MAKING BEADS

I've been making a few beads for the holiday season. Each sterling silver bead is photo etched and reverses to a different pattern. Just wanted to share.

AFTER THE SHOW

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It's been just over a week since the jewelry event at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts and I wanted to share some images from the show. It was a grand day and evening....visiting with the other jewelers....having an opportunity to talk about my work .... explaining what a FIBULA is....dinner with friends....and a gallery packed with people for ART WALK.


I had a good time creating my display. I own several hands....two wooden articulated artist model hands and several vintage glove mold hands. Being a craftsman and working with tools all the time I have realized that my best tools come in a right and left version....my hands. They do almost everything I ask of them. I knew I wanted to show some of the tools of the trade....hammers....dapping blocks and punches....small pliers....jewelry saws with their tiny blades, etc....but I also wanted to honor hands.


When you are creating a new body of work....alone in the studio with no immediate feedback....it's not always easy to know if you are on the right track. I was pleased to receive such a warm response and interest in my newly created jewelry. The next morning a friend sent me a link and said, "Have you seen this?" The link was to the Bainbridge Arts and Crafts blog and the title of the post was SCHMOOZING WITH SHANE....what a fun surprise.


5 BEAD NECKLACE (handmade sterling silver photo etched beads)


STERLING SILVER FIBULA (handmade photo etched beads)


FIBULA (with purchased beads)


3 BEAD ORGANIC SHAPES NECKLACE (sterling silver photo etched beads)


PERCEPTION NECKPIECE (sterling silver, mica, vintage photo)

SCHMOOZING WITH THE JEWELERS

Bainbridge Arts and Crafts has put together a unique event. On Friday, April 6th, I will be one of six jewelers who will be at the BAC gallery from noon until after FIRST FRIDAY'S ART WALK....about 8pm. We, the jewelers, will be talking about our newest work and, in some cases, demonstrating. It is a great opportunity for the public to be able to ask questions and see the different processes involved for each jeweler. On both Saturday and Sunday their will be 6 different jewelry artists. Participating jewelers include...Joanna Beachy, Kristin Carman, Annie Huntley, Poppy Knopf, Carolynn Lancaster, Julia Lowther, Barbe Martin, Michele McCarter, Shane Miller (that's me), Shirley Moss, James Powell, Glynn Schultz, Lisa Ronay and Passiko True.

YOU CAN CLICK ON THIS IMAGE TO SEE A LARGER VERSION.

Here is my artist statement for this jewelry exhibition.
"I am drawn to texture and pattern...whether that be found in the collective round holes of a wasp nest...the steel grid on a man hole cover...the white dots against black on a guinea feather...or the designs found inside a security envelope. Through the process of photo etching I am able to translate these patterns and many others on to sterling silver.

The sterling silver beads in this exhibition are new for me. They began as bits and pieces of etched silver that I had saved from other projects. Most of these 'scrap' pieces were too small to use in any of my typical jewelry designs. What started as bits of metal...housed in a yogurt container and destined for a trip to the refinery...became small silver nuggets in the form of a bead... small enough to nest in one's palm...coin like...my new currency."