Blog > July 2007
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
I love spinning tops especially the vintage metal kind with the handle you can pump up and down to make the tin body whir and spin. If you don't know what I'm talking about, they look a lot like these shiny, stacked button "knob" rings by Portland, Oregon's Ruth Ross. Though they look quite serious here, posed stately against a dark background, her site is fun and full of playful pieces worth checking out!
Another Portland artist working with buttons is Tay MacIntyre of Twirl Studio. I love this vintage glass piece (left, US$230); the bowl rings, like this stacked one (right, US$110) are also fun.
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Even more jewellery:
- Lotte Kohl Lauritzen (Denmark) - ceramic
- Maslodesign (Charleston, SC) - vintage-like pretties
- Lynne Murray (Scotland) - weird & colourful
Monday, July 30, 2007
ByUs is a collective of eight Danish jewellers with modern, experimental sensibilities. I've posted some of them here before but there's plenty of new stuff to see! Pictured above, clockwise from top: work by Karin Pinnerup (glass), Hanan Emquies (rubber) and Mikala Mortensen (silver); the rest of the octet are Kirsten Ellemose, Ditte Marie Jakobsen (don't miss her inside-the-shirt brooches), Annette Dam, Lene Hald and Marie-Louise Kristensen.
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Even more jewellery:
- Micki Whelan (Warwick, RI) - clean & modern
- Amy Chan (UK) - colour pods
- Arianne Jeannot (San Francisco) - modern charms
Friday, July 27, 2007
Proudly displaying her flabby skin is Austria's Ursula Guttmann. So refreshing, in this age of diamond solitaires that you just know have had tons of work done. This latex and Swarovski schwabbelhaut ("flabby skin") ring is one of a series of body-conscious pieces by this artist. Also notable are her acrylic rings meant to encase a head-to-toe photo of one's partner.
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Even more jewellery:
- Cursive Design (Chicago) - lace & hardware
- Arena CPH (Denmark) - classic but fun
- LA Chana Charms (Hollywood) - crocfish & bunnybirds
Thursday, July 26, 2007
These rings look like they jumped right out of classic 1950s educational film A is for Atom. If you squint, the one in the upper right even looks a bit like a nuclear reactor... no? (May I suggest you squint harder?) These polymer inlay rings by North Carolina's Mary Filapek and Lou Ann Townsend (or, simply, Mary and Lou Ann) were inspired by their interest in chemistry, physics, outer space and other such realms.
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Even more jewellery:
- Kitty Fisher (Australia) - colourful acrylic
- Kirsten Sander (UK) - men's and women's steel
- Dish Designs (New York) - semiprecious clusters
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
It's like a family of rings decided to dress up as chess pieces for Hallowe'en! How charming. (I think the one on the far right has to be the knight, unless the one on the left's riding a five-legged horse.) These gold-lined, sterling silver ball rings are the work of Cambridge, Massachusetts' Joe Wood. These days, the MassArt metals professor does much of his design work using modelling software; check his site for those pieces as well as striking work in enamelled copper from earlier years.
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Even more jewellery:
- Edith Schneider (Palo Alto, CA) - wire & metalwork
- Emma Gale (UK) - modern & ethereal
- Rebecca Ward (Australia) - seaglass & pencils
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
On a recent flight, I watched one of those "How Things Are Made" videos. The topic? Toothpicks. It's actually a tad more involved than you'd think just not in any way that could possibly be construed as interesting. If only they'd focussed on fancy plastic ones like those pictured above; at least the video would've had some colour in its cheeks. Resin and copper rings from the "Bows and Arrows" series by Pittsburgh artist Lindsay Huff.
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Even more jewellery:
- Tilly Bloom (Scotland) - shrinkydink illustrations
- Emiko Oye (San Francisco) - colourful lego combos
- Caerau Metals (Wales) - modern metalsmiths
Monday, July 23, 2007
Sometimes, I just need to shut up and let Germany's Brune & Wöhlke do the talking.
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Even more jewellery:
- Tanvi Kant (UK) - fabric & porcelain
- Holly Yashi (Arcata, CA) - colourful niobium
- Wendy Hacker (Santa Monica, CA) - metal mesh flowers
Friday, July 20, 2007
You know that old joke about Basketweaving 101? Turns out, maybe that class wouldn't have been such a bad career move. Ralph Bakker, who says he can be "fascinated by a plain linkchain," fascinates me with his display of woven circle jewellery. The Dutch goldsmith uses traditional weaving techniques to create these interlocking beauties.
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Even more jewellery:
- Dani M (Australia) - playful felt & porcelain
- Leah Pauline (Philadelphia) - bold & asymmetrical
- The Branch (UK) - modern wood & silver
Thursday, July 19, 2007
"Could a ring be large enough to become a stage? From this notion, [we] set out to make the largest ring possible." So say New Zealand's Karen Chan and Ronald Andreassend of Chan Andreassend. The duo makes resin rings incorporating materials from "ancient cultures" (e.g. grass, feathers and bristles), then adds resin display stands for handy storage, turning the pieces into miniature sculptures.
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Even more jewellery:
- Sarah Lindsay (London) - bright & airy acrylic
- Skipping Lilies (Minneapolis) - pressed flowers
- At-Choo (Los Angeles) - engraved silver
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Bebe, Cece, Deedee, Fifi, Gigi, Kiki, Leelee, Mimi... why are all these two-letter names reserved for girls (or poodles), until you hit J.J., which sounds rather more masculine? Just another one of life's mindblowing mysteries, I suppose. Of course, I've got doubles on my mind thanks to New York jeweller Vivi Sun and her fabulous double rings made from silver and richly-hued resin. The speckles really make the rings!
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Even more jewellery:
- Erika Peña (Fort Myers, FL) - flashy lucite
- Sydney Lynch (Lincoln, NE) - nice dots & lines
- Karen Adams (UK) - silver domes
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Though I live in fear of those pointy-faced, dead-eyed, armless, soul-less creatures you like to call "birds," I remain powerless in the face of bird rings even if that face is pointy and dead-eyed, and (as pictured here) turned away from the camera 75% of the time. These pieces, by Washington state's Rebecca Bashara, are notable not only for the sculptural quality of the birds but also the detailing in the bands.
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Even more jewellery:
- Blue Wild Indigo (San Francisco) - clean, bright & modern
- Beppe Kessler (Netherlands) - organic art
- Andrea Montgomery (Houston, TX) - gold & briolettes
Monday, July 16, 2007
How can something made of lace and wool look so darn tasty? (Save me if I ever get a hankering for cardboard.) While these bonbon-like rings couldn't look more Parisian if they were chewing on a fresh baguette, they are residents of the UK specifically, the studio of artist Suzanne Smith.
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Even more jewellery:
- Maximal Art (Aston, PA) - Parisian charms
- Bijoux Mouret (France) - enamel
- Anais Jewelry (Singapore) - gold & gemstones
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Just a quickie weekend post to celebrate the latest collection from Montreal duo Melissa Matos and Lenny Pier Ramos, aka Powerhaus. They now have rings! These draping chains have all the hallmark drama that makes them such a favourite of mine. CAD$120-$130, which, these days, is pretty much the same in USD.
Friday, July 13, 2007
With a single feather and a shard of shattered mirror, Cara Tilker can meet your accessorizing needs for both National Down Pillow Appreciation Day and Friday the 13th. Working in San Diego under the name C.linea, the artist encases objects in plastic and resin to transform "the mundane to the magical." Shanked with nickel guitar wire, these rings are US$34 each.
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Even more jewellery:
- Gemma Redux (New York) - dripping chains
- Vivienne Jones (Toronto) - contemporary metalwork
- Janine Barnsley (UK) - bold, hammered silver
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Signet rings: usually a bit too "Jostens!" for my taste, but these lions and pirates and chairs? Oh my we're not at a Kansas college homecoming anymore. Personalized rings by Germany's Code Royal, most ranging from €700 to €800.
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Even more jewellery:
- Angus & Celeste (Australia) - printed porcelain
- Ayesha Studio (New York) - matte gold
- Jeri Changar (St. Louis) - fused glass
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
While I wait for my head to fully return from Europe, please enjoy the work of Denmark's Lisbeth Nordskov. A talented metalsmith, she also dabbles in the smithing of other materials, such as rubber (pictured here) and computer wire.
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Even more jewellery:
- Rachel Gogerly (UK) - enamel
- Batucada (France) - lasercut rubber
- Tataborello (Italy) - pretty balls