Early Morning Studio Update

It's finally getting there! I've been working on some knuckle dusters that will have fancy painted acrylic nails set into them... very Kid Sister-esque. It's taken alot of time, with loads of castings, solderings, and patience... but, I'm hoping to solder the bezels down today and then complete the final round of castings. This picture shows the two rings, with the bezels just taped into place and some practice nails sitting in the bezels. Ok, off to the soldering board, wish me luck!

For me, jewelry embodies a kind of

immortality... the ability to stretch

a single moment out into infinity.

-Adam Grinovich

I just arrived at SOFA, and am prepaired to be overwhelmed!

Off to SOFA Chicago!

Tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn I'll be starting my journey to Chicago to check out this years SOFA CHICAGO event. The show is an international exhibition of sculptural objects and functional art, and rotates from Chicago to New York to Santa Fe. SOFA presents prominent international galleries and art dealers in a single venue, showcasing art that bridges design, decorative and fine arts.

I've never been to a SOFA EXPO before, so I'm super excited to check everything out... and, I hear that Chicago's the best venue out of the three, so that's an added bonus! I'm also flattered because Sienna Gallery will be showing some of my new neoprene pieces at the EXPO.

The show opened today, but I'll still have all of Saturday to wander around the show. Needless to say, I'll be taking lots of pictures and posting them once I get back!

This image makes my brain hurt from all the beauty!

So, a couple of weeks ago I had some of my recent work documented by Maureen Keaveny... and I've just been dying to see what the photos look like. I just got an email from Maureen with a tantalizing image that has gotten me so amped up for the rest of the set. The image below is of one of my Mourning Necklaces being worn by Olivia. The necklace is made of horse hair, sterling silver, silk, and antique jet beads. After feasting my eyeballs on this, it's going to be even more difficult to wait for the rest of the images!

Pro-Nails

This is what my dinning room table looks like these days. Apparently I'm running an underground nail salon... at least that's what it smells like! The truth is that I'm working on getting some good nail art designs under my belt for a project I'm working on. The plan is to make a series of rings that will feature some extravagant acrylic nail designs as the 'gem stone.' I've come close to perfecting the zebra motif, and have logged tons of hours on the internet watching 'how to' tutorials on youtube.

Although I'm sure that this seems like a crazy venture at this point, I'm really excited about how this will develop... I can't wait to get the ring shanks a little further along so that I can see what the nails will look like in their settings.

Work Documentation

What's a great way to spend a Friday night, and I'm not being sarcastic here? I spent last night documenting some of my recent work with Maureen Keaveny, which was so much fun! I really like shooting work on models as well as off the body; and my models were great. I attached a couple pictures below, one of Josie wearing her wedding dress to highlight the design of the neoprene necklaces. And another of Olivia, she looks amazing in the retroglo chains (hopefully the images will make the necklace actually glow!).

I can't wait to see how the pictures come out!

Amazing little giftie!

I was so happy to open up my mail box the other day, and find a package from my dear friend Wendi (who recently moved from Providence to Madison, which was a very sad event for me). Wendi is a super creative person, an amazing cook, and all around wonderful maker-of-all-things-awe-inspiring. You should check out her blog, Modern Ma'am, which has a wide range of info from recipes to knitting to house hold tips.

Anyway, the reason why I'm writing this blog post is because inside this package was a hand knit neckpiece that Wendi made for me! She said it was her first piece of knit jewelry, and I'm hoping that she makes more! I love the soft texture of the yarn, and how dressy it can make a casual tee shirt. It also reminds me of the lace and tatted collars that women used to wear... Considering that I have a soft spot for all things that refresh historical ideas, I'm totally in love with this necklace!

I want, I want, I want

I just came across this amazing tape while perusing the items on display at nonesuch things. The tape was designed by a Parisian jeweler, Marie-Helene de Taillac, who creates beautifully cascading necklaces and earrings that rely heavily on the bright saturation of precious stones. Marie-Helene has created the jewel tape using images of bezel set precious stones in a spectrum of colors, ranging from greens and blues to sparkly pinks or reds. Apparently, she even revised the color balance on two rounds of prototypes because the printed tape didn't look like the actual stones before she felt that the stones actually reflected their authentic counterparts.

My mind is rolling with ideas of what I could do with this amazing tape... At 16 meters long, there's lots of possibilities! From gift wrap, to impromptu picture frames on the wall, to package design... I can't wait to have a couple of rolls of this in my hot little hands!

Chromophilia Reviewed!

I'm excited to have Chromophilia get a review in one of our local papers, The Providence Phoenix. The article, by Greg Cook, highlights some of the work in the exhibition and touches upon the aesthetic of the show. Personally, I'm always so glad to have contemporary art jewelry written about, because it hardly ever happens and I appreciate that critics are willing to learn about this emerging field and present it to a larger audience. I've posted Greg's review below, or you can read it here.

Review: '10 Most Endangered Properties,' plus 'Chromophilia'

The title of the "Chromophilia" exhibit at Craftland (235 Westminster Street, Providence, through October 10) focuses our attention on the bright colors of contemporary studio jewelry, which follows the 1980s revival — a la American Apparel — throughout fashion. But the bigger trend that curators Devienna Anggraini and Islay Taylor identify is a Post-Modern, catholic use of a wide variety of non-precious materials.

Mike & Maaike, a San Francisco studio led by Mike Simonian and Maaike Evers, fashion flat leather necklaces and broaches based on pixilated photos of famous jewelry (Daisy Fellowe's "Tutti Frutti" necklace, Imelda Marcos's ruby necklace, the Hope Diamond) found via Google image searches. Mariana Acosta Contreras of Providence strings folded leather into scarf-like necklaces resembling strands of flowers or shelf mushrooms. They often have a neutral main color (gray, white) with bright hues (reds, greens) flaring from inside folds.

Islay Taylor of Providence crochets webs of thread to hold cascading strands of orange and red beads. San Francisco's Emiko Oye turns Legos into bright, blocky, fun bracelets. One cheekily puns on Mondrian's blocky early 20th-century abstractions. RISD-trained Jimin Park's broaches look as if she's fashioned bits of metal and fluorescent plastic junk she picked up off the street into Post-Modern tribal talismans. Oye and Park's work highlights a distinguishing characteristic of this jewelry: a spirit of play.