Gemstone Jewels

I recently received a copy of the book 500 Gemstone Jewels, by Lark Books, which includes two of my pieces. The book, juried by Cindy Edelstein, presents an amazing array of what is being done with gems today. It ranges from very dazzling pieces with rare gemstones by well-known designers, to very experimental pieces which combine gems with non-traditional materials. I found that this book brings together high-end jewelry design and art jewelry in a way that that rarely happens.

Here are the pages featuring my work:

Traditional Asian Jewelry

Natasha Wozniak with Akim Funk Buddha at BAM in November

I love traditional jewelry from many places in Asia, including India, Nepal, Tibet, Thailand and Indonesia. Before I became proficient in metalsmithing, the intricacy of these pieces seemed magical and mysterious to me. Since then, I have used my fascination with these styles of jewelry to drive me to master techniques like filigree and repousse. I have always had the urge to make a reproduction of an antique piece for myself, but never had a specific reason to do so. With so many things to do all of the time, I never fit it into the schedule.

Some readers of my blog may know that in addition to being a jeweler and metalsmith, I am a dancer. One of the dance styles that I am regularly asked to perform is traditional Balinese dance. Most of the costume pieces from Bali are made of leather with gold paint or gold leaf, which is pierced. I have most of the costume pieces that I purchased in Bali, but I lacked a neck piece. When my friend Akim Funk Buddha, asked me to perform with him at his show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, last November, I decided that this was the occasion for which I would make a piece of traditional jewelry from Asia, in this case, Bali.

preliminary sketches for my Balinese collar

In a previous blog, I mentioned that I was using a book called Jewelry of Southeast Asia and a starting point for the design. I then made sketches that combined some elements of the 19th century Balinese pieces pictured in the book.
Top: metal being worked from the back
Below: metal being worked from the front

I decided to use copper with gold leaf applied to the surface with lacquer. Copper has the best working qualities for the predominant process of repousse that I used. The vines and leaves are worked from the back with shaped and rounded tools and then the everything is defined from the front with sharper liner tools.

Balinese Collar, copper, gold leaf, tourmaline, chrysoprase, moonstone
by Natasha Wozniak, modeled after antique Balinese jewelry

As with many jewelers, I have a stash of stones in my studio and from those, I picked out these carved tourmalines, chrysoprase, and moonstone to add color to the piece.

It was a really nice moment when I got into my costume and put on my handmade collar, which is actually nicer than the neck pieces currently used in Bali. As with most things, I am sure this project will work itself into something in my regular jewelry collection. Moreover, I thought it was a great way to bring together my dance and my jewelry careers.

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!

ACC Baltimore

I am not in Baltimore right now, but some very cutting edge and innovative artists are there right now for the American Craft Council show. Aside from the Sofa shows, The ACC Baltimore show has the highest number of artists making one-of-a-kind jewelry, using both traditional and unusual materials. Here are a few colleagues that will be there showing some great work:
Christine Simpson-Forni uses sterling silver, a variety of stones, and enamel.. In the pin above, she has created a representation of coral using metal with enamel. I had the chance to visit her studio in Chicago last year and wanted to take a number of photos, only to find my camera battery was dead. The feeling I get from her work, is inspiration from nature, but in a dark, almost gothic way. She focuses on the things that are less-admired, things hidden in a dark tidepool. I wish I could see her work at the show, as I know she always makes great efforts to make many special pieces for this show.
Joanna Gollberg has been making work from a combination of stones and glass. She uses an array of materials to create a variety of colors and textures in her pieces. There are uncut stones, as well as stones that she cuts in her studio. Her work has always had a lot of movement, and while the current work has less actual moving parts, it has a great movement through the combination of 3-dimentional structures and vivid color.

Andrea Janosik has become a specialist in working with leather. Using a variety of leathers, including cords and flat pieces, she created very sculptural pieces. Many pieces are made rolling the leather into shapes, such as the cones in the necklace above, or other techniques of folding or bunching the leather. Her work is very laborious as she spends hours precisely cutting and shaping the leather pieces.

New Work and other things

Pictured above is a new piece I made this year in advance of my trade show. It is always a good motivation for making new work. I decided to try out a material called bi-metal, which is a laminate of 18K gold on top of silver. It allows me to do the reverse the silver with gold accent look, without a huge hike in the price of the materials.

I wanted to call attention to a campaign that the sponsor of this trade show is doing. She is willing to go to jail for us! Wow, that is some commitment. I know that she has been to the halls of congress already, but has failed to get attention paid to the fact that all of us craft artists are employing ourselves as well as, in many cases, assistants. From the side of the client, true value lies in artisan wares made in the US, rather than "luxury" goods that are well-marketed, but were made in China just the knock-offs on Canal Street!

Show Preparation

I am in the midst of designing new work, which will be shown for the first time at the Buyer's Market of American Craft in February. In between making new pieces, I also made a postcard to let stores know where to find me. Here is my postcard image, with a few favorites from my ring collection ,mixed in with a few brand new designs.

Wall Piece #2

The next wall piece that I want to share has a motif from my brocade jewelry collection rendered large and in color. I have been using a design that is inspired by chinese textiles, with a very extravagant version of the curls that exist throughout my work. Here is a sample of the jewelry inspired by this design motif:
Brocade Panel Pendant
18K and blackened silver

Here is the piece in which I enlarged the pattern, made it red and added branches with buds.

Wall Pieces

copper with patina, gold leaf, enamel paint, turquoise, silk

I want to share some new work that I have done recently. I decided to take the techniques I use in my jewelry and apply them to sculptures that hang on the wall. The result is almost like three-dimensional paintings. Here is one piece from the series. It is on view at Perlow-Stevens Gallery in Columbia, MO.

The size is 8"x 10"
This pendant is direct inspiration for the wall piece. In this case, the pendant is made of blackened silver and 18K gold, and also can be worn as a pin. This pendant/pin is also on view at the Perlow-Stevens Gallery in Columbia, MO.

Another current project is allowing me to combine my tow passions of jewelry/ metalsmithing, and dance. I am going to be performing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Nov. 27th and I am making myself a collar for my costume that is based on piece from Bali, dating from the 19th century. I combined the designs of a dancer necklace with the design of a necklace worn by the royal family of Klungkung in the same era. It is made of the same materials as the original dance necklace, copper with gold leaf and gems. The modern collars are made or gold-painted leather, but I figures that since I have th skills, I might as well go for the real thing.

The inspiration comes from photos from this book:

The District

photo Jennifer 8. Lee New York Times

I have been hearing news lately about the Garment District in Manhattan. In the jewelry field, when we say "going to the district", we mean the area around 47th St. between 5th and 6th Aves. However, when my friends in the clothing business talk about their district, they are headed 10 blocks south and a few blocks west.

It seems that the Garment District is being eyed as the next underdeveloped part of Manhattan. Designers and workers are fighting to keep the district zoned for the garment industry. I agree that it is worth fighting for a district in the center of Manhattan dedicated to the making of things, in this case clothing and accessories. When I read Nanette Lepore's comments about how having all the businesses on the same block makes for an efficient business operation, I couldn't agree more.

I think that the jewelry industry has been so far spared, because we deal with high priced materials and the diamond dealers really don't worry too much about being priced out of the neighborhood. But what is lost, when the middle-priced jewelry is removed from the equation, shipped to faraway lands? I think that the spark that can happen between designer, supplier and maker is lost. When one can go have a few face to face conversations on the same block, the faintest outline of an idea can turn into achievable reality in a short time.

As a studio jeweler, making my own work, and sourcing my own materials, I can still enjoy that spark. I just imagine how much more inventive and interesting the mainstream jewelry design would be if it didn't involve so much FedEx and many international phone calls. And what about quality, when the designer can go and see if the stones being set in to the metal are really the color they should be?

I think the jewelers should get together with the garment makers and put forward the idea of buying less things, really well made and designed, conceived and manufactered in New York.

Different Tempers

Yesterday, I received this invitation card in the mail. That, of course, is my bracelet on the front, right next to the work of master blacksmith Albert Paley!

Here is the text from the back of the card:
"Curated by Suzanne Ramljak

While jewelry and blacksmithing are both grounded in metal, there is a curious gulf between the two fields. Just as George Bernard Shaw quipped that England and America "are two distant cousins separated by the same language", jewelers and blacksmiths can seem like distant cousins. Different Tempers will explore these two realms of metalsmithing to highlight their distinct properties as well as their commonalities.

Curated by Suzanne Ramljak, editor of Metalsmith magazine, the exhibition will showcase the work of fourteen prominent and emerging artists. The works of these selected jewelers and blacksmiths epitomize their respective fields, and are also in critical dialogue with their own traditions and materials. A fully illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition."

Artists in the exhibition:
Jewelers
Melanie Bilenker
Lola Brooks
Pat Flynn
Sergey Jivetin
Mary Preston
Sondra Sherman
Natasha Wozniak

Blacksmiths
David Clemons
Maegan Crowley
Lu Heintz
Tom Joyce
Brent Kington
Marc Maiorana
Albert Paley

I am so honored to be part of this exhibition. As can be seen in the list above, it is quite an impressive group of artists in the show. While the show includes a whole continuum of work from the delicacy of Melanie Bilenker's hair portraits to the solidity and mass of Tom Joyce's sculptures, with my work falling in the middle. Wrought iron is the main inspiration, while the material and function fall on the side of jewelry.

This show will travel to the National Ornamental Metal Museum in 2010. In addition to my work being on the postcard, I have heard that it will be on the cover of the exhibition catalog as well!

More Filigree

Student work from my filigree class at the Newark Museum

In July, I taught a class at the Newark Museum, and it was very enjoyable for the students and for me. Filigree is a such a low tech technique for making jewelry, we were able to sit together at a large table and make intricate jewelry, just using a few sets of pliers. In the beginning the students felt that filigree was probably too labor-intensive to use as a production technique, however, after a few days of bending, it became clear that filigree can be used to make repeating elements. It can also be used to make very lightweight gold pieces, which is important in these days of high gold prices.

Obsession/ Passion

One my way home last night, I had a little burst of inspiration after walking into Union Square station and seeing a guy playing an upright piano! A perfect example of taking something that almost everyone thinks is over the edge and doing it anyway. Of course the sound is more beautiful than a car-battery powered keyboard and amp. Of course, it wouldn't have worked if he didn't play well, but since he did, it was a lovely moment on the platform. A few people broke the taboo of talking to strangers in NY to share the joy of this moment, at the end of a very hot and humid day. A perfect arguement for taking an idea to the other side of sanity once and a while. The effort will be surely be rewarded.

Trunk Show

L to R: Natasha Wozniak, Laurie, Sydney Lynch, Liz Hayes at 3rd Ward Jewelry during Gallery Night in Milwaukee

What is a trunk show? Basically, it is a show at a store or gallery which features a broad array of work from one designer. Usually for a short period of time. The name comes from the fact that the designer often comes with a suitcase (aka trunk), full of work. With larger companies, the designer may or may not be present. The gallery can just represent them, or they may send an assistant. In my case, I usually appear in person at the gallery to meet the clients.

Last month, I had a trunk show, along with the designer Sydney Lynch at 3rd Ward Jewelry in Milwaukee. This gallery has recently changed hands, and the new owner, Liz Hayes, is doing a great job at the helm. This gallery is a special place for me. Not only were they one of the first galleries to carry my work, but they also are located in SE Wisconsin, where I was born and grew up.

The trunk show was during the gallery night in the 3rd Ward district in Milwaukee, and I was pleased to see how many people came out to enjoy and support the arts. No, it wasn't for the free wine as galleries are no longer allowed to serve wine!!

Even though my full array of jewelry is no longer at the gallery, I always have a collection of work on display there, so please visit when in the area. There is a lot of exceptional jewelry art on display.

Bali and Filigree

Although I didn't have enough time in Bali to really get connected with the local jewelry makers (and my focus for the trip was the performance arts), I did get to visit some jewelry workshops. I have been using the techniques of filigree and chasing repousse in my work quite a lot in the last couple of years, techniques that can be found in places such as Bali, where the amount of tools and equipment available are minimal. In fact, the woman shown below has just one pair of pliers to work with to create the filigree for the earrings she is working on.
A closeup of the earring. She had a number of finished ones in the drawer below her bench.I recycle gold scraps in my studio as it is more economical to make new wire with the scraps than to send it in to be refined and get fresh wire in its place. However, in Bali, they go through the trouble of making their own silver wire. Almost nobody does that in the US as it is too much trouble with silver. It tends to crack as you are reducing the size of the ingot through rolling. Here is an image of a brick that has been carved to serve as a mold for the molten metal to be poured into.A torch in Bali. I am not clear about which fuel they were using in it, combined with a foot bellows to add air to the mixture.
The point of this post being, there can be some fantastic jewelry made without the benefit of elaborate tools. Here is a tray full of some earrings that one of the jewelers was working on.Here he is at the bench.

A New Arrival

No, not a baby! The good news is that I am expecting a new laptop to arrive tomorrow. For the last five years, I have tried to limit computer-related distractions in the studio by keeping the computer at home. However, I have realized that saving all of the computer work until I get home can be detrimental to communication, such as my blog. So, finally, I am going mobile. Add to this the fact that my new computer will have an empty hard drive as opposed to the current hard drive, filled to capacity. Photo downloading should be much less of a struggle.

Now to the most pressing question...can I keep the facebook related procrastination at bay?

Open Studio!

Custom ring of blackened silver and paisley-cut rhodolite garnet

Considering the recent upgrades in my studio, it is fortuitous that the annual Atlantic Avenue Artwalk is this weekend. Although, I didn't get on board in time to be in the official listing, there will be several other studios in my building open over the weekend, and I decided to open as well.

In addition to some of the new work, I will have some older designs at great prices and the paintings of my husband, Jun Ishida, will be on display. All along Atlantic Avenue, there will be art on display, whether it is on the walls of local merchants, or in some of the hidden studios along Atlantic and neighboring streets. Have a look a the schedule for details about all of the performing art events as well as special deals offered by local restaurants.

For more information
natasha at natashajewelry.com
646-339-6955

Hope to see all of my New York readers there!

Highlight of Snag

Fred and I pose during the opening reception

I made a quick trip over to Philadelphia for one day of the SNAG conference last week, and to my surprise, I saw my professor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Fred Fenster. He generally doesn't go to the conference, much preferring to stay home and work in his studio. He is the person that taught me what I know about making holloware as well as many other skills; toolmaking, craftsmanship and pewter, to name a few. It was hard to leave, as I had a just a short time to catch up with him, along with the many other friends that I ran into at the conference.

Sorry as I was to leave, I had plenty of work waiting for me back in Brooklyn. After five years of sharing a studio, I now have the space entirely to myself. All week I have been re-arranging the layout of the studio for maximum efficiency and creative flow. I have a soldering area that is seperate from my small workbench and I will have a wall that is dedicated to inspirational images, and my own drawings. I am planning to have a party soon to inaugurate the redesigned space, details to follow once I figure out a date.

Getting back to the conference, there was an informative seminar focused on professional development, but I will leave it to Gabriel Craig, Emiko Oye and Lynette Andreasen to give their insights.

Changes

As of tomorrow, I will be the sole occupant of my studio. I have been sharing the studio for 5 years now, but my studio mate has relocated to upstate NY, so she will be setting up her studio there. This is a big change for me. It involves replacing some of the tools that she has very generously allowed me to use over the years. It will also give me more space to work with. At this point, I plan to use some of this space as a consultation area for meeting my ever-increasing number of custom work clients.

I am also thinking about my past work as a sculptor. Mabye the extra space will inspire me to make larger work. I have been talking about that for some time now....

Starting tomorrow is the Society of North American Goldsmiths conference in Philadelphia. I had planned to attend the whole conference, but with the trip abroad and my upcoming equipment purchases, it's not in the budget. However, I do plan to go tomorrow for a special seminar on professional practices, and I hope to catch up with some colleagues and friends afterwards.

Later this week, I will add more Bali photos to the flickr account and talk more about that lovely place!

Back to New Yrok

Dance headdresses on display.

I have now been back in the US for a few days. I am not quite fully back in my mind, however, and all of my dreams still take place in Bali. Aside from the confusion and jet lag, I feel very refreshed. It is great to remember that there is a whole world out there, and most of them aren't thinking about an economic crises. I was talking to a Balinese guy and he tried to tell me not to go back to the US because of pig flu. I though there must be some kind of translation issue going on because I had no idea what he was talking about. Besides the internet cafes being slow, I just didn't want to spend a lot of time there, with all the charms of Bali at the doorstep.

Most of my time was spent working on the costumes for the show with Akim Funk Buddha and the Starship Crew, and studying Balinese dance. It was a challenge to arrive and very quickly get to work sourcing materials and working with tailors to get everything sewn in time. I had to make some bodysuits and finding an overlock machine in the town we were in, Ubud, was quite a challenge. I ended up learning how to make a bodysuit pattern on the fly. It was also a stretch of the imagination to go to the market and try to create from what was in front of me, rather then what I envisioned finding. In the end, the costumes looked great and that was very gratifying.

Off to Bali

It seems as though there has not been that much going on in my jewelry life lately. It is true that it has been squeezed in, between all of the preparation for my trip to Bali. I wil be departing in a few hours. I would like to share some of the jewelry making techniques there, although that will depend on how easy it is to download and post photos from an internet cafe there.

I do have a workshop planned for early June that will draw on some material that I collect in Bali. It will be in early June at the Newark Museum. The focus will be on filigree, which I have been using extensively in my latest work, and is also a highly developed technique in Bali.

While I am gone, there are some interesting, annual events going on here on the east coast.

SOFA NY

Smithsonian Craft Show

In the meantime, I definitely learned two Indonesian words:
perak- silver
emas- gold