Congratulations to:

WINNER
Dot Lewallen
Westerville, OH

RUNNER-UP
Patty Rockhill
O’Brien, FL

FINAL RESULTS posted on the Land of Odds website at:

http://www.landofodds.com/store/tapestry1contest.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also check out

THE UGLY NECKLACE CONTEST
A Jewelry Design Competition With A Twist

ALL DOLLED UP: Beaded Art Doll Competition

JEWELRY DESIGN CAMP

Beaded Tapestry Competition
GO VOTE OnLine:  Voting ends 1/14/2012

http://www.landofodds.com/store/tapestry1contest.htm

Visit the web-pages of each of our 4 Beaded Tapestry Competition Semi-Finalists.

#1. KAY FIELDEN, Auckland, New Zealand, “The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold
#2. JUNE JACKSON and JAMIE BRUNS, Bryan, Texas, “Lizzie Borden” by Elizabeth Engstrom
#3. DOT LEWALLEN, Westerville, Ohio, “Black Notice” by Patricia Cornwell
#4. PATTY ROCKHILL, O’Brien, Florida, “When Night Falls”, by Jenna Ryan

International 2011
THE ILLUSTRATIVE BEADER:
BEADED TAPESTRY COMPETITION
Theme: Mystery Genre Book Covers

Sponsored by:
Land of Odds
The Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts
Be Dazzled Beads

New Post in 
How To Bead  A Rogue Elephant column.
Read more… 

It remains a curious fact that necklaces were once believed to protect the wearer against getting hypnotized.

Yes, hypnotized.   This made sense in that the inherent beauty of the necklace was thought to distract the gaze of the ill-intended hypnotizer away from the lady’s eyes.

Thus, this piece of jewelry protected its wearer from the unwanted advances and influences of undesirable gentlemen, who spent their days and nights maliciously trying to hypnotize her.    And it followed that women, (and their protective parents), wanted the very best, most spectacular, and most distracting necklaces from the very best artisans.   They believed the more elaborate the necklace, and the more expensive its components, the more powerful it was in this regard.   With more powerful necklaces, the parents were less likely to lose their wealth through an ill-spent dowry.    And the more likely to retain the honor of the lady.

Such a purpose puts an awesome responsibility upon the shoulders of the jewelry designer….

Read more… 

Women don’t just wear pieces of jewelry – they inhabit them.

Buying a piece of jewelry for yourself – a necklace, a bracelet, earrings, a brooch, something else – isn’t a task easily given to someone else.  It’s often not a spur of the moment thing either.  You just don’t rush off to the local boutique or the local Wal-Mart, grab whatever you see, and go home.

I’m not talking about that impulse buy during your leisurely visit to the mall.   I’m referring to purchasing those pieces of jewelry you know will have to do a lot of the hard work to accessorize your wardrobe and help you get the compliments and notice of your family, friends and c o-workers you comport with and compete with each and every day.

No, buying a piece of jewelry for yourself is a multi-purposed moment, one which must be thought through carefully and one which must be savored.  Lest you buy the wrong piece.  That doesn’t really go with what you intend to wear.  Or is over-priced.  Or poorly made.  Or conveys the wrong impression about status.  Or is out of fashion.  Or something one of your friends already has.

The jewelry you buy has to conform to quite a long list of essential criteria before you could ever think of buying it.  It is something you will wear more than once.  As such, it is your companion.  Your necklace is not merely lying around your neck.  Or your bracelet around your wrist.  Or your earrings dangling from your ears.

Jewelry can cause you to lose face with others.  It can irritate or scratch your skin, or get caught up in your hair.  It might weigh you down or stretch or tear your ear lobes.  Jewelry can break without warning in the most unexpected and embarrassing of places.  It can get caught on things, sometimes hurting you in the process.

Jewelry conveys to the world something about who you really are, or think you are.  As such, jewelry is very personal.  Your private, innermost, most soul searching choices made very public for all to see.

As you caress it, as you touch the smooth or faceted or creviced beads and metal parts or the clasp or the material the beads are strung on, when you twist and move the piece within your hand, you are confirming to yourself the extent to which your jewelry is doing its job.

When you buy new jewelry, the dilemmas multiply.  How will  the new compare to the old?  Will it be able to handle all these responsibilities – looking good, representing you, fitting in with your wardrobe, meeting the expectations of others?  Like divorcing, then remarrying, changing your jewelry can take some time for readjustment.

And you do not want to be seen as noncommittal to your jewelry.  This would sort of be like going to  a hotel, but not unpacking your suitcase while staying in the room.   Conveying some sort of social or psychological distance from your jewelry can be very unsettling for others.

So you need to inhabit it.  You need to inhabit your jewelry, wear it with conviction, pride and satisfaction.  Be one with it.

Inhabiting jewelry often comes with a price.  There becomes so much pressure to buy the “right” pieces, given all the roles we demand our jewelry to play, that we too often stick with the same brands, the same colors, the same styles, the same silhouettes.  We get stuck in this rut and are afraid to step out of it.

Or we wear too many pieces of jewelry.  The long earrings, plus the cuff bracelets on both arms, plus the head band, plus the hair ornament, plus the 7-strand necklace, plus the 5 rings.  We are ever uncertain which piece or pieces will succeed at what, so hopefully, at least some combination or subset of what we wear will work out.

In a similar way, we wear over-embellished pieces – lots of charms, lots of dangles, lots of fringe, lots of strands.  Something will surely be the right color, the right fit and proportion, the right fashion, the right power statement, the right reflection of me.

And our need to inhabit our jewelry comes with one more price.  We are too willing to overpay for poorly made pieces in our desperation to have that right look.  The $100.00 of beads strung on elastic string.  The poorly dyed stones which fade in the light.  The poorly crimped and overly stiff pieces with little ease for accommodating movement and frequent wear.

It is OK to inhabit our jewelry.  In fact, it is necessary, given all we want jewelry to do for us.   But we need to be smart about it.  We need to learn to recognize better designs and better designers.

This need not be expensive at all.

Just smarter.

WAS FREEDOM ENOUGH? 

I emancipated myself from my upwardly mobile position, after 18 years of progressively more responsible positions, having attained an annual salary the income taxes from which supported one whole government worker.

And what did that do for me?   Emancipation.  Over the next 20 plus years of starting all over again.  At the bottom.  Learning another trade.  Having no accumulated reputation or power or wherewithal to get ahead.  I had freed myself to make my own choices.  I  had painted myself into a picture of my own dreams.   To be an artist.  To make jewelry.  To play with beads.  And to make a living at it.

But what did I achieve, except for the very freedom itself to be free to make my own choices?  …

 Continue reading….

Take a Moment To Read….

THE DESIGNERS GAZETTE
Fall 2011
The Design Perspective On Beading and Jewelry Making

http://www.warrenfeldjewelry.com/pdf/fu111011/fall2011pdf.pdf
Chilled Morns and Eves Warmed by Fall’s Soulful Colors, Stylish Clothes, Sophisticated Thinking, and Layered Looks. Nostalgia – for changing leaves, apple cider, turkey and dressing, family gatherings, office parties, warmth by the fire. Fall is all about presenting a more elaborated side of you to the outside world. Work and play. Online and off. Jewelry to tell the world to open up, you’re coming in from the playful summer heat.

The Illustrative Beader: Beaded Tapestry Competition – SemiFinalists Announced
Jade Carving Event
Three Artists at SOFA: New York
Bracelets in 3-D Print
Erotic Watches Auctioned Off
Australian Jewelry Topos
Tiffany Video
Ara Kuo
Robert Ebendorf – Mixed-media
Asagi Maeda – Art Jewelry
Daniel Porter Stevens – Metalsmith
Creative Mentoring – Andrea Rosenfeld
Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
Snakes – Claire Kahn
Cristobal Balenciaga
LOOT 2011
SODAmore 2011: Contemporary Art Jewelry
Empowering the Jewelry Designer
Existence for the Jewelry Designer is Befuddling
The Ugly Necklace Contest – Enter to Win
Getting Started in Beading and Jewelry Making
Jewelry Design Camp
Sherry Serafini Workshops

The Design Perspective on Beading and Jewelry Making
Land of Odds
Be Dazzled Beads, &
The Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts

718 Thompson Lane, #123, Nashville, TN 37204
http://www.landofodds.com
615/292-0610

GO VOTE OnLine:  Voting ends 1/14/2012

Visit the web-pages of each of our 4 Beaded Tapestry Competition Semi-Finalists.

International 2011
THE ILLUSTRATIVE BEADER:
BEADED TAPESTRY COMPETITION
Theme: Mystery Genre Book Covers

#1. KAY FIELDEN
Auckland, New Zealand
“The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold

#2. JUNE JACKSON and JAMIE BRUNS
Bryan, Texas
“Lizzie Borden” by Elizabeth Engstrom

#3. DOT LEWALLEN
Westerville, Ohio
“Black Notice” by Patricia Cornwell

#4. PATTY ROCKHILL
O’Brien, Florida
“When Night Falls”
by Jenna Ryan

Evaluate their images, their write-ups, and their materials and techniques.
Then use the on-line form you will find at the bottom of each of their web-pages
to Score them in terms of
Visual Appeal,
Artist Insight,
Artist Technique, and
Use of Beads in the Design.

The judges were blown away by the quality of all 4 semifinalists.   It was truly amazing how well each artist captured the essence of their book.  Each artist brought these books to life within their book cover design.  Yet each artist’s approach was different.  These artists should commend themselves on the amount of thought, insight, and coordination of ideas and techniques which went into producing their Beaded Tapestry pieces.    Bravo!

Here we use the concept of “Tapestry” in its broadest sense as a stitched, sewn and/or woven wall hanging. Your tapestry may be woven, loomed, stitched, quilted, cross-stitched, crocheted, knitted, sewn, braided, knotted, embroidered, macrame’d, beaded and the like. Your tapestry will combine fibers/threads/and/or cloth and beads in some way, and the surface area must consist of at least 70% beads. Beads may be used in many ways, such as forming the background canvas of your piece, and/or embellishing your canvas, and/or as fringe, and/or as stitchery covering parts of your piece. Your piece should be mounted or framed in some way, ready for hanging on a wall. Your tapestry may utilize many different techniques.

GO VOTE OnLine:  Voting ends 1/14/2012

http://www.landofodds.com/store/tapestry1contest.htm

The DESIGN PERSPECTIVE is very focused on teaching beaders and jewelry makers how to make choices. Choices about what materials to include, and not to include. Choices about strategies and techniques of construction. Choices about mechanics. Choices about aesthetics. Choices about how best to evoke emotions.

These choices must also reflect an understanding of the bead and its related components, and how all these pieces, in conjunction with stringing materials, assert their needs. Their needs for color, light and shadow. Their needs for durability, flexibility, drape, movement and wearability. Their needs for social and psychological and cultural and contextual appropriateness, satisfaction, beauty, fashion, style, power and influence.

This DESIGN PERSPECTIVE contrasts with the more predominant Craft Approach, where the beader or jewelry maker merely follows a set of steps and ends up with something. Here, in this step-by-step approach, all the choices have been made for them.

And this DESIGN PERSPECTIVE also contrasts with another widespread approach – the Art Tradition – which focuses on achieving ideals of beauty, whether the jewelry is worn or not. Here the beader or jewelry maker learns to apply art theories learned by painters and sculptors, and assumed to apply equally to beads and jewelry, as well.

The Craft Approach and the Art Tradition ignore too much of the functional essence of jewelry. Because of this, they often steer the beader and jewelry maker in the wrong directions. Making the wrong choices. Exercising the wrong judgments. Applying the wrong tradeoffs between aesthetics and functionality.

The focus of the DESIGN PERSPECTIVE is strategic thinking. At the core of this thinking are a series of design principles and their applications. These principles provide the beader and jewelry maker with some clarity in a muddled world.

The belief here is that, since there are so many different kinds of information to be learned and applied, it is impossible to clearly integrate this information all at once. When learned haphazardly or randomly, it becomes too difficult or confusing to bring to bear all these kinds of things the beader or jewelry maker needs to do when designing and constructing a piece of jewelry. Thus, the beader and jewelry maker best learn all this related yet disparate information in a developmental order, based on some coherent grammer or set of rules of design. This is the DESIGN PERSPECTIVE.

So, we begin with a Core set of skills and concepts, and how these are interrelated and applied. Then we move on to a Second Set of skills and concepts, their interrelationships and applications, and identifying how they are related to the Core. And onward again to a Third Set of skills and concepts, their interrelationships and applications and relationship to the Second Set and the Core, and so forth.

In the DESIGN PERSPECTIVE, “Jewelry” is understood as Art, but is only Art as it is worn. It is not considered Art when sitting on a mannequin or easel. Because of this, the principles learned through Craft or Art are important, but not sufficient for learning good jewelry design and fashioning good jewelry.

Learning good jewelry design creates its own challenges. All jewelry functions in a 3-dimensional space, particularly sensitive to position, volume and scale. Jewelry must stand on its own as an object of art. But it must also exist as an object of art which interacts with people (and a person’s body), movement, personality, and quirks of the wearer, and of the viewer, as well as the environment and context. Jewelry serves many purposes, some aesthetic, some functional, some social and cultural, some psychological.

The focus of the DESIGN PERSPECTIVE is on the parts. How do you choose them? How should they be used, and not be used? How do you assemble them and combine them in such a way that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts? How do you create and build in support systems within your jewelry to enable that greater movement, more flexibility, better draping, longer durability? How do you best use all these parts, making them resonate and evoking that emotional response from your audience to your style, vision and creative hand that you so desire?

The beader and jewelry maker is seen as a multi-functional professional, similar to an architect who builds houses and an engineer who builds bridges. In all these cases, the professional must bring a lot of very different kinds of skills and abilities to bear, when constructing, whether house or bridge or jewelry. The professional has to be able to manage artistic design, functionality, and the interaction of the object with the person and that person’s environment.

Read: ABOUT GOOD JEWELRY DESIGN: Principles of Composition

Enter: The Ugly Necklace Contest – A Jewelry Design Competition With A Twist!

Ara Kuo is a young jewelry artist from Taiwan.    She displays a very whimsical sense of design in her pieces.

Visit her website to see more of her pieces.

http://galleryloupe.com/exhibitions.php?sn=0&exhibit=39

Robert Ebendorf uses unusual objects like soda pop tabs, crab claws, squirrel paws, silver spoons to create his unique and unconventional jewelry.

At Gallery Loupe, they have a retrospective of his pieces posted online.

It’s always fun to re-purpose things, and play with different media and materials.  However, it is often difficult to mix media and materials into a successful, satisfying piece of jewelry.

http://www.asagimaeda.com/#/en/

Asagi’s favorite motive is the Box, or the Box as container.    Often he creates little “scenes” and encases them in an acrylic box.   The box becomes a component in a larger piece of jewelry.

His works are what you would call “Amusing”.    And amusement is one of his primary goals.

Each piece has a story.    The story is told like a play on a stage.

His “box” motif represents something inside and something outside.     He tries to build the “emotions” or “theme” or “energy” within the confines of the box.    The viewer experiences these by experiencing the jewelry outside of his box.

I had recently read an article showcasing the work of Daniel Porter Stevens.    The reviewers were talking about his sense of “line”.

“Line” is an important jewelry design element — one of the most important things the designer needs to control.

Line establishes a “silhouette” — it delineates a part of the body above it and below it.

The curvature or straightness of the line evokes a wide range of feelings and emotions on the part of the viewer.

Sometimes the line is like an arrow pointing the viewer’s attention to one place over another.

Lines can be blurry or sharp.

Lines can be rigid, or the designer can somehow “break” the line.

Lines are important.

Visit Daniel’s website and look at his slide-shows of his jewelry.

http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/andrea-rosenfeld
http://openstudiocoach.com/
http://openstudiocoach.com/about-andrea-rosenfeld-coaching/articles/ 

I recently came across an article Andrea Rosenfeld had written about Creative Mentoring.   I thoroughly enjoyed the article, her extremely clear and accessible writing style, and was very interested in taking a little internet road trip to her website.

How do you take your passion and your art work to an audience?    I deal with this type of question from our students and customers almost every single day.

She offers many ideas and many services.     I suggest reading some of her articles are articles by “visiting creatives”  for special insights.

Cintra Harbach

http://www.ganoksin.com/exhibition/v/beb/

Ginny Benton

This exhibit highlights jewelry made from materials other than gold, platinum or silver.    Many use found objects.    There are many “green” objects and materials.

Jill Morrison

Jewelry is defined as wearable art using a variety of materials.

Melanie West

You will see such materials as copper, brass and bronze.   Vinyl, velvet, machine components, bone, plastics, rubber, magnets, aluminum, wire, wood, plant seeds, pearls, and gemstones.

Shu Hsuan Tu

This exhibit shows a tremendous range of the possible.

Nancy Overmyer

You can see the full exhibit online.

http://www.ganoksin.com/exhibition/v/beb/

Sarah Kelly

Louve and Don Coulson

Burcu Buyukunal

Wired Elements

Patricia Alvarez

Valerie Ostenak

Louise Gore Langton

Valerie Ostenak

Sheila Schwede

“Snakes” are popular jewelry themes and forms.

Claire Kahn

The undulating body form.
The sharp, threatening teeth.
The relationship to the Adam and Eve story.
The use of the snake in various cultural myths and mythologies.
The patterning of the skin.

Claire Kahn

The snake evokes something primal within us.    It has an aesthetic that we all recognize and share, perhaps sensuous, perhaps threatening, yet always steeped in beauty.

Claire Kahn

Many of our students and customers love making snakes.     Snake necklaces.  Snake bracelets.  Snake cuffs.  Snake rings.

Claire Kahn

Claire Kahn‘s work recently caught my eye.
http://clairekahndesign.com/

Claire Kahn

Her website displays many beautiful, detailed images of her pieces.