Warren Feld Jewelry

Taking Jewelry Making Beyond Craft

Archive for the ‘jewelry design’ Category

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »

CONTEMPORIZING TRADITIONAL JEWELRY: ETRUSCAN COLLAR

Posted by learntobead on September 6, 2012

BE DAZZLED BEADS: WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT

Create a sophisticated, contemporary Etruscan-style collar!
Layer two Ndebele stitched strips, slightly curving the interior edge and embellishing
with chain.

ETRUSCAN COLLAR WORKSHOP

Instructor: Warren Feld
at Be Dazzled Beads, 718 Thompson Lane, Ste 123, Nashville, TN 37204

Sat, 11/3, Noon-5pm
Register by phone (615)-292-0610, or in-person

(REGISTRATION CLOSES: 10/15/12)


($35.00 fee + Kit $160.00 + Upgrade Option) (deposit = $195.00 + Upgrade Option)
Kit at $160.00 includes gold plated clasp, chain and findings.

UPGRADE OPTIONS 

#1: 14KT CLASP and GOLD FILLED CHAIN Chain For Embellishment
ADD + $884.00

#2: STERLING SILVER CLASP and STERLING SILVER CHAIN For Embellishment
ADD + $148.00

#3: GOLD FILLED CLASP and GOLD FILLED CHAIN for Embellishment
ADD + $165.00

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP:
Bead weaving is a collection of hundreds of different stitching techniques and
strategies for creating pieces that approximate a piece of cloth.

The Ndebele stitch, sometimes called Herringbone Stitch, is a loose-knit stitch that lends itself
to many creative variations. It results in a herringbone pattern, or zig-zag effect.

This Etruscan Collar Necklace consists of two overlapping strips of Ndebele Stitch, a chain embellishment, and an attached choker clasp. The strips are overlapped so that they curve slightly
along the inner edge.The challenge, here for me, was to create a sophisticated, wearable, and attractive piece that exemplified concepts about contemporizing traditional jewelry. There is considerable artistry and craftsmanship underlying Etruscan jewelry. I began to interpret and analyze this piece. I first broke it down in terms of its Traditional Components.

Contemporizing Traditional Jewelry has to do with how you take these particular traditional forms and techniques, and both add your personal style to the pieces, as well as make them more relevant to today’s sense of fashion and style. The challenge for the designer is how to keep traditional ideas essential and alive for today’s audience.

Part of the artistry of the jewelry designer has to do with the control over color. Picking colors
is about making strategic choices. And picking Bead Colors is about understanding how the bead asserts its needs for color.The jewelry designer must be strategic in the placement of color within the piece. The designer achieves balance and harmony, partly through the placement of colors. The designer determines how colors are distributed within the piece, and what movement and rhythm and effect result. And the designer determines what proportions of each color are used,
where in the piece, and how. One set of color-theories, widely used in our Etruscan Collar, employed to make these kinds of choices have to do with Simultaneity Effects. Colors in the presence of other colors get perceived differently, depending on the color combination.

What You Will Learn:
– Creating a design-plan for a layered bead woven necklace collar
– Strategically selecting a color palette, especially in reference to “simultaneity effects”
– Implementing the Ndebele Stitch using a 4mm cube and two 2mm beads to create two strips which will later overlap
– Reinforcing the Ndebele strips
– Attaching and assembling two layers of Ndebele Stitched strips using a hybrid brick stitch/ndebele stitch technique
– Weaving in a decorative chain element along the inner boundaries of the piece, using a bookbinding stitch
– Attaching a choker clasp assembly
– Some ideas about what it means to “contemporize” a traditional piece
of jewelry

Prerequisites:
– Orientation To Beads & Jewelry Findings
– Introductory Knowledge of Ndebele stitch
– An intermediate level knowledge of and experience with bead weaving

Kit Contents:
– Step by Step instructions with text, diagrams and images
– 4mm Miyuki glass cube beads, 11/0 seed beads or 11/0 delicas or 1.8mm cubes
– Swarovski crystal Series 5000 round beads, 2mm
– gold plated cable chain
– gold plated adjustable hook/eye choker clasp
– FireLine cable thread, size D
– 4ea of size #10 and size #12 beading needles
– bees wax
– Plastic case with tight lid for carrying these supplies

 

THE PALETTES:

LOOK N’SEE: http://www.warrenfeldjewelry.com/ecollar.htm

 1. Spectrum Gold

2. Brilliant Gold

3. Teal Terra/Antique Rose

4. Antique Amethyst/Sage Green


5. Antique Rose/Terra Cotta


ABOUT WARREN FELD

warrenfeldjewelry.com

The Design Perspective is the driving force that defines Warren Feld as a jewelry artist. Whether creating jewelry, teaching students theory and application, or helping jewelry and beading artists
establish themselves in business – the focus always comes back to how best to make functional, materials and aesthetic choices and tradeoffs.

Warren’s jewelry designs are characterized by multi-method approaches, intricate plays of color, contemporary adaptations of traditional pieces, and experimentation. He is adept at bead weaving, bead stringing, wire working and silver smithing. He works to bring senses of movement, dimension and sensuality to his pieces. Pieces must be both beautiful and wearable, concurrently meeting
the needs of wearer, viewer and designer alike.

In 2000, Warren founded The Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts, an educational program in Nashville, TN. In 2008, “Canyon Sunrise” necklace was selected as Finalist, 4th Place, SWAROVSKI’s Be Naturally Inspired Contest. “Little Tapestries/Ghindia” — was juried into SHOWCASE 500 BEADED
JEWELRY, Lark Publications, 2012. He is writing a jewelry design series entitled “How To Bead A Rogue Elephant.” Owner, Be Dazzled Beads, and Land of Odds (www.landofodds.com). Director, Jewelry Design Camp. Warren’s pieces are available for purchase at The Open Window Gallery, or online at www.warrenfeldjewelry.com.

Administers three international contests: The Ugly Necklace, All Dolled Up-Beaded
Art Dolls, and Illustrative Beader-Beaded Tapestries.

He is working to bring the CBJA curriculum online as LearnToBead.net.

Be Dazzled Beads is located in the Berry Hill section of Nashville, Tennessee. It is 3 miles south
of downtown, off of I-65.

Lunch Options:

The workshop will take a break for lunch. Within easy walking distance are these lunch places:

Applebees
The Yellow Porch
Sam & Zoes
Baja Burrito
Subway
Kebab Gyro Shop
Pizza Hut
Wendy’s
Calypso Cafe
Pfunky Griddle
Firehouse Subs
Logans Steak House
Monell’s
Jersey Mikes
Cheeseburger Charlies
Einstein Bagel
Panda Express
Panera’s Bread Company

Lodging:
If you are coming from out of town, the closest motels are
La Quinta Inn (Sidco Drive near Harding Place and I-65)
Red Roof Inn (Sidco Drive near Hading Place and I-65)

There are additional motels 1 exit further south on I-65 on Old Hickory Blvd in Brentwood.

JEWELRY
DESIGN CAMP 

October 2013

Session
I: Contemporizing Traditional Etruscan Jewelry

Sun,
10/6/13 thru Sat, 10/12/13

Session
II: Fringe, Edge, Strap, Bail, Surface Embellishment in Jewelry — Art
or Not?

Sun,
10/13/13 thru Sat, 10/19/13

 Immerse
yourself into a week-long study of jewelry design theories, and their
applications and manipulations with various materials, techniques and
strategies.
CENTER
FOR BEADWORK & JEWELRY ARTS
WARREN
FELD JEWELRY
BE
DAZZLED BEADS

 

Posted in beadwork, jewelry design | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Posted by learntobead on July 3, 2012

PRESS RELEASE:  7/3/12
Winner and Runner-Up Announced
2012 The Ugly Necklace Contest!
– A Jewelry Design Competition With A Twist

 

 

And the Winner is…..

 

 

Land of Odds, Be Dazzled Beads, The Open Window Gallery, and The Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts are proud to announce the Winner and Runner-Up in this year’s The Ugly Necklace Contest, 2012!

 

The Winner of The Ugly Necklace Contest – the Jewelry Designer who demonstrated exceptional jewelry design skills by creating The Ugliest Necklace in the America and the rest of the World in the year 2012, and the winner of a $992.93 shopping spree on the Land of Odds web-site  (www.landofodds.com) is :

 

Joan Veres
Norwood, NY
“From My Garden Of The Sea Rim”

 

The Runner-Up in The Ugly Necklace Contest — the Jewelry Designer who also displayed obvious design talents by creating the 2nd Ugliest Necklace in America and the rest of the World in the year 2012, and the winner of a $399.07 shopping spree on the Land of Odds web-site  is:

 

Pamela Orians
Zanesville, OH
“From My Garden Of Fun”
 

 

 

 

 

It’s not easy doing Ugly!

 

So our hats are off, and we offer loud applause to Joan Veres and Pamela Orians.   These beadwork and jewelry artists have demonstrated their commendable design skills. They have been judged, from among 17 entrants from across America, Dubai, Great Britain, and South Korea, by a distinguished panel of four judges from The Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts in Nashville, Tennessee, and voted on by visitors to the Land of Odds web-site.

 

It’s difficult to design an ugly piece of jewelry because your mind and your eye won’t let you go there.    As research into color and design has shown, your eye compensates for imbalances in color or design component relationships – it tries to correct and harmonize them.   You are pre-wired to subconsciously avoid anything that is disorienting, disturbing or distracting.   

 

To view additional images of the necklaces submitted by the winner, runner up and the other semi-finalists of The Ugly Necklace Contest, please visit us here on-line.

 

And if you are in the Nashville area, please stop by Be Dazzled Beads, where the 8 selected Ugly Necklaces are on display through September 15th.

 

Posted in Contests, jewelry design | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

LARK PUBLICATIONS: Call For Entries

Posted by learntobead on June 10, 2012

LARK PUBLICATIONS
CALL FOR ENTRIES
8/1/2012 deadline
I received the following email from Ray Hemachandra of Lark Publications. They are
requesting submissions to possible be included ina book to be published called Showcase
500 Necklaces. -- Warren
"I'm pleased to announce a two-month call for entries for a new 500 Series gallery book of handmade contemporary jewelry from Lark Books: Showcase 500 Necklaces. The opportunity closes on August 1, 2012. That is a short window of time, so I ask you please to share the call for entries promptly with your entire jewelry-making community, including peers, associations, schools, students, and all online forums as well as social media like Twitter and Facebook, and to respond to it yourself in a timely way. As always, we hope to receive a wide array of entries from around the world. I'm also pleased to report Lark has converted to using an online entry system; entries are now online only, through a portal provided by Juried Art Services. Here is the link for the informational prospectus and to enter: http://bit.ly/NmsmQm


You'll find all the information you need at that link, so please follow the instructions carefully, but here are some key points: We'll accept jewelry in all materials with all techniques and design styles, including both wearable and conceptual but biasing toward the wearable, simply because most readers prefer seeing wearable jewelry in these books. Jurying will favor more recent work, and so we ask you to submit very recent or current work from no earlier than 2010. The submission limit is two pieces (one photo of each, with an option of one or two alternate or detail photos per piece). 'Necklaces' can include neckpieces, chokers, torques, collars, operas, ropes, chains, bibs, etc. There is no charge for entry for this book; Lark is covering the Juried Art Services cost. We strongly prefer work that has not been previously published in book form. The JAS form will walk you through the process, but a few notes: 1. No need to complete the Artist Statement section. 2. Please read and follow Lark's Digital Image Submission Guidelines. 3. We encourage early entries, especially to avoid having any last-minute difficulties with the new entry process: Complete the process ahead of the deadline so you're assured of having time to resolve any technical issues you might encounter. For questions about registering with Juried Art Services or uploading your material to the site, contact support@jurying.net. For other questions about the book, please direct them to Hannah Doyle at hannah@larkbooks.com. And please be sure to join Lark Jewelry & Beading on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LarkJewelryBeading for updates and future calls for entries. We invite you to copy the web ad for the book at http://www.larkcrafts.com/submit/calls-for-submissions/ for your own website or blog, or to share it on your Facebook page, linking either to that link or to the JAS page at http://bit.ly/NmsmQm, whichever you prefer. We are very excited about this book, the third jewelry book since the 500 series evolved into 'Showcase 500'. Showcase 500 Rings (http://amzn.to/yEERZm ) just published in May, and Showcase 500 Beaded Jewelry (http://amzn.to/z6tZH2) will publish in August. We know Showcase 500 Necklaces will be a book devoted to work of creative excellence and innovation, and we invite and welcome your contribution to the book. Thank you very much. Sincerely, Ray Join us on Facebook: facebook.com/LarkJewelryBeading Follow us on Pinterest: pinterest.com/larkjewelry Ray Hemachandra Team Lead and Business Manager Lark Jewelry & Beading 67 Broadway Asheville, North Carolina 28801 (828) 253-0467 ext. 762 ray@larkbooks.com
http://www.larkcrafts.com/jewelry-beading"

Posted in bead weaving, beads, beadwork, jewelry design, jewelry making | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

Posted by learntobead on May 30, 2012

PRESS RELEASE –5/31/12
TOPIC:

OnLine Voting Begins!
9th International 2012 The Ugly Necklace Contest
– A Jewelry Design Competition With A Twist

Eight Jewelry Artists from around the world have been selected as Semi-Finalists of The 9th International 2012 The Ugly Necklace Contest – A Jewelry Design Competition With A Twist, by a panel of four judges from The Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts and Land of Odds.

Vote Online for your favorites, and help determine who will win the Grand Prize – a $992.93 shopping spree on the Land of Odds web-site (http://www.landofodds.com). Runner Up Prize: $399.07 shopping spree. Voting Ends June 30th, 2012

More details and images on-line at:
http://www.landofodds.com/store/ugly9contest.htm

 

Our 2012 Semi-Finalists Announced:

Nivya Raju, Dubai, United Arab Emerates


Juli Brown, Wells, Minnesota
 

Joan Veres, Norwood, New York
 

 


Corrine Zephier, Kyle, South Dakota

Lynn Margaret Davy, Dorset, United Kingdom
 

 

 

 


Pamela Orians, Zanesville, Ohio
 

 

 


Quisha Saunders, Atlanta, Georgia

 


Brenda Donaldson, Mesa, Arizona

 

 

Synopsis:
It’s not easy to do Ugly!

So the many jewelry designers from across America and around the Globe who entered our 9th International 2012 The Ugly Necklace Contest — A Jewelry Design Competition With A Twist , found this contest especially challenging. After all, your brain is pre-wired to avoid and reject things which are ugly. Think of snakes and spiders. And even if you start your necklace with a bunch of ugly pieces, once you organize them into a circle, the very nature of an ordered round form makes it difficult to achieve Ugly. Yes, “Ugly” is easier said than done.
Who will win? We need the public’s help to influence our panel of judges.

Our respected judges evaluated these creatively-designed pieces in terms of hideousness, use of materials and clasp, the number of jewelry design principles violated, and the designer’s artistic control. Extra points were awarded for artists’ use of smaller beads, because it’s much more difficult to do Ugly with these.

Now it’s time for America and the World to help finalize the decision about which of these 8 semi-finalists’ Ugly Necklaces to vote for. The winner will truly be an exceptional jewelry designer. The losers….well….this isn’t a contest where you really can “lose”.

Come see these and the other semi-finalists’ pieces at www.landofodds.com, and vote your choice for the Ugliest Necklace, 2012.

And if you are in the Nashville, Tennessee area, please stop by The Open Windows Gallery (fine art jewelry) at Be Dazzled Beads, where the 8 semi-finalists’ Ugly Necklaces are on display through September 15, 2012.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
LAND OF ODDS
Attention: Warren Feld
www.landofodds.com
718 Thompson Lane, Ste 123, Nashville, TN 37204
Phone: 615-292-0610; Fax: 615-460-7001
Email: warren@landofodds.com

ABOUT UGLY NECKLACES

The UGLY NECKLACE CONTEST (www.landofodds.com/store/uglynecklace.htm) is a jewelry design competition with a twist. The contest presents a challenge not often tackled — at least intentionally. The contest draws the jewelry designer into an alternative universe where beautiful artists create ugly necklaces. It’s not easy to do.

“Ugly” is more involved than simple surface treatment. It is not just laying out a bunch of ugly parts into a circle. It turns out that “Ugly” is something more than that. “Ugly” is the result of the interplay among Designer, Wearer, and Viewer. “Ugly” is very much a result of how a necklace is designed and constructed. “Ugly” is something the viewer actively tries to avoid and move away from. “Ugly” has deep-rooted psychological, cognitive, perceptual, sociological and anthropological functions and purposes.

As research into color and design has shown, your eye and brain compensate for imbalances in color or in the positioning of pieces and objects – they try to correct and harmonize them. They try to neutralize anything out of place or not quite right. You are pre-wired to subconsciously avoid anything that is disorienting, disturbing or distracting. Your mind and eye won’t let you go here. This is considered part of the fear response, where your brain actively attempts to avoid things like snakes and spiders…. and ugly necklaces.

This means that jewelry designers, if they are to create beautiful, wearable art, have to be more deeply involved with their pieces beyond “surface”. Or their pieces will be less successful, thus less beautiful, thus more disturbing or distracting or disorienting, thus more Ugly.  Luckily, for the jewelry designer, we are pre-wired to avoid these negative things. This makes it easier to end up with pieces that look good. Beauty, in some sense, then, is very intuitive. On the other hand, it makes it more difficult to end up with pieces that look bad. You see, Ugly goes against our nature. It’s hard to do.

The Ugly Necklace Contest is one of the many programs at The Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts in Nashville, Tennessee, that encourage beadwork and jewelry makers to test their design skills, have fun, and learn some fundamentals about jewelry design in the process.
To add your name to our email list associated with The Ugly Necklace Contest,
send an email to: oddsian@landofodds.com
and Write “Ugly Necklace Email List” in the subject line.
Sponsors:
Land of Odds www.landofodds.com,
Phone: 615-292-0610; Email :warren@landofodds.com
Land of Odds provides bead and jewelry making artists with virtually all their beads, supplies, books and jewelry findings needs, with over 35,000 products. Retail/Discounts/Wholesale.

Be Dazzled Beads www.bedazzledbeads.com
Nashville’s premier bead store.

Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts www.landofodds.com/beadschool/
Educating beaders and jewelry makers in the Design Perspective.

Other Programs at Land of Odds:
ALL DOLLED UP: Beaded Art Doll Competition
www.landofodds.com/store/alldolledup.htm

JEWELRY DESIGN CAMP
www.warrenfeldjewelry.com/jewelrydesigncamp/

Learn To Bead Blog
Start your education with our ORIENTATION TO BEADS & JEWELRY FINDINGS
http://blog.landofodds.com

Posted in beadwork, Contests, jewelry design, jewelry making | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

Piece accepted for inclusion 500 BEADED JEWELRY book

Posted by learntobead on February 8, 2012

Just found out that one of my pieces — Little Tapestries/Ghindia — was juried into the book SHOWCASE 500 BEADED JEWELRY, Lark Publications. The book comes out August 2012, but is already listed on Amazon.com at http://amzn.to/z6tZH2 .

From Amazon.com:

This book gathers photographs of 500 of the most breathtaking beaded jewelry designs created in recent years. The techniques the beaders employ are as varied as the aesthetic sensibilities they bring to their gorgeous creations and include beadweaving in every stitch imaginable, embroidery, quilling, loom weaving, and kumihimo braiding, as well as basic stringing, simple wirework, and fine metalwork. Sometimes, a bead maker’s focal piece simply is set in a straightforward, unpretentious, and beautiful design.

 

Virtually all of the world’s most famous beaders who make jewelry have pieces included — including Carol Wilcox Wells, Diane Fitzgerald, Marcia DeCoster, Jamie Cloud Eakin, Huib Petersen, Paulette Baron, Sabine Lippert, Sherry Serafini, Margie Deeb, Maggie Meister, Melanie Potter, Ann Tevepaugh Mitchell, Laura McCabe, Suzanne Golden, Jean Campbell, Rachel Nelson-Smith, Eva Dobos, and many more — but we also present work from many artists who have never been published before. All together, this extensive, international, and fabulous survey of 500 pieces includes work from nearly 300 artists from 30 countries and reveals the striking vision and ambition of today’s beading community.

Posted in beads, beadwork, jewelry design | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

THE BEAD STRINGER AND THE CLIENTS

Posted by learntobead on December 10, 2011

THE BEAD STRINGER AND THE CLIENTS

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… 

Posted in jewelry design | Leave a Comment »

Was Freedom Enough?

Posted by learntobead on November 14, 2011

Excerpt from column 
HOW TO BEAD A ROGUE ELEPHANT

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….

Posted in jewelry design, jewelry making | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Read THE DESIGNERS GAZETTE, Fall 2011

Posted by learntobead on November 8, 2011

LAND OF ODDS – JEWELRY DESIGN CENTER

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

Posted in jewelry design, Stitch 'n Bitch | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

The DESIGN PERSPECTIVE

Posted by learntobead on November 3, 2011

The DESIGN Perspective
On Beading and Jewelry Making

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!

Posted in jewelry design | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Ara Kuo

Posted by learntobead on October 25, 2011

Ara Kuo
http://www.arakuo.com/

 

 

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.

Posted in jewelry design | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Robert Ebendorf – Mixed Media

Posted by learntobead on October 25, 2011

Robert Ebendorf – Mixed Media Jewelry Artist

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.

 

 

Posted in jewelry design | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Asagi Maeda – Art Jewelry

Posted by learntobead on October 25, 2011

Asagi Maeda – Art 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.

Posted in jewelry design | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

Daniel Porter Stevens – Metal Smith

Posted by learntobead on October 25, 2011

Daniel Porter Stevens – Metal Smith
http://www.danielporterstevens.com/

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.

 

Posted in jewelry design | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

Creative Mentoring – Andrea Rosenfeld

Posted by learntobead on October 25, 2011

Creative Mentoring – Andrea Rosenfeld

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.

 

 

Articles to Grow By

 

~OPEN STUDIO~

 

 

Broadcast Louder helps Artists supercharge their creative business, starting them on the path to more visibility and more sales

Playing it Safe in Your Studio

Time Management Strategies That Play Nice

Marketing your Art Business using Retail and Wholesale Sneezers and Brand Advocates

10-Tips to Stay Organized and Increase Creativity

Are You Vibrating Yet? Here’s Why You Should Flip Your “ON” Switch

Are you an Expert or an Experimenter? Your sales strategy depends on your answer

Is Your Website Scaring People Away?

Visual Art Copyrighting Basics

Looking For Trade Show Stories For Upcoming Article (Interactive Article)

How to Create a Healthy Relationship With Money to Gain More

Dear Creative – DON’T do-it-yourself!

Should You Create Art or Create to Sell?

Court Your Stores

Dear Creative, Don’t Do It Yourself

Who is Your Customer, Who Are You?

Would You Dance? *how do you handle adversity?

Look Up! You’re Missing Life! 

Five Important Things to Know Before Doing a Store Show 

Collaboration is KEY to Artistic Growth 

Why We Need Art 

Tips a Jewelry Artist Can Use to Survive the Economy (or any Creative, for that matter) 

 

~VISITING CREATIVE AUTHORS~

WordPress for Beginners

WordPress for the Savvy

WordPress: Who’s Sharing Your Content and Increase Blog Performance

Ready for wholesale? Find out with this MUST-HAVE Checklist

Grow Your Business Through Charitable Giving

Tips For Running a Successful Small Business Publicity Campaign

Why You Should Join Local Art Associations to Increase Your Art Business

How to Bounce Back from Disappointment and Manage Your Thoughts

Jewelry Artist’s Guide to Diamond Buying (Part One- Beginner)

 

 

 

Posted in business of craft, jewelry design, jewelry making | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

Posted by learntobead on October 25, 2011

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
Online International Jewelry Exhibit
55 artists

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

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in jewelry design | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »