend of many years. He came to me knowing the style of my work and wanted something that was the same in design, but with just a few modifications of size and configuration. He was also looking for a very special colored stone for the ring.

Of all the jewelry I make, the rings are the most tied up with emotion. The couple is usually very nervous and, besides a car, it is the largest purchase many of them have made up to this point. Add to that the fact that this ring will be the first step in their commitment to each other. Often both partners are in involved in selecting the ring. I am very wary of making a custom ring without any input from the person who will be wearing it.

The ideal situation when doing custom work is for the client to know my work already and want to have a piece in my style. I have made very sleek and symmetrical rings, but in truth, I do the best when the ring is in the style that I use in a lot of my work. For example, all of the curlicues. I make them all the time, so I am really, unusually good at them.

One of the challenges in making the engagement rings is the quest for the stone. In this case, I advised my client that emerald, his girlfriend's favorite stone, is too brittle for everyday wear and also not a good value for the money. So we decided on a tsavorite garnet. Not a stone that is commonly known, it is a very rare garnet that is bright green. In looking for this stone, I had to make contact with all of the people I know in the gem trade. In the size, shape and fine quality I was looking for, nobody had it in stock. Stones were called in from all over, I made the initial selection and ended up with these three for my client to choose from:

He decided to choose the stone on the right. It had the right shape, color and the cut was really beautiful.

The initial drawing. Marking the wire to match the size of the curls. Platinum is an extremely expensive metal, so I try to be precise and conserve every millimeter.The drawings for the two side panels.

Hammering the wire to lengthen and taper it.

Smoothing out the hammer marks with an abrasive wheel. A double taper ready to be bent into an s-curl. Gently bending the wire into shape.

After the first stage of bending. As the wire is bent, it becomes work hardened. Think of a paperclip that has been bent back and forth too many times.Annealing the curl. Platinum must be heated to a white hot temperature to become malleable again.After the second bending.All of the curls are then pieced together one by one. Here is one full s-curl and a half curl that I will join using platinum solder.Each curl is bent carefully and the design is consulted to make sure it is the correct size, shape and proportion.Almost finished fitting the curls together.The flat arrangement of curls is bent around a steel tool called a ring mandrel.The stone must be fitted exactly into the setting for a tight and secure fit. At this point I become very familiar with every little idiosyncrasy in the faceting of the stone. In the world of jewelers, a tenth of a millimeter is quite large!The side panels needed to be integrated into the pattern that was underlying it. At this point, the side panels were stuck on with wax to plan how they would be fit for soldering onto the ring. I got very involved with the process after that point and concentrated on the work rather than the photos. Here it is, after many minute adjustments and some obsessive hours of sanding and polishing.

A Pin...Transformed

Minimalism is much harder than it looks. Using the Tibetan cloud motif as a starting point (related to my usual curling design), I created a pin that was intended to be a minimal expression. In addition, I added a rhodolite garnets that I had bought:

After having this pin for a year plus, I was glad to rearrange it and make it more vibrant, and yes, embellished. I often get chastised for cutting apart old pieces, but sometimes it can be a very rejeuvenating and creative process. Why not go back and continue those pieces that didn't gel the first time?

Completely worth it, right?

This pin was so dramatically transformed that it is now going to be a pin that I showcase in advertising.

ACC Application Time

All of my friends in the craft world are currently focused on one deadline. It is the deadline to apply to the American Craft Council shows. One of the most important shows of the year takes place in Baltimore in mid-February. It consists of three days open to gallery owners, curators, and other professionals, and then three days which are open for the general public to come and buy for their collections, gifts, etc.

The most coveted booths at the show are those that are for both portions of the show. It is very important for every established and emerging artist to be seen by both the galleries and the members of the public that hold this show in high regard. People travel from all over the Northeast and from across the country to collect directly from the most talented artists in all mediums.

For the artists, it sounds wonderful, right? Of course it is, but there is a catch. There is simply not enough space for all of us. This is doubly true when it comes to the jewelry section. Add to that the fact that we must re-apply each and every year. It is easy to imagine the effort that goes into making new work for the slides, having the work photographed, making sure the color balance is correct, and then finally submitting the application. Some artists analyze everything about how those five slides will look together on the screen.

I was recently reminiscing about my first ACC show with a friend. We felt so happy to be there. It was thrilling and intimidating at the same time to be there on the same floor as those artists we had seen in famous galleries, museum collections and magazines. I was very sure that someone would notice that I wasn't quite as brilliant as those famous artists. Whether we were feeling euphoria or panic, we managed to make it through, make friends and actually start working with some really great galleries.

So, as the deadline approaches, I wait for my own results and look forward to seeing how the jurying will shake out. Good luck everyone!

New Image, New Work

This necklace is the aforementioned piece that took over a year of incubating in my mind to become reality. It is a version of my curling motif which has become more bold and minimal. The curls were forged out of thick rod and the pieces are joined by very simple wire connectors that have been balled up at the end.

Sometimes I allow myself to be hung up on the mechanisms of a piece. My sketchbook is filled with elaborate drawings of mechanisms that are beyond complicated. I usually find, however, that once I start the project and the pieces are actually laid out before me, the solution can suggest itself. Simple is always better, as in this necklace.

These photos are by Ron Boszko. We spent a day last week photographing some of my special pieces at his studio in Manhattan and I am very excited by the results.

Idea Incubation

It seems as if some ideas need an exceptionally long time to incubate before being realized. Last year, in the early spring, I had purchased a set of paisley shaped peridot. Slightly different sizes and shades of green. Since the shape is so close to the pear-shape that I generally use, I thought that these would be appropriate for a one-of a-kind piece that complements the rest of my line. Over a year later, I have finally finished the necklace. It is hand-forged silver with 22k gold bezels.

The original idea for the piece has been in my sketchbook for nearly a year as well. I spent some time being hung up on the idea that the necklace needed to be made entirely in 18K to complement such a special set of stones. Well, I think I would have been waiting for quite a number of years waiting for the budget for that amount of gold to appear.

I had even made a clay model, but for some reason I was yet to put hammer to metal. Eventually, the clay model had to be put away to make room for other projects.

Two weeks ago, with a photo deadline approaching, I made the decisive step of forging the first link. I was easily able to slip into the state of creative meditation known as flow, and the necklace came together in an elegant and simple way.

Photos to come next Tuesday!