Jewelry artist opens first studio

Julie Sanford put some finishing touches on a tiny multicolored cylindrical box with a silver mold of her father extending from one side on Wednesday

Her father, Thomas Hughes, was a silversmith and stone artist.

Now, after opening her first jewelry design studio, Sanford is still walking in her father's footsteps.

"I just thought I was going to do like dad does," she said.

The 42-year-old Kalamazoo native always had an interest in jewelry. She remembers at age 10 transforming a boutonniere pin into a pair of earrings, which she wore with pride.

When her father died in 1981, Sanford inherited both is love for jewelry design and equipment. She uses both to create decorative pendants, earrings and other jewelry by soldering metals together with a acetylene torch.

Getting to the point where she could open her own place wasn't easy. She spent 15 years working for a retail jeweler and five years as an art
teacher, and was also on staff at the Kalamazoo Institute of Art.

More recently, she has been working out of her Grand Haven home — where she lives with her husband, Jeff, and three children.

This spring, Sanford opened Studio JSD at 1101 Columbus Ave., across the street from the Grand Haven Area Arts Council building.

"Now I finally feel like I can do this for a living," she said. "I like it here, and I like that the arts council is across the street."

Sanford sells her work at weekend summer art festivals, including the Art on the Riverfront show in Grand Haven in August. The other half of her business comes from selling at six or seven Michigan retailers, including Imagine 360 Gallery in Grand Haven and Dreese Fine Art and Framing in Spring Lake.

Sanford also does commission work, and sometimes makes pieces for friends on a whim. She recently turned a flashy bottle top into a pendant for a friend who misses Michigan's specialty drinks.

"I get excited about doing projects that are really special to people," she said.

Sanford's assistant, 20-year-old Carolyn VanderKooi of Hart, only wears jewelry created by her boss.

"I am probably her biggest fan," VanderKooi said. "It's all so unique and beautiful. Most all my friends own a piece now because they think it's so neat."

Although Sanford's work has been featured in artisan publications, she's somewhat taken aback by such praise.

"I don't feel worthy," she said.

Sanford won't sell jewelry out of her studio, but does hope to conduct classes on such topics as jewelry design and glass fusing.

Sanford doesn't cut the stones she uses in her pieces, but may someday put the stone-cutting equipment that sits in the corner of her studio to good use.
Source: grandhaventribune

Local jewelry artists demonstrate craft, exhibit work

A shiny array of glass pendants, earrings and pins were on display inside the Downtown Depot on Saturday.

Local jewelry artists Mary Ellen Shank and Leona Mackey explained how they create their dichroic, or fused, glass during a special event at the depot on the 9th Street Plaza. The store is known for its West Virginia handcrafts.

Shank and Mackey shared their artistic process with visitors from noon to 3 p.m.

Shank began making jewelry about two-and-a-half years ago. While she previously focused on painting, she now enjoys making designs in glass. She said the pieces can be layered for a three-dimensional look or engraved, like one pendant of colorful cattails she displayed.

Shank also likes the suspense of pulling the glass from the kiln, as each batch turns out differently.

Mackey, who previously worked in ceramics and stained glass, said she also loves opening the kiln and seeing the product.

Mackey is the retired head of the art department at Huntington High School, and has also been making dichroic jewelry for a couple of years. She spent 35 years teaching and giving her full attention to students, many of whom have gone on to be quite successful.

"When I retired, I said 'It's my turn,' " she said.

Mackey strives for one-of-a-kind pieces that are ready to wear. She uses magnetic catches on many of her necklaces, making it easier for arthritis sufferers like herself to wear jewelry. She also incorporates beads and many sterling silver pieces into her work.

Both Shank and Mackey's jewelry can be purchased at the Downtown Depot and Tamarack. Mackey also has galleries in Hilton Head and Lake Tahoe, and Shank has pieces at Blenko and in a store at Nag's Head in North Carolina.

Saturday's event was part of a series in which West Virginia artisans educate the public and promote their work, according to Carter Seaton, marketing director for Goodwill, which owns the Downtown Depot.

"People are so used to buying a product in a store. They have no idea how it's created," Seaton said.

Marcy Frost came out on Saturday to visit the store for the first time. After just a few minutes inside, she said the place was beautiful and admired the jewelry.

"It's a place to be proud of in Huntington," she said.
Source: herald-dispatch

Forbes Galleries to feature plique-a-jour master

Leila Tai's "Foliage" bracelet in 18-karat gold, white, red and green enamels, and Burmese rubies.

Jewelry artist Leila Tai will be one of the featured fine jewelers at the 2008 Designer Showcase to be launched at The Forbes Galleries in New York City by the National Jewelry Institute.

The exhibit, which will run from April 25 to June 28, will celebrate works of individuality by approximately 25 designers.

Several of Tai's pieces to be exhibited are part of her most recent collection called "Spring," which utilizes the plique-à-jour technique. The technique is a style of enameling in which enamels are fused into the openings of a metal filigree network with no backing, producing an effect that resembles stained glass.

"Each piece is one-of-a-kind, and many offer built-in movement and flexibility," Tai said in a media release. "Aside from the fact that I enjoy the long and focused creation process, this technique gives a realistic edge to my pieces. Creating jewelry as art objects that can be worn is my way of paying tribute to life and all creation."

Tai was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, and studied art education at the American University of Beirut. She furthered her studies at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, receiving her master of fine arts degree in metal work. She has also studied with jewelry designers such as the late Donald Clafflin, who was associated with both Tiffany and Bulgari, and Robert Kulicke and Jean Stark, from whom she learned much of her plique-à-jour, cloisonné and granulation techniques.

After several years in the fine-jewelry industry with Gemveto and Van Cleef and Arpels, Tai worked as a full-time designer in the fashion industry, with firms such as Trifari and Monet, and also consulted for Liz Claiborne, among other fashion houses.

She has won numerous industry awards for her own jewelry designs, including the 2007 Niche Awards, an award for work of "exceptional merit" from The Enamelist Society in 2005 and the prestigious Diamonds Today Award in 1995.

Leila Tai's "Blue Iris" earrings in 18-karat gold and blue enamel with aquamarine drops and beads won a 2007 Niche Award.

Tai has also taught courses at the American University, Parson's School of Design, the Pratt Institute and the Revere Academy. She currently teaches jewelry design and rendering at the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Pratt Institute.

For more information about Tai, visit her Web site, Leilataidesign.com.

The Forbes Galleries are located at 62 Fifth Ave. in New York City and are open on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call (212) 206-5548 or visit The Forbes Galleries Web site, Forbesgalleries.com.
Source: nationaljewelernetwork

Translating feelings into jewelry

Designer Barbara Giles creates her jewelry in Catonsville.

At her in-home studio in Catonsville, jewelry artist Barbara Giles creates deceptively simple pieces of stone-and-metal, which she sells online (barbaragiles jewelry.com) and from elegant small display cases in local boutiques, such as Art and Artisan on Main Street in Ellicott City.

They are beautiful pieces meant to be worn -- smoothly polished cut opal; softly colored sea glass connected with sterling silver; magnificent jade petals in pinks and oranges; amazing lasso necklaces of crocheted sterling silver perfect for twisting, tucking and tying.

"Jewelry is subjective, obviously," says Kevin E. Smith, owner of Bella Sorpresa, a new lingerie boutique on Charles Street that clamored to sell Giles' pieces after seeing her work in another shop in Federal Hill. "But hers is art."

To prove that point, Giles will be taking her penchant for simplicity up a notch -- and focusing more on metalwork -- at the Maryland State Arts Council's m'Art show, to be held Dec. 6-8, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront hotel, 700 Aliceanna St., second floor.

IN HER WORDS // For the m'Art event I am considering using a lot of the same design elements I am already incorporating into my jewelry. I will be adding brooches, cufflinks and larger pieces to the collection. [Also,] I will be concentrating more on the sterling, the pearls and some beautiful little diamonds.

THE CONCEPT // The concept is to let the surfaces of the metals show in all their glory. Some of the elements I am making are little modern sculptures. A few of the pieces can stand alone, or be layered for a more gypsy or talisman look. I'm also very much into lariats for necklaces: no hooks, no clasps. Simple is my motto.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION // I have pieces which force the wearer to be involved. The necklace length is adjustable, as are the elements; they slide on a nylon coated steel cable. I want the wearer to decide where she wants the elements to hang in relation to each other. I guess this is what you'd call audience participation.

HER INSPIRATION // Everything inspires me: I'm a sponge. Music, art, fashion, nature, the materials themselves. They all inspire. From the time I started making art, originally as an illustrator, my goal has been to translate my feelings into a work of art. I hope these pieces communicate a peaceful, quiet, Zen-like energy.

THE TECHNIQUE // For these pieces the techniques are pretty basic. Each marquis shape is made from two equal lengths of silver, which I curve and solder at the ends. I file the edges -- a lot -- and then solder onto the piece whatever is appropriate, like a post or a ring, so that it may be used as an earring or part of a bracelet. The piece then gets cleaned and tumbled and polished. Unless I am putting patterns on my metal, the process is pretty much across the board. Shaping, sawing, soldering.

LOCAL MATERIALS // I find most of my materials right here in Baltimore. Terra Firma in Pikesville is one of my second homes. I have searched and found wholesale jewelry suppliers for other raw materials. They are all over the country.

JEWELRY AS ART // I approach jewelry as I do any of the art I've made. I am not a planner; I am all about process and feeling. I start with a vague vision, more like how it would feel to wear a certain piece, and I go from there [to] how can I get my materials to represent this feeling. I plan minute to minute: How do I connect this piece to the other? What weight chain works with what weight metal, etc.? I work instinctually with metal as I did with my painting. I add, I take away until something feels and looks right to me. I consider the act of creation to be an art -- when you are making something with the intention of transporting yourself or others to another place of feeling or energy. ... When we work to perfect something, we are all making art.
Source: baltimoresun

Bazaar to feature local jewelry artists

The Bead Cellar will host a holiday bazaar this weekend with beautiful hand-made jewelry from local artists.

Eight artists will have their work on display on Saturday and eight others will be there on Sunday, from noon to 4 p.m. both days.

Refreshments will be offered as you shop for beautiful as well as affordable earrings, necklaces, pins, bracelets and more.

The Bead Cellar is located at 6305 Westfield Ave., Pennsauken.
Source: courierpostonline

Leavenworth artist makes jewelry at home from scraps

Steve Cox isn’t what most people would call a starving artist.

He has a home, complete with a wife and pets, and he even owns his own business.

That business is a handmade jewelry store called Bright Eyes, and usually, it does well enough to keep food on the table for Cox and his wife, Maria. But Cox will be the first to admit that there are times when the couple have been on a strict diet of bologna and water.

“I deal in a luxury item,” Cox said.

When the economy is good, business is good. But when it’s not, Cox said his personal economy suffers as well.

Regardless of the status of his bank account, Cox said that he feels extremely fortunate to be able to make a living out of creating art.

And create he does.

Every day, Cox heads to his basement to cut copper, smash silver and fire finished pieces of finery.

Out of the comfort of his own home, the metalsmith is able to produce necklaces, bracelets, earrings, bowls and wall pieces.

The work is slow — an average necklace takes three days to complete — but that’s because Cox makes everything by hand. From the patterned metal on his bracelets to the chains on his necklaces, Cox said that every inch of his work is created by him personally.

“It all starts as scrap (metal),” he said.

That means that what is now dangling from someone’s ear may once have been a salad fork or a strand of copper wire.

From the scraps, Cox melts the metal into blocks and then cuts, shapes and works the blocks to create whatever comes to mind. Cox stressed that, to him, it is extremely important to continuously try new things and to steer clear of repetition — something that his methods allow him to do quite easily.

“So far, (I have) been able to avoid that,” Cox said. “It’s all one of a kind.”

Because of his work’s originality, Cox said that his displays often draw large crowds at art contests. That was definitely the case at this year’s First City Festival art competition, which featured much of the top artistic talent from the Leavenworth area.

There, Cox beat out approximately 20 competitors, including Roojeanne Hartel and Pat Ann Black — who finished second and third, respectively — and was named the most talented artist of them all.

Cox said his main motivation for entering the contest was to give his work some exposure, and he conceded that he was very surprised to win.

“Considering the competition that was there, I was tickled with the win,” he said.

However, in typical artist fashion, Cox insisted that he still has a lot of room to improve.

Dayne Logan/Leavenworth Times Photo

Steve Cox works metal into the proper shape for a piece of jewelry at a shop he has set up inside his Leavenworth home. Cox won the First City Festival art competition in September. “Considering the competition that was there, I was tickled to win,” he said.
Source: ljworld

Jewelry of a higher caliber

There have been many proposals for keeping guns off the streets of this violence-plagued city, but maybe none as unusual as Melanie Brandon's: Melt them down into jewelry.

Runway models wore the gunmetal pieces at Brandon's two shows during Fashion Week in New York.

The jewelry, part of her Melani Von Alexandria collection, was Brandon's creative attempt to address a harsh reality: Philadelphia is on pace for its highest murder rate in a decade.

''Just like a lot of Philadelphians, [I was] frustrated with people getting killed left and right,'' Brandon said. ''Why sit by and complain about what's going on? . . . You have to be part of the solution.''

She wrote a proposal in July and sent it to the mayor, top police brass and the sheriff. It ended up on the desk of Paris Washington, chief weapons officer for the Sheriff's Department. Last month, he escorted Brandon and five confiscated firearms to a local welder's studio.
Source: sltrib

Artist Turns Money into Jewelry

Artisan Vivian Lilly from Hinton creates rings out of rare coins.

He uses a hammer and a file to smooth the coins and shape them into rings.

Lilly buys coins like half-dollars from shops across the country to turn into the unique jewelry.

The work takes him about three hours per ring.

Lilly calls the work a hobby, not a business.

He's been doing it for 50 years. "I was working at a refinery in Virginia in 1957 and we did something one day and I thought if we can do that with that, then I can do that with a coin. So after many, many trials and errors I was finally able to complete one" said Lilly.

Senator Robert C. Byrd has bought three rings from the local artist.

The rings are on sale on Tamarack.
Source: wvnstv

Laurel Burch, Artist, Dies at 61

Laurel Burch, who as a 20-year-old single mother found metal in junkyards to hammer into jewelry to support her two children, and went on to win distinction as a fanciful designer and success as a savvy businesswoman, died on Sept. 13 at her home in Novato, Calif. She was 61.

Rick Sara, her husband, said yesterday that the cause was complications of osteopetrosis, a painful bone disease she had her entire life, suffering more than 100 bone fractures as a result.

Ms. Burch translated her visions of “fantastic felines,” mythical animals, colorful blossoms, butterflies, moons, hearts and imagined people, among myriad other imaginings, into colorful enamel jewelry, paintings, T-shirts, scarves, ceramics and tote bags, which were sold by thousands of stores. Forbes magazine in 1985 said she had created a niche between high-volume, low-price costume jewelry and high-priced designer lines like Paloma Picasso’s for Tiffany.

She told Women’s Wear Daily in 1986 that she wanted to become “one of the design influences in the world.” She also loved being the chief executive of the company named after her and paid close attention to the details of how department stores marketed her products.

But her passion was art, and even as she churned out hundreds of products, her husband said that 90 percent of her designs derived from her original paintings.

A woman who lived in pain, she said her goal was to pass on her joy. Ms. Burch described herself this way on her Web site:

“I live within the vivid colors of my imagination ... soaring with rainbow feathered birds, racing the desert winds on horseback, wrapped in ancient tribal jewels, dancing with mythical tigers in steamy jungles.”

Laurel Anne Harte was born in the San Fernando Valley of California on Dec. 31, 1945. She grew up in a broken home; her father married three times, her mother twice. She said in an interview with The Marin Independent Journal in 1995 that as a girl she felt emotionally unstable and untalented. She found some measure of peace in playing the guitar, dancing and drawing.

She left home at 14 with only a paper bag of clothing, and she cleaned houses and cared for children in exchange for room and board. She dropped out of high school and became a vagabond, “going around singing and playing the guitar,” she told The Los Angeles Times in 1986. Her husband said that she never took an art class.

She married a jazz musician, Robert Burch, when she was 19 and was the divorced mother of a son and daughter by the time she was 20. When she was pregnant with her second child, her son Jay, she was arrested for stealing a piece of meat from a supermarket, The San Francisco Chronicle reported in 2000; someone had told her she should be eating more protein.

In addition to receiving welfare payments, she supported the children by making jewelry at her kitchen table in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco and selling it on the street from tackle boxes. Some local stores began stocking her creations, and Forbes reported that an Indian businessman, Shashi Singapuri, took samples to China. The Chinese were intrigued enough to invite her to China in 1971.

There she discovered cloisonné, a kind of enamel work, which has sectioned-off brightly colored areas of enamel that form a larger pattern. She made a dozen paintings and had the designs made into earrings. Mr. Singapuri put up some money, and manufacturing began. The brightly colorful jewelry was the beginning of her signature look, with cloisonné patterns showing up in many other media, including fabric.

She went on to work on cast metals and wood and to include spinoff products on paper, porcelain and fabric.

She pointedly ignored fashion trends, saying her goal was a look that appealed to shy people as well as bold, eccentric ones. As countless kitchen shelves attest, thousands upon thousands of cat lovers treasure her feline coffee mugs.

After splitting with Mr. Singapuri, she started Laurel Burch Inc. in 1979, with full control as president and chief designer. By the mid-1990s she found herself devoting 80 percent of her time and energy to business matters. In order to return to art, she licensed her designs to a dozen companies that make and distribute them around the world.

Her second marriage, to Jack Holton, ended in divorce. In addition to her current husband, she is survived by her daughter, Aarin; her son, Jay; and two granddaughters.

In Ms. Burch’s last years her bone disease worsened. She learned to paint left-handed after breaking her right arm in 2005. Still, she told The Independent Journal that if she had to choose between good health and her artistic gifts, she would choose her art — “in a second, in a heartbeat.”

In her last artworks she sometimes included words. One quoted an American Indian proverb: “The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.”
Source: nytimes

Celebrating Navajo Jewelry Artists

Having always loved the earthy dramatic beauty of Native American jewelry, it is an honor to share these wonderful works of wearable art by Navajo artists such as Jimmy Emerson, Calvin Peterson, and others. Each of the following pieces when purchased are accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity recognizing their true value as hand crafted Native American art.
Native American Kingman Turquoise Sterling Silver Cuff Bracelet by Navajo artist Emerson.
This gorgeous one-of-a-kind handcrafted work of art features a Sterling Silver cuff bracelet embedded with a large cab of stunning, top of the line, sky blue genuine Turquoise with natural markings and colors designed by the Earth. This turquoise stone looks to be from Kingman, Arizona and has been set in a hand made Sterling Silver bezel sweated to a hand made Sterling Silver cuff. Hand twisted Sterling Silver wire and hand stamped designs circle the Turquoise stones and dress the cuff with a high shine. These bracelets average over 1 3/4" in width at the center and will fit a 5" to a 7" wrist. Stamped Sterling and signed J E. The color and matrix of the Turquoise may vary slightly. The choice of stone in a piece of Turquoise jewelry makes a statement about the unique personality of both the artist who makes the piece and the person who wears it.

There are many legends about Turquoise; The Pima consider it to bring good fortune and strength and that it helped overcome illness. The Zuni believe that blue turquoise was male and of the sky and green turquoise was female and of the earth. Pueblo Indians thought that its color was stolen from the sky. In Hopi legend the lizard who travels between the above and the below, excretes turquoise and that the stone can hold back floods. The Apache felt that turquoise on a gun or bow made it shoot straight. The Navajo consider it as good fortune to wear and believe it could appease the Wind Spirit.

Native American 14k Gold Sterling Silver Overlaid Man in the Maze Pendant by Calvin Peterson
This 14k Gold and Sterling Silver pendant features an overlaid Gold on Silver traditional Native American Man in th Maze design. All the silver and gold was hand cut and hand stamped by the artist. This pendant is 2 1/2" long, 1 3/4" wide, and comes with a complimentary chain. Signed by the artist and stamped Sterling and 14k. This pendant can be custom made with the Man in the Maze overlay made from Jeweler's gold or Sterling silver.

Overlay is created by "sweating" or soldering, two pieces of silver together. The top piece contains a design element which is meticulously cut out of silver. The bottom piece is oxidized and often textured to produce a contrasting background. Then carefully filed, buffed, and polished to produce this fine finish.

Turquoise Sterling Silver Ring
Handcrafted out of gleaming, beautifully patterned Sterling silver this ring holds a deftly-cut cabochon of Turquoise. The Turquoise stones are likely Nevada, Boulder Mountain and Bird's Eye and exhibit exceptional hues of navy blue/black, brown, seagreen and teal, which complement the sheen of the silver.

Turquoise has been, since about 200 B.C., extensively used by southwestern U.S Native Americans and by many of the Indian tribes in Mexico. The Native American Jewelry or "Indian style" jewelry with turquoise mounted in or with silver is relatively new. Some believe this style of Jewelry was unknown prior to about 1880, when a white trader persuaded a Navajo craftsman to make turquoise and silver jewelry using coin silver. Prior to this time, the Native Americans had made solid turquoise beads, carvings, and inlaid mosaics. Recently, turquoise has found wide acceptance among people of all walks of life and from many different ethnic groups.
Source: bellaonline