From Warren and Land of Odds
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June 15, 2025
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Hi everyone,
Some Updates and Things Happening.
(Please share this newsletter)
In this Issue:
1. Exhibitions Not Just Seen But Felt
2. Why jewelers are championing ‘ugly’ gems
3. Jewelry Deserves A Place In Art History
4. Call For Submissions: Smithsonian Craft Show, 2026
5. The Artist Who Captured the Contradictions of Femininity
6. Some Tips For Designing Your Website
7. The Mirror Motif In Contemporary Jewelry
8. FEAST -Contemporary Jewelry From the Susan Beech Collection
Some articles you may have missed
Featured
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1. Exhibitions Not Just Seen but Felt, Beyond the Vitrine.
By matt lambert, Art Jewelry Forum
(Left) Leo wearing a necklace by (right) Sofia Tekela-Smith. Sofia Tekela-Smith, Untitled, 2025, necklace in mother-of-pearl, waxed thread, photo: Jamie Berry
At the start of my Munich Jewellery Week adventure, I made my way to the Museum Fünf Kontinente (Museum Five Continents) to attend the KOHĀ ceremony led by Aotearoa (New Zealand) adornment practitioners Neke Moa, Sofia Tekela-Smith, and Stevei Houkāmau. The Munich Jewellery Week website described it as a performance and activation.
Fijian Wasekaseka Necklace, in sperm whale teeth, acquired in 1900 from Parisian dealer Emile Heymann, further provenance unknown, collection Fünf Kontinente Museum. (On stage, right) Stevei Houkāmau assists (left) Sofia Tekela-Smith in securing the necklace from the Fünf Kontinente Museum collection. Tekela-Smith is wearing a “Tofua,” a traditional Rotuman pandanus skirt from the island of Rotuma, a Parā /head lei of artificial hibiscus and leaves made of silk, 2024, necklace by Stevei Houkāmau, Korero with Our Ancestors, 2025, in black clay, wax cord, paint, photo courtesy of matt lambert
Koha is a vital concept in te ao Māori (the Māori world). It references the act of offering a gift or contribution as an expression of gratitude. Koha exists in both formal ceremony and everyday life.
The happening was rich and layered with many components. I cannot properly do it justice. In a highly emotive moment, Moa, Tekela-Smith, and Houkāmau showed works they made in response to works in the museum’s collection. In a surprise move by the museum, during the ceremony they were allowed to handle pieces from the historic collection, even permitted to wear one of them.
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2. Why jewelers are championing ‘ugly’ gems
By Milena Lazazzera, CNN. 5/29/2025
“Using the scientific precision of terms like “IF Type IIa” — to describe diamonds so pure they show no inclusions under 10x magnification — jewelry purveyors have long placed heavy emphasis on the clarity and cut of a gem. The sharper the facet and flawless the sparkle, the more valuable a stone once appeared.”
“Until now. Once dismissed as “ugly ducklings” — too marked, too dark, or too strange — imperfect gems are now stepping into the spotlight, as high-end jewelers increasingly champion stones with unique inclusions or less-than-perfect clarity.”
“The popularity of unconventional stones signals a broader shift in consumer behavior. More women are now buying jewelry for themselves, often valuing design and emotional resonance over traditional notions of investment — contrasting with male buyers who typically view jewelry as a store of value or a gift, according to several jewelry executives interviewed by CNN. “
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3. Jewelry Deserves A Place In Art History
Beyond Adornment explores what the depiction of jewelry in art says about adornment, artists, and their subjects, from Charlemagne to Frida Kahlo.
Aida Amoako, 5/28/2025
Unknown English artist, “Armada Portrait” (1588), oil on oak panel (image courtesy Woburn Abbey, Woburn, Bedfordshire, England)
“In Albrecht Dürer’s idealized, early-16th-century portrait of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor wears a dazzling crown. The diadem, topped by a cross, was itself very real. But it did not exist until around 962 CE, over a century after Charlemagne’s death. “
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, “Portrait of Madame Moitessier” (1851), oil on canvas (image courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC)
“Considered the oldest decorative art, jewelry has such a power to communicate that artists have been willing to bend the truth to exploit its associative capacities — or so argues Beyond Adornment: Jewelry and Identity in Art (2025). Yvonne J. Markowitz, jewelry curator at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, and Susanne Gänsicke, senior conservator of Antiquities at the Getty Museum, explore what the depiction of jewelry in art says about adornment, artists, and their subjects.”
“This practice of eschewing historical accuracy in order to build a compelling narrative is a prevalent theme, and the book’s discussion of Archaeological Revival jewelry — European and American pieces from the 18th and 19th centuries that sought to recreate ancient styles — is particularly fascinating. In Spanish painter Vicente Palmaroli y González’s 1870 portrait of aristocrat Enid, Lady Layard, the sitter wears jewelry made from “numerous ancient cylinder seals and stamp seals” found in excavations at Nineveh, the effect of which Gänsicke describes as a “historical melange.” Her husband was a prominent Assyriologist known for uncovering the Library of Ashurbanipal. Perhaps, Gänsicke suggests, “the set’s purpose was as much to declare her husband’s accomplishments as to adorn the wearer.” “
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4. Call For Submissions, Smithsonian Craft Show 2026
Juried Art Services
Edit descriptionjuriedartservices.com
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5. The Artist Who Captured the Contradictions of Femininity
In her too-short career, the painter Christina Ramberg studied the many contortions that being a woman can demand.
By Jane Yong Kim
The Atlantic, 5/30/2025
Christina Ramberg in her studio (Photograph by Mary Baber)
“Observing a woman get ready to go out is, for many girls, an early glimpse at the ritualistic preparations that femininity can entail. For the artist Christina Ramberg, watching her mother getting dressed for parties — in particular, putting on a corset called a merry widow, which gave her an hourglass figure — revealed the extent to which the female form was a ruse. “I can remember being stunned by how it transformed her body, how it pushed up her breasts and slendered down her waist,” Ramberg later observed. “I used to think that this is what men want women to look like; she’s transforming herself into the kind of body men want. I thought it was fascinating,” she said. “In some ways, I thought it was awful.””
The estate of Christina Ramberg
Probed Cinch, 1971
“These dueling reactions, fascination and repulsion, come up in Ramberg’s paintings, which, especially early in her career, fixated on the artifice of the female body — all the different ways that women construct themselves, with the aid of the mass market. Her striking portraits of women’s body parts feature torsos strapped into corsets, feet shoved into high heels, intricately arranged updos. The images are crisp, flat, and slyly cropped or angled to never show faces. And although they’re sensual, they’re also depersonalized and often off-kilter; sometimes, hair is parted in unnatural directions, or skin is patchy. The dueling presence of unruly and taming forces in these paintings recalls the consumer products that divide women’s bodies into conquerable parts: the sprays that restrain, the undergarments that shape. As the artist Riva Lehrer puts it in one of several essays accompanying a traveling exhibit of Ramberg’s work, currently at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, “Without the face, the body must tell all.””
The estate of Christina Ramberg
Untitled (Hand), 1971; Untitled (Hand), 1971
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6. Some Tips For Designing Your Webiste
📊 Simplify your website for multiple audiences.
If your art website serves different audiences — like collectors, store owners, individual buyers, and publishers — don’t overwhelm visitors with too many options.
Instead, divide your homepage into clear sections, each labeled for its audience (e.g., “For Collectors,” “For Store Owners,”, “For My Customers”, “For Authors”).
- Let each section guide visitors to the relevant content and products, so they instantly know where to go.
- Use simple language and align your navigation menu with those same categories.
A clear structure not only reduces confusion — it helps the right people find what they’re looking for, fast.
💻 Quick tips on designing a clear and engaging artist website:
- Start with messaging that speaks to your audience’s experience, not just your own story.
- Break long paragraphs into short, scannable chunks to keep visitors engaged.
- Simplify your menu by grouping offerings into “artworks” and “services.”
- Move exhibitions to your About page to keep your navigation clean and current.
- Aim for a clean, professional layout that feels like a curated gallery space.
🖼️ When building your website, treat it as a portfolio — not an archive.
- Focus on showcasing only your strongest work that represents who you are today as a creator, especially if you’re multidisciplinary.
- Resist the urge to include everything you’ve ever made; too much content can overwhelm visitors and dilute your message.
- Highlight only key exhibitions that add credibility, and keep the layout clean and intentional to avoid a “garage sale” feel.
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7. Perceptual Surfaces in Flux: Mirrors, Embodied Vision and Optical Fields in Contemporary Jewellery
By Sotiria Vasileiou
Klimt02, 6/3/2025
Read the full article here
From 1479 BC, Met Museum
Herman Hermsen, Be aware! Watch your back!, Pendant necklace, 2023, glass blind spot mirrors, computer hard disk, metal mirror, chain.
Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.
iro Kamata, WG SpiegelNecklace, 2021, camera lens, rose-gold coating, PVD coating, 18K palladium white gold.
Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.
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8. FEAST — Contemporary Jewelry From the Susan Beech Collection
Feast: Contemporary Jewelry from the Susan Beech Collection
Tour the home of American collector Susan Beech. Since 1991, she has been transforming her house into an extraordinary environment in which the themes of her extensive jewelry collection interact with craft and fine art, all against a backdrop of Art Deco glamour. Beauty is entwined with darker forces of death and decay, and glimpses of pleasure are complicated by a nod to the surreal and uncanny. The result is a wholly original and fascinating stage for a major collection of contemporary jewelry thoughtfully assembled over four decades.
Purchase your copy in AJF’s bookstore.
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UPCOMING WORKSHOPS by Warren Feld
Sat, 6/21, 1–4, PEARL KNOTTING, Hoamsy, Nashville, LC Goat, Germantown, 1220 2nd Ave N
Register: www.hoamsy.com
Sat, 7/19, 9am-Noon, INTRODUCTION TO WIRE WEAVING and MAYAN PENDANT
Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward
Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm
Sat, 7/19, 1–4pm, WIRE WORKING INTRODUCTION and MIX N MATCH BRACELET
Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward
Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm
Sat, 7/26, 1–4pm, WIRE WOVEN MAYAN PENDANT, Hoamsy, Nashville, LC Goat, Germantown, 1220 2nd Ave N
Register: www.hoamsy.com
Sat, 8/16, 9am-Noon, WIRE WRAPPED CABOCHON PENDANT
Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward
Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm
Sat, 8/16, 1–4pm, WIRE WEAVE 2 and SUN PENDANT
Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward
Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm
Sat, 8/23, 1–4pm, WIRE WRAP MIX N MATCH BRACELET, Hoamsy, Nashville, LC Goat, Germantown, 1220 2nd Ave N
Register: www.hoamsy.com
Sat, 9/20, 9am-Noon, LEARN BEAD WEAVING: RIGHT ANGLE WEAVE and CURVY RAW BRACELET
Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward
Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm
Sat, 9/20, 1–4pm, INTRO TO EVEN COUNT, FLAT PEYOTE and JUNGLE FLOWER BRACELET
Middle Tenn Gem & Mineral Society, Donelson Fifty Forward
Registration begins June 21http://www.mtgms.org/schools.htm
9/15/2025–10/15/2025 Art Jewelry Exhibit at Pryor Gallery, Columbia State Community College
My pieces will be showcased an this exhibit. In the works is a possible Seminar and a beading workshop.
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SOME POSTS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
CONQUERING THE CREATIVE MARKETPLACE: Audit Memorandum To Yourself
Where can I source ethically and sustainably produced gemstones and metals?
FLUENCY IN JEWELRY DESIGN: Surviving As A Jewelry Designer
CONQUERING THE CREATIVE MARKETPLACE: Do These Thing FIRST
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Feature your jewelry Here next week
In This Newsletter, as well as, on our Jewelry Designer’s Hub!
Email a post (text and/or image) to warren@warrenfeldjewelry.com.
Promote your current projects, promotional copy, News & Views, videos, reels, tutorials, instructions, social media posts online in this newsletter and on our jewelry designers’ Patreon hub.
No deadlines! Opportunity available all the time. No fees.
But don’t wait to take advantage of this opportunity.
This copyrighted material is published here with permission of the author(s) as noted, or with Land of Odds or Warren Feld Jewelry. All rights reserved.
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Repairs Stumping You?
Let Me Take A Look
I take in a lot of jewelry repairs. People either bring them to me in Columbia, TN, or, I pick them up and deliver them back in Nashville. I am in Nashville at least once a week. It’s been convenient for most people to meet me at Green Hills Mall. But if not, I can come to your workplace or your home. This is perfectly fine for me. My turnaround time typically is 3–4 weeks.
I do most repairs, but I do not do any soldering. I also do not repair watches. These are the kinds of repairs I do:
o Beaded jewelry
o Pearl knotting, hand knotting
o Size/Length adjustment
o Re-stringing
o Wire work/weave/wrap
o Micro macrame
o Broken clasp replacfement
o Earring repair
o Replace lost rhinestones or gemstones
o Stone setting
o Stretchy bracelet
o Metal working which does not involve soldering
o Bead woven jewelry and purses
o Beaded clothing
o Custom jewelry design
View my How-To-Repair-Jewelry videos on our Jewelry Designers’ Hub.
My most recent how-to: Converting 3-Strand Stretchy Bracelet to Cable Wire W/ Clasp
WARREN FELD JEWELRY (www.warrenfeldjewelry.com)
Custom Design, Workshops, Video Tutorials, Webinars, Coaching, Kits, Group Activities, Repairs
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Thanks for being here. I look forward to sharing more resources, tips,
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