Clear Metals

Into the Void and Out Again: Remarkable Reappearances

2012-01-25T10:29:00.000-05:00

It’s amazing to me when I get attached to something that is embarrassingly unnecessary in my life. Something that is superfluous. But is it?

We all have attachments to things that are considered a luxury or even a vanity. But the interesting thing about jewelry is that we wear it so intimately and often with great personal reflective meaning. It becomes a part of our body, our talisman, and our persona. It comes into our lives and then poof it’s gone. Where did it go? How can I go on without it?

When I was 16 and scavenging through my mother’s jewelry drawer, I came upon a small rose gold Figa the size of a bean. She and my father had lived in Brazil for 10 years and this amulet in the shape of a small clenched fist was considered good luck and frequently pinned to the baby blanket of a newborn for protection. With her blessing, I became the new owner of this Figa which I wore on a single gold hoop for over 20 years. With a surprising lack of observation on my part, the jump ring above the Figa wore through (reference Blog “Can This Be Repaired? 2/3/08) and the little clenched fist dropped from my earring into oblivion. I was panic-stricken: was I no longer protected, doomed to a bout of bad luck? I searched everywhere for my little talisman and gave up knowing that it had found it’s way back into the void. I never really recovered from that loss and blamed all current my misfortune on that missing Figa. 5 years later I moved into a larger space. I unrolled and laid out a black oriental rug in my studio that had been in storage for many years. As I was talking on the phone one day, I glanced into the central medallion of that rug and there was my Figa, sparkling in the sunlight in the very central “rose” of the medallion. I could not believe my eyes. And I could not believe that it coincided with the death of my mother.

Over the holidays, Cynthia was visiting her family in Vermont. I’ve been with C’s family for Christmas dinner, so I know it is a lavish event with fine china and linens that hold court with the smorgasbord of gourmet delights. The day after Christmas Cynthia called me trying to contain the panic in her voice: “I’ve lost BOTH of my pinky rings”. She was distraught with this loss that seemed to mirror other losses in her life on so many levels. This is what we do: attach meaning. If I’ve lost this, what else will or has disappeared from my life?

How many times have I received these phone calls or lost something I loved as seemingly silly as a piece of jewelry? The answer is many, many times. But I have a secret I will share with you. I think that the jewelry I make is infused with such love and good intentions that not only will a lost piece of jewelry fall into the void, but it just might find it’s way out and back to you.

The next day Cynthia called to tell me that she’d found one of her rings in the hem of her shirt. She was on her way back to California and feared she’d never find the other one. I had already pulled some pinky rings from my stock and was getting ready to finish one for her when I received an email from her saying that her mother had shaken out the tablecloth from Christmas Dinner, put it in the wash and the dryer when she heard a ping of something metallic rolling around in the dryer. AND THERE IT WAS! The second pinky ring reappeared!

I like to think that the universe reclaims items when they fall into the void. Their time with you is up, or is it? The seasons change; things come and they go. One minute they’re here, the next minute there gone. Don’t Panic, it’s the natural order of things. What is taken away is replaced. Perhaps you are next on the list for a remarkable reappearance.

Sentimental Journeys

2011-11-08T15:17:00.000-05:00

Often the paths of our lives take a varied route. As Heidi says, "one minute you're IN and the next minute you're OUT". We've all been there.

A broken relationship and leftovers from our deceased relatives all contribute to the feelings that become attached to our jewelry, the iconic representations of so much emotion ripe with meaning.

Have you ever wondered how you could wear that ring again or dispel the "bad vibes" that become embedded in these small works of art? There are several things you can do.

First, you can take out the stones of a piece of jewelry, sell the metal and have it crafted into another piece of jewelry. But the stones retain energy. There is an energy that is held and emitted in metal and stones. Of course you realize this because stones and metal have been used as electrical conductors for centuries. Diamonds and crystal can transmit light and when focused on a piece of paper, even start a fire. Stones and metal are used as electrical transmitters in electronics.

In 1985 I studied the healing properties of stones with a Psychic. I learned that each stone carries vibrational wavelengths that can contain healing properties. For example, Amethyst (in the quartz family) is a stone, which can strengthen the endocrine and immune systems. It can provide purification and regeneration on all levels of consciousness. I believe that if you are attracted to a certain stone, it has specific healing properties, which are attuned to you.

Other than having your jewelry ripped apart and re-designed with your stones, I often tell my clients to practice this exercise I learned from the Psychic. Place your stones or jewelry in a bowl of sea salt directly in the sunlight for one week. Create conscious visions every time you see that bowl and imagine the pieces draining the bad energy and re-charging anew with the pure light of the sun.

Recharge, regenerate and recreate. What else is there?

Biting the Bullet

2011-09-23T10:14:00.002-04:00

Bite the Bullet.

I’d take a bullet for you.

The saying started during the Civil War, when injured soldiers were given a lead bullet to bite upon during surgery without the benefit of anesthesia.

Ouch.

Lately, things are tough all over and all my friends are wondering when it will end. Things are different now. The struggle continues with little sign of letting up, but my personal viewpoint is that “things can always be worse”. I mean, look around, there’s always someone who is struggling more and suffering harder.

Where are you on the scale of 1 to 10?

I discovered “bullet stones” in the 90’s and have always been drawn to them. The bullet-shaped stone mimics the shape of a gun bullet. I‘ve always loved guns. I love the machinery of them, the mechanics, the design. I especially love vintage revolvers.

I don’t tell many people this because everyone I know is a pacifist. I like guns for guns, it’s the people who use them that I distrust.

I designed my first bullet charms years ago. I like the ironic contrast of the dark with the light, the need for the good with the bad. This is what they represent for me. And in honor of today's Fall Equinox, where there is an equal amount of light and dark, all the balance is elusive. Everyone bites the bullet occasionally.

Just shoot from the heart, it’s bound to work out.

What is a Black Heart?

2011-04-19T11:34:00.000-04:00

Does Joan Jett have one? Or is Blackheart the fictional demon in the Marvel Comics Universe, the character created by Ann Nocenti and John Romita, Jr.,

To me it is the image of rebirth that ties to the Greek mythology of Persephone: As the Goddess of Springtime and Rebirth, she is eternally connected to the cycles of the earth, which lies barren in her absence and bloom again each spring with her return. And her initiatory experience in the realm of the dead is such a powerful experience that it changes her life forever. It is after this transformation that we remember her most for her role as the Greek Goddess of the Underworld.

Out of the tunnel of darkness comes light. Note the sparkle on this black drusy quartz necklace. This gold charm is created to represent the light at the end of darkness, the glimmer and hint of a better future as spring begins her awakening.

Sparkle, glimmer and begin anew! Ahhhh, spring is in the air.

Art to Wear

2011-01-26T17:45:00.000-05:00

ArtWear, 1981

I first saw Artwear while I was schlepping a suitcase full of jewelry that I had made around SoHo. I was looking for other jewelry artists and their studios, hoping to find somewhere that I could pull up a chair to a bench and work. I had no money yet I was imagining that I could clean someone’s studio in exchange for bench time.

The large windows caught my attention from across the street and I was pulled to the store like a magnet. I stood outside, afraid to enter such a wonderful, beautiful, intimidating world. I’d never before seen such interesting metal work displayed as art. Art to Wear. Artwear. “What IS this place?” I wondered. It wasn’t long before I began to hear about Robert Lee Morris. He was the first jewelry designer to educate us to think of jewelry outside of the box. Robert created this concept of Art to Wear. I felt as though I had found a kindred spirit whom I didn’t even know. He created a magical and wondrous world of which I wanted to be a part.

It wasn’t long before I heard through the grapevine that Robert held “open Sundays” at ArtWear and this is how they worked: A hopeful jewelry designer would stand in line with samples in hand and have a look-see with Robert. It was formal. The line was long and no one really talked. I was nerve-wracked and overwhelmed. Next thing I knew it was my turn and Robert was very silent and very tall. He looked at my work intently, turning it in his hands and peering at every detail, every flaw. At the time, I had been working freelance for Carlos Falchi, collecting scraps of leather in pinks, blues, reds and black. I would sew the skins together, stuff them with trapunto and rivet shapes of copper and silver with semi-precious gemstones onto these creations to make large gauntlets, cuffs and belts. I would engrave the metal with “graffiti” symbols I had picked up from the streets of the East Village. These pieces were true Testaments to the 80’s.

Robert suggested quietly but firmly that I should do this, change that. He looked at me and never smiled. He said I could come back once I had made these changes and meet with him again. I left, crushed. I went back to my studio and stomped around for a bit. I didn’t get it, this was MY vision! After a week of this I realized he had insight and I made these changes. Another open Sunday session and he greeted my effort with a clap of his hands and invited me into his gallery for a collective show. I was overjoyed! This was the very first time I began to sell my work and to develop a collection. This was the beginning.

I will always credit Robert Lee Morris for raising our collective jewelry consciousness. Jewelry became Art to Wear. The art that is worn closest to the body. And by the way, thank you, Robert, for giving me my first break. It’s been the ride of a lifetime and I’ve loved every minute of it!

Elves & Fairies

2011-01-19T08:56:00.000-05:00

I first met Evie when I was 5 years old. She was my mother’s friend and she looked like an angel. Evie was 63 years old when I first met her, with a glow of blond hair piled atop her head in loose curls held in place with pronged combs and amber-colored bobby pins. Evie always wore dresses because she was a tailor and made suits from Butterick Patterns inspired by Chanel Couture. Her blouses were cut from sheer organza with pearl buttons that she wore with fancy camisoles layered underneath. I loved Evie. She was married to Ray and they lived in a small storybook cottage in Akron, Ohio. Ray was Santa Claus every year at Unity church and he looked just like Mr. Claus: a medium-set elderly man with piercing blue eyes and a mantel of graying blond hair who had a jovial laugh. These were the grandparents I never had.

Often my mother would send me off to Evie and Ray’s when she could no longer tolerate me. I would stay in the room which was Evie’s sewing room. All the colored spools of thread were arranged on a wall board according to color. Her half-sewn suits in luxurious materials were neatly folded atop her sewing machine. I would gaze out the window of this small bedroom and see the small woodlands of their backyard with neatly trimmed hedges and gardens full of violets and forget-me-nots edged with lilies of the valley. It was magical.

Evie was a beautiful, mysterious creature to me. She would often take my hand and escort me through the halls of Unity which had been the original home of one of the founders of Firestone Rubber in Akron, OH in the 1900‘s. Unity was not your average church. For one, it bought the mansion and held services there. The minister lived with his family in the coach house. Nothing had really been changed in the mansion except for the conversion of the large living room into a hall with a podium, stage and seats. The original kitchen had been converted into a small bookstore. All the other features of the mansion were in tact. These included a ballroom on the third floor, a food-service elevator that traveled 3 stories, two kitchens and a basement theatre, complete with a stage that rotated for the easy exchange of scenes. The congregation consisted of few children with an abundance of odd adults. Odd to me, that is. The teachings were metaphysical in nature in the 1960’s: biofeedback, meditation, astral projection and the belief that the Bible was symbolic and metaphorical. This attracted a small group of individuals who lived outside the box.

I would roam the halls with Evie or alone, running my hands over the smooth mahogany railings, hiding in fur closets and trying to crack the codes of two locked wall safes. Other times I wiled away the hours in the nursery, an expanse of rooms with built-in cupboards, assisting in watching my nephews.

Evie had been a professional ballet dancer in her youth. She was still graceful and beautiful but had the history of a lineage of mediums in her family. When I would stay with her, she told me not to come into her bedroom at night regardless of what I might hear. Once I heard loud groans and moans and was frightened. It sounded other-wordly. Later I found out that she was a “traveler”, one that left their body while their soul would visit far-off places. Seems her grandmother had taken such a trip and returned two weeks later, just as they were getting ready to bury her.

It was Evie who told me about the Elves and the Fairies. She would explain their habits and their powers to me while we planted the violets along the edge of her wooded garden. She would point out their habitats and leave the ground covering “just so”, with great respect for these tiny, invisible beings. I would look out the window of that little bedroom and think I saw them flying and scurrying about bathing in the morning dew.

Today I still believe in Fairies and Elves. They help me find the stones that drop in my studio in-between the floorboards. They give me the right tool at just the right time. I adore them and leave little offerings of flowers and magical gemstones in little piles all around my studio for our eyes-only.

I need these little beings. They help me make magic and dance around when I am blue and stuck in a snowdrift. Magic is a necessity of life and completes the circle, the dewdrop of creation. You often see them turning the corner, over your shoulder. They’re there, just look.

Pictured: 1.) My elf, walking to work in the snow. 2.) Little Josephine's garden Fairy House. 3.) Orange Drusy Necklace in the snow with some bits of copper ore strewn about…

The Story of the Aegis

2010-10-15T10:31:00.000-04:00

       I moved into my first store on 7th St between First Ave. and Ave A in 1984. It was a tiny storefront which was about 350 sq. feet with a raised loft area for sleeping. In no time, I had that store organized like an urban ship with a tiny showroom in the front, a workroom in the middle and a kitchen/bathroom area in the back of the shop. I slept upstairs in a loft area in which I could not stand. How can I describe this first experience of conducting business and living “on the street”. On numerous occasions, I remember the fear and vulnerability I felt upon stepping out of the bathtub and someone shaking the gates to my store, yelling, “Barbara are you in there?” Yes, but NO!
In 1984 East 7th street was a beautiful out-of-the way Ukranian neighborhood which transformed itself into a hotbed of activity in the late hours. My store, Clear Metals, was located between a funeral home and a church. There was so much local color here that gentrification was not initially welcomed. It wasn’t long before I realized I was, unknowingly, a part of that gentrification.
      When I moved into my store, the sounds of the night were disruptive and disturbing. I would hear the mumblings and rumblings of the passersby who seemed as if there were standing inside my space. It was disconcerting and a little terrifying when I began to find playing cards strewn in my entryway every morning. Upon closer inspection, I noticed they had been scribbled upon in black marker with sayings like “Out Eurotrash” and “Go Back”. Eh-oh. I was officially freaked.
      One day my friend Ilythe came to visit and I showed her the cards. She looked at them and seemed to understand. She said, “Wait, I’m going to Israel tomorrow and I will bring you back something that will make whoever is doing this, STOP.”
     Several weeks went by and the cards continued to appear. Ilythe visted again, fresh from her Israel trip and gave me a small package which was wrapped in brown paper and twine. She said, “This will protect you. Hang it where they can see it”.
     This was my first experience with the Hand of Protection. The one she gave me was about 6 inches in Blue Glass, a blob of glass with the imprint of a hand. The hand had an eye in its palm and the entire piece was weighty and about 7 inches in length with a hole in the top for hanging. I hung in near the doorway and the playing cards never appeared in my entryway again. I’ve carried that Hand of Protection with me since 1984 and displayed it in every studio, home and store I have inhabited. I feel it has enveloped me in what I call the “white light of protection.”
      In the tradition of a Mezuzah, the Hand of Fatima and any other talisman you can think of, I have called my creation the Aegis (pronounced eye--guss). It took me over a year to perfect this version of the hand and it is covered in symbology I have developed as my own personal hieroglyphs. I have carved these “glphs” into jewelry and art over the years and developed their meanings into something that is personal and initially derived from other cultures. A list of the symbols and their meanings is here.

I have always felt that I needed all the protection I could get. It’s scarey out there. I wish you the white light of protection in your life.

24k Gold

2010-09-02T08:50:00.001-04:00

Last week I had the privilege to be a student and take a class at the Jewelry Arts Institute in NYC. The class I took was in gold alloying and granulation with Jeanette Caines, a charismatic and talented goldsmith. click here for samples of Jeanette's work

When I think of alloying gold, I think of metallurgy, mystery, sacred arts, and alchemy. It all seems so magical when I melt the gold: I feel a sense of history that links me to all those goldsmiths and jewelers who came before me, especially the ones who mined gold and melted it to pour and hammer into thin sheets. I keep imagining ancient Egyptians crouched next to a stone, pounding the gold with hammers made from granite or agate.

It was a little bit of a shock when I went to buy the 24k gold in the Diamond District of NYC and looking down into the little plastic bag of gold, all I could say was: W-O-W. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”, Michael Toback said to me as I gazed upon the high-karat yellow. “ It is….But really, is that IT?” I wondered aloud as I examined the minute parcel before me. $1300 doesn’t buy you much gold these days that is for sure!

It was a wonderful few days of melting the gold with copper and silver to get 22k sheet. Pulling the wire through a draw plate, to get it thinner and thinner, taking hours, was not so fun. Cutting and melting the wire into granules was a little more fun, but the real challenge came when the gold was to be fused. The temperature to fuse and granulate is so near melting, well, what can I say, it’s a challenge.

Memento Mori

2010-04-07T12:03:00.000-04:00

Last Friday I made a brief trip into NYC to meet with Maria and Jeanette of the Jewelry Arts Institute http://www.jewelryartsinstitute.com/home.html about my Wax Carving Class on April 19th and 26th. What a fabulous school with wonderful natural light. It is clean and organized, with an abundance of tools and positive energy. I'm looking forward to this class tremendously and am hoping some of you reading this may join me for the class.

As a highlight to my trip I had my first visit to the Rubin Museum on 17th St. in the heart of Chelsea. http://www.rmanyc.org/nav/about This museum is a small gem of sensual experience. After having a lovely lunch of salad and somosas in the café, I headed into the current exhibit, "Remember That You Will Die". In contrast to our burgeoning and blossoming spring this is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. I always seem to remember this and never forget it. The last two years of my personal world has been consumed with many beautiful souls that left this planet and are living, I hope, in another eternal realm of existence. Without loss there would not be rebirth, this is the extreme and the beautiful. And so goes this exhibit. Although the Rubin Museum specializes in art from the Himalayas and surrounding regions, the "Remember" exhibit features art and art objects from both Christian European and Tibetan Buddhist artistic traditions. "These provocative works of art are meant to startle viewers out of apathy, urge them to contemplate their mortality, and inspire them to use their short time on earth to secure a desirable place in the afterlife."

I urge you to visit this exhibit. If you see it, you will have a key into my imagination where I see skull imagery as a positive and real human experience. Those readers who know me, know that I have been obsessed with death and rebirth imagery for years (and so has mankind). The pieces, which caught my attention most, were a silver Skull Pocket Watch (Europe, 1701-1900) and the "Memento Mori of General Wallenstein" (Bohemia, 1750-1850) pictured. This show is dramatic, thrilling and scary in a good way. You will leave inspired and full of reflection.

As you experience the joy and energy of rebirth this spring, take a moment to contemplate the end, which is also the beginning. And know that without the Cosmic Joker there would be no Tinkerbelle.

Peace & Love, BK http://clearmetals.com/skull.html

Wax Carving Class at Jewelry Arts

2010-03-24T14:41:00.002-04:00

I am pleased to announce a 2-day workshop that I will be teaching at the Jewelry Arts Institute in NYC   http://w.mawebcenters.com/JewelryArtsInstitute/ecommerce/wax-carving-class.html on two consecutive mondays, April 19th and April 26th, from 11am to 6pm. This is an incredible jewelry school in the Columbus Circle area of NYC and I am looking forward to it tremendously. This class is quite affordable for 12 hours of instruction at $280. You may sign up on their website.

Over the years, many of you have asked about my teaching and have been unable to attend my workshops in my studio in upstate NY. Now is the opportunity to sign up for this class.

Previous metalsmithing experience is preferred but if you have ever worked with your hands on any level (sewing, home repairs or even cooking) and possess a fair amount of patience, you are an ideal candidate to learn this process. Wax is a more fluid and less-resistant creative process than metal. The tools used in wax carving are small dental tools (yes, the kind your dentist uses!), a flex shaft (a motorized hand dremel tool) and either an alcohol lamp or wax pen for melting the wax.   It reminds me of the girl scout project of carving soap into small sculptures. However, in wax-carving the waxes are cast by the "lost wax" process and become silver or gold objects. http://www.blogger.com/goog_1101494090 This is a great way to learn about jewelry making and is a great way to make multiples of any piece of jewelry.

The class will cover these topics:
1.) "The Design" - How to plan the design from drawing to completion, perhaps incorporating fabrication in metal
2.) Learning about the types of waxes.
3.) "Taking Away" wax and "Adding" wax in a design
4.) Setting stones and setting mounts

*This is a wax carving class and does not include casting.

I hope to see your there! Please contact me with any questions. and by the way, HAPPY SPRING!

Winter White

2010-02-20T10:17:00.003-05:00

As these days of winter seem to blend altogether and I look out the window into a crystal wonderland, I venture to find my own muse within. The crystal palace made by the falling snowflakes confines me to my own imagination. No two snowflakes alike, that is the wonderful force of a powerful creative energy. While we await the combustion of spring, we formulate, we simmer and finally we emerge.

This is the view out my front window. I watch the wildlife forage and snowflakes fall. I dig myself out. Again. And finally, I dig myself, creating as if digging out of a 6 foot snowdrift. See what emerges.

Inspired

2009-10-27T09:57:00.027-04:00

Home again, in my safe haven. I’ve never really been a traveler, preferring the reality of my simple surroundings and the four walls of my own imagination. Yet this year I’ve been traveling more than usual as I make my rounds on the show circuit. During these excursions I find myself visiting cities and meeting people (some old friends, some new) who have shared with me their own pearls of wisdom coupled with their very personal talents.

One of the things I’m asked over and over again is: “where do I get my inspiration“. I never quite know how to truthfully answer this question without launching into a very lengthy monologue, which I know, would bore my listener to death. My standard answer has always been “everywhere”. Silently, I’m thinking where DON’T I get my inspiration. That is the easy part, in my opinion, with the real world presenting all the problems on a day-to-day basis. I can walk down the street and see a piece of rusted hardware lying on the street or flip open a fashion magazine and see what the savants are making. I can look out my window and see a leaf gracefully descending with a twist that I can interpret into metal. These visions never cease.

I try not to look around too closely at what other jewelry artists are creating. There is always that fear lurking at the back of my thoughts as to the derivation of THAT idea of mine: where did it come from or was it subconsciously inspired by something I’ve seen someone do? Many times I’ve believed that I created the wheel only to discover that another believer created this particular wheel simultaneously. I’ve always believed that nothing is original, but I can’t stop myself trying, or even looking, for that matter.

The last two shows I did left me truly inspired by others.

Nanci Hersh: An artist, a mother, fellow breast cancer survivor and all around talented creator. She wears many hats and works in many different mediums, which I admire. I loved her utensils, crafted in wire and paper. They appeal to my utilitarian requirements as an artist. I met her when she stayed with me during her recent study at Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY and later visited her in her studio. See her work at Nanci Hersh.

Tom Carlin: Chef extraordinaire. Tom and his wife Geli have been clients of mine since the good old days and only recently did I have the pleasure of visiting Tom’s restaurant to see what he’d done with the historic tavern he acquired 3 years ago. The atmosphere was soothing and elegant, the service kind and efficient yet not intrusive. And the meal, superb. My dinner companions had the broiled sea bass, which was sprinkled with autumn herbs and vegetables. I had the pork roast on the bone and each meal was cooked delicately with flavors subtle yet memorable. The wine list was incredible and we finished our meal with the pear tart. Yum. If you are ever in Gladstone, NJ, I recommend a meal at the Gladstone Tavern.

Charlie Spademan: I met Charlie in art school at the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA). He was one of those gifted individuals who could fix anything (or jerry rig anything) and whose creative talent runs silent and extremely deep. Recently we met in his studio and he showed me some recent commissions, each one extremely expressive. He is a metalworker, or ironworker, as he calls himself these days. Charlie gifted Lori and I with mock scissors crafted in iron, which he forged for his BangZ Salon Project. His studio is impressive with a hydraulic forge to which he added a vacuum to hold his forging hammers & tips. It is a sight to behold with the hammer blasting bang upon bang and the hot iron moving between the hammers like butter. For some very extreme metalwork, check out Charlie’s website :

My motto: stay inspired, be inspired and live to inspire! It works.

Late Summer TOO late and no later

2009-09-17T16:33:00.007-04:00

My dad passed away on July 20th at 9:20 pm, central time. I was scheduled to visit him two days later and even though I changed my departure time, I missed the last opportunity (by 12 hours) to hold his hand and look into his eyes. He was 94 years old and very tired. He could no longer walk and was bed-ridden.

I suppose we all feel we have missed certain opportunities in life as well as had our timing off. Today it is difficult to see the glass half-full because I missed that last chance with my dad.

Last week I lost two other good friends, Fred Goss and Jimmy Moore. It all seems too much and it makes me feel too empty in this survival without them. A year ago Annie Katz. And prior to that my dog Buddy, cats Jessie, Joey & Riley. Sometimes I think they are the lucky ones. I hope I get to see them all again, sitting around in the sky, with a table and chairs made of clouds. Or perhaps a magic carpet. Or we can all meet at sunset on pebble beach.

My dad was a good man. A talented individual with the kindest heart. He was an egg-head who was sometimes out of touch with the world around him, but I loved him dearly.

He had several patents for designs of machinery which tested the durability of rubber for Goodyear. And on his time off, he crafted wood and instilled in me a love for tools and working with my hands. My brother died last year, as well as my sister and both were competent in engineering, I guess it ran through my father in our genes.

I design to make the world a more beautiful place. A place free of heartache and suffering. Not only my own, but of those around me. I want to touch and keep touching by creating things of beauty that reach the heart.

Suze Orman Disses Jewelry

2009-07-16T09:31:00.004-04:00

SHINY PRETTY THINGS

I love it when Suze Orman says “you are denied”. We all need, we all want. That piece of jewelry you’ve been lusting after just got buried in denial.

Suze Orman is smart, funny and quite the actress. Her show is like a bad accident I can’t stop watching. I’m always curious about how to spend money, sock it away or get out of debt. It’s really only a game of monopoly to me, and this whole money thing is a game I never played. But if I did, I’d probably take it more seriously. I originally started making jewelry because I’m such a “jewelry whore”. I used to stare at the renaissance paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art and stare at the jewelry the subjects were wearing. Where can I get that, I wondered. Later, I figured out I could just make it. I had no idea, however, that it would take over 20 years to become a decent smithy/craftsman.

I’ve been traveling more, doing craft fairs, seeing what the customer has to say about my work since I no longer have a retail store. The response has been terrific and I’m always curious to speak with the other vendors. The last show I did, in Rhinebeck, New York was beautifully organized, executed and featured an incredible array of skilled craftsmen struggling to “survive in this economy”. We all had one thing in common, we want Suze Orman to stop knocking the spending on the jewelry.

I remember when I had my first store in the East Village of NYC during the years 1984 to 1991. I lived and worked in a tiny 250 square foot space which was organized like a small ship. There was a tiny showroom, a tiny studio and a bedroom loft, all on street level. I worked during the day as an office temp and would make the jewelry at night and open the store to the public on the weekends. I survived and created in the sesspool of artistic community. I did whatever it took to survive and create and so did everyone else. Often neighbors and clients would come into my store and hang out, look at the jewelry and leave. In the early days, the only confirmation that I had that my work was any good was the fact that it was stolen. I figured at least someone really WANTED it! (I put an end to theft when I installed a double-cylindar lock on the door and removed the key when someone entered and was held captive. In lieu of costly theft insurance, I simply had a metal pole by my side, but more stories on that another time…) Later, when the work actually began to sell, it wasn’t uncommon for me to hear comments like, “you know, I think I’m going to buy that ring instead of paying my rent this month.” or: “I was on my way out to dinner, but I think I’d like to get that necklace instead. I’ll skip dinner”. I wanted the sale, but my guilt was heavy. Usually I’d try unsuccessfully to talk them out of that.

So I think Suze Orman should shut up and STOP doing her part to kill the economy.. There is such a thing as reward. Simple pleasures. And we all NEED shiny, pretty things. It's a personal health issue.

AND P.S., Suze: How about upgrading your taste in earrings and stop shopping at Kmart?

Treasure o'Mine

2009-06-04T19:18:00.003-04:00

Recently I’ve found myself creating some new work that I can’t imagine ever selling. Not because of deep, personal attachment, but because I’m not sure who would ever want to buy it. My marketing technique has mostly been a lack thereof. I firmly believe that there is a market for everything, but when it comes down to what I want to create it is not often associated with what will sell. The creative process possesses a certain amount of magic. There is magic in everything that starts out as an idea and turns into a physical reality, even things that are created in multiples and meant to be mass marketed. However, sometimes I’ll just look at a stone or an object and it will speak to me and touch my soul. It may sit on my bench or shelf for days, months or years and then it will just happen. It has to be completed and finished and put into some form of reality, even if it is MY reality alone.

When I was a child I was fascinated with a small treasure chest that sat at the bottom of a neighbor’s fish tank. It apparently had an oxygen tube attached under the chest that would pulse and emit puffs of air into the treasure chest. Each pulse forced the lid of the little chest to open and close, revealing tiny sparkly booty that was inside: a golden goblet, a string of pearls and a miniscule ruby ring. I would stare at that little treasure chest for hours and wondered why the fish weren’t as fascinated with it as much as I was. I wondered what else could be in that chest.

Years later, in art school I studied Celtic Art and was obsessed with the buried mounds of jewelry that had been discovered. Buried booty. Large amounts of booty. The sinking of the Titanic and the re-claimed pottery and jewelry from its sunken demise. Pirate lore and the folklore of buried, unclaimed treasure. King Tut’s tomb. The Indian Mounds in Ohio that were small hills in rural areas which were the burial grounds of American Indian Tribes. These still captivate and motivate me today to create my own booty. But what will I do with these treasures if they are not to be sold?

I picture myself, 94 years old with a shovel in my feeble hand, digging as deep as I can. I will bury my personal treasure trove, a testament of my obsessive compulsive disorder: one that is to create. (I repeat:) I pray that I am bestowed upon (by the Cosmic Joker ) to have enough predilection prior to my demise that I can draw a map to the time capsule where it is buried and where it rests as hidden treasure that is a monument to the times in which it was created.

Touch the Sky

2009-05-16T08:02:00.004-04:00

Shit or get off the pot. Mercury Retrograde. Suspended Belief.

Lofty attitudes lately, and the clock keeps ticking, the big machine keeps clicking.

I keep telling myself (and everyone I know) that these are "challenging times". Let's accentuate the positive, focus on the task at hand. Where does this urge to create come from? It's like a weed that keeps growing, no matter how many times the weed whacker removes it's leaves, never touching the root.

I watched a movie with Cynthia last weekend and was left with two unforgettable quotes:

"Sometimes the things you cannot change, change you forever". Makes me think of cancer.

"Sometimes the worst things that can happen are the most liberating". Makes me think of losing everything, or perhaps, just walking away from it all, into the sunset. A metaphysical death.

And still, the root is not destroyed.

I want to touch the sky.

Left of Center

2009-04-07T12:07:00.002-04:00

Time evaporates when I work in my studio. I am suspended in my personal time-warp of activity and fantasy. The repetitive technical tasks ground me and the creativity releases me into a heavenly delight, even for just one moment (until I turn on the news and snap back into reality).

I live in the country now, far from NYC where I was driven, inspired and in a constant state of sensory overload. I worked around the clock, twenty-four seven and had a full social calendar on any given day.

I’ve had many different studios over the years but they were mostly cramped and lacked any direct sunlight which, for a jeweler, is both a necessity and a luxury. I have a studio now that opens out onto a sunny day with cool air and the spring scent of lilacs . Things are very different after 23 years in NYC and my motivations have changed.

Recently, I had a conversation with a friend who said to me, “You know, Barbara, your work is really different and unique. But perhaps it’s too different. Did you ever think that if it was more center-of-the-road you might sell more?” I smiled and instantly recalled the 23 years of my professional life spent in New York City: walking into stores carrying a heavy showcase on an extremely humid day and showing my wares…or the time that I got my first order from Barney’s, a rather large order for $15,000 and then having to wait 8 months to get paid and fight for payment while they were “restructuring” their business.

In many ways I’m fortunate that I can design anything in the blink of an eye. I can make the original model and have it manufactured. I can make duplicates and market it for a demographic that might bring sales from a wide range of clientele in a mass market.

This is both a blessing and a curse. I only want to isolate and create what I want to create. My reward is that those who know me and are familiar with my work, understand and appreciate this little-known fact. On a daily basis, the truth is painfully revealed on our planet earth and I am feeling it deeply. Although in the big scheme of things I know I am simply making jewelry yet to me it is more akin to art that finds its way into the hearts, souls and bodies of you, my peeps and peers. My prayer is that you will wear my work with this message in mind. If not, I pray that I am bestowed upon (by the Cosmic Joker ) to have enough predilection prior to my demise that I can draw a map to the time capsule where it is buried and where it rests as hidden treasure that is a monument to the times in which it was created.

Whimsy

2009-03-02T11:13:00.001-05:00

WHIMSY:

…an idea that has no immediately obvious reason to exist

Lots of Bad News Lately. People are doing horribly atrocious things like spending other people’s money (and lying about it) and nobody seems to be going out or shopping. Jobs and houses are lost in this war of greed. There is a dull silence as we persevere to understand and regroup our strategies. Even the Oscar fashions seemed so overtly safe, this fear of the unknown permeating every turn.

The weather in upstate NY has been overcast, snowy and icy. I catch my eyes gently hovering above the mounds of dirt that have been recently revealed by the melting snow. I silently will the crocuses to bloom and shout a burst of color into the air and blow fairy dust into my brain.

I too have been battering down the hatchet. I close the doors against the frost and start a fire. I watch the snow gently falling outside and try to force feed my creativity. This bottomless well was dry until a recent visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to view the Alexander Calder Jewelry Show. The only thing missing at this exhibition was the vibrant sound of hammers clinking and chiming in unison with the forging of copper and silver against hardened steel.

There was a picture of Calder seated at his anvil: teeth clenched, hammer raised, aimed and ready to attack. Piles of metal rod in the background, with the sun shining upon his anvil. He was living in a realm of bliss, his personal heaven. Suddenly I longed for that state of mind, that peaceful oblivion, that release from the monotony of “feeding the machine”. This was my epiphany: where was my joy in my play? Where, along the way, had I pressurized my spontaneity?

Whimsy is where it’s at. Laughter. Playfulness. A snow day from school. A guilty afternoon in a movie theatre. A jumping up and down joy that brings back the hope from reality. Relief from the immediate and the obvious. I feel the need for F-U-N and a little bit of whimsy, something that has no obvious reason to exist.

"Working in Relative Obscurity"

2009-01-21T17:20:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a Beautiful Day, a day when almost anything seems possible . We are broken but we will “pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off” (to quote the new chief) . The heavens, can you hear us? I was not the only one with tears streaming down my face, tears of joy and hope, perhaps a reason to carry on.

And speaking of picking myself up and dusting myself off, something which I’ve been doing for years yet with no understanding of the process or the meaning. The Today Show defined it this morning when they were interviewing Isabel Toledo, an artist and designer who “has worked in relative obscurity for over 25 years”. She is the clothing designer who designed the beautiful “lemongrass yellow” ensemble Michelle Obama wore to her husband’s inauguration yesterday.

“Relative Obscurity” is a term I’d never considered. It brought to mind a gentleman I met in 1996, Huesti. He was very old in 1996, perhaps close to 85. He was a retired railroad mechanic in New Hampshire who I’d been privileged to meet through a fellow metal smith, Alan Perry. Alan was having something made by Huesti that would fit into the clock Alan had been commissioned to make for a private club. We visited Huesti in the fall while the leaves were falling in the little house where he lived with his wife. Upon entering I noticed how small and unassuming he was. As I glanced around I noticed that the first and second floors were filled with clocks: back to back and on top of each other, piles of clocks. Ticking clocks, grandfather clocks and mantel clocks. Seems he liked to repair clocks. Huesti ushered us downstairs to his workshop. We could hardly walk but for a small passageway that wove itself between lathes, vertical drilling machines and other large equipment. I looked up and there was a miniature train track suspended from the ceiling which was at eye level and which I had to duck around. There on two work tables in front of me were model trains, designed and created to scale in stainless steel, silver, nickel and brass. They were magnificent. Each beautifully crafted with brass ornamentation. They worked and hummed around the suspended tracks and rails.

That day I could hardly speak as Alan and I walked down the stone walkway towards the car. Huesti was brilliant and I will never forget this talent who worked in “relative obscurity”. I have always felt simpatico with Huesti, reminding myself that there are millions of talents in this world and across America who work tirelessly, without fame or recognition merely for the passion they experience in what they create. I relate and realize that I also work in relative obscurity, fueled by the passion for which I create. I do not wait for the fame or the fortune, merely I wait for the sun to rise for the next day in which I can create, imagine and transform. Truly this is the defininition of opportunity.

And for this I thank you, my cult following.

Broken

2009-01-21T17:17:00.002-05:00

from: 1-14-09

I look around me and what do I see? Immediately I am struck by the silence and fear. I am conscious of “holding on”, a pattern of the attempt to stabilize with the world. That is why I’ve been listening lately to loud Rock and Roll. I go to the gym and work it out while the rockers spit it out. Suits me just fine. Sure, I’m pissed off and I know everyone else is too. Too many lies, broken promises and “bad things happening to good people”. Some days it just gets so hard to see the beauty, but I know it is there. Intellectually, I understand the cycle of life, but emotionally I’m spread pretty thin and one thing is for sure: I’m tired.

In this New Year we have New Promises. I hope they are not broken. I yearn for honest repair and a starting over, even if it is from scratch. I breathe to hear honesty. When the wind howls and the snow falls I see the animals hunting for food and beyond, a beautiful sunset. This is the only sign I have that a regeneration does exist. There is my security.

What Is Magic

2008-12-01T15:44:00.000-05:00

Magic is the answer to its own sub-category on Jeopardy, otherwise known as "things that defy explanation". One might say that this is the season of magic, the season where there is glitter in the air and icycles hang from rooftops like rock candy on a stick. When I was five, I remember leaving cookies and milk on the mantel for Santa Claus which accompanied a letter begging for his delivery of the "Dream Kitchen" I saw very high on the top shelf at the local supermarket, never mind that is was fifty dollars and my mother kept saying no. This dream kitchen had a refrigerator, sink unit, dishwasher and stove, each in varying colors of mint and creamsicle. The appliances were each about 12 inches in height and were accessorized with tiny plates, cooking utensils and an unlimited number of molded plastic food stuffs: A tiny roasted turkey on a Thanksgiving platter, canned food, cartons of milk and eggs, all awaiting its arrangment by my little, hopeful hands. I was fascinated by its design and transfixed by its 100 pieces of miniature kitchen accessories. Imagine my surprise when, on Christmas Eve I awoke alone at the witching hour and crept under a glowing Christmas tree and the cookies and milk on the mantel had magically been consumed. The Dream Kitchen was there, in all its majestic glory, unwrapped and awaiting my participation. I trembled with anticipation, too overwhelmed to reach out to see whether or not it was real.

But wait, that was not the only magic. The REAL magic happened later in the Spring, after my father built a wall unit in my bedroom that had two shelves about 1 ft. deep by 3 feet wide. These shelves were stacked one on top of the other and opened with levered shutters which then became the assigned place that housed my Dream Kitchen. To complete this Dream World, for my birthday my mother had given me a miniature Singer Sewing machine which operated by a hand crank on the side of the unit. With this little sewing machine I made curtains, doll clothes and even tiny rugs long before Martha and HG television. Hours spent in my room turned into days until my mother would burst into my room saying, "Barbie K, the sun is shining and children need to be outside". Only then would I come back to reality, leaving my magic behind and in my mind.

I carry this with me. I execute this magic every day. Often I forget. It seems like work. It's hard, it's frustrating but the magic is still there, it still glitters, if I stop to catch it. I look at my hands and they are cut and blistered. I see them full of glitter as it runs thru my fingers and into the earth. I still believe in Miracles.

Elves At Work

2008-11-18T15:04:00.005-05:00

The elves have been very busy lately. Since early September, they've been working, creating, crafting and making the world a more beautiful place. All this work, in spite of what has been going on around them all over the planet.

The Elves have been doing something that has been done for centuries: Making beautiful things by hand. Things that are not "perfect" and are not created for or by mass production. These things often last forever and are proved more precious by the significance of the giver who gifts something special to a loved one.

In this 2008 Holiday Season, the elves are predicting a return to the days of old when less was definitely more and beautifully crafted merchandise was favored over Holiday Hype.

Support your local Elf with objects made by hand.

What I See

2008-06-21T09:50:00.003-04:00

What I see is usually what I find. The encompassing farmland around my studio has seen numerous incarnations and I am constantly spotting an old pitch fork or some abandoned piece of farm equipment. They lurk about in their ghostly fashion, often seeming to emerge from layers of dirt and rock as the earth spins on its axis. I will see only the details: broken and rusted parts, their texture and years of wear through the elements of weather and wind. The shapes and texture of these things inspire me as pieces which are part of the evolution of everyday life. I interpret them to feel comfortable and warm and take on meaning in the personal context of a body.

When More is NOT ENOUGH

2008-04-16T09:34:00.004-04:00

Often, when someone is trying on several pieces of my jewelry, they will ask me , “Is it too much?” My standard answer has always been, “More is More”! That’s an individual decision. I’m the one who loves most things to excess so I find this to be a debate not worth entering. Personally, I love as much of everything that I can handle.

However, lately I’ve had an even more difficult time holding myself back. Like when a friend of mine, Dana, proposed to me his recent project. Dana is a wonderfully talented and charismatic man, an interior designer with a great eye (www.http://dananicholsonstudio.com) who, through the years, has presented me with the most wonderful design challenges. The last one, however, took over two years from design to completion and along with his talent, Dana possesses the patience of a saint.

Here is pictured the original inspiration: A Christian Dior Lip-Gloss Ring. It is magical and functional: Who in their right mind would want to be out on the town without easy access to their Lip Gloss? “Can you make me something like this?” he asked shyly. “But it’s so big. Fabulous and wonderful, but gigantically BIG”, I said. Dana laughed in that charming way of his and said, “I know. And I also know you love making big things!”

Drawings came next and Dana chose one. I pondered the engineering of such a piece and wondered exactly what its purpose was to be, what would it contain? Not lip gloss, to be sure, but what was the history of such a ring? “An atmosphere of magic and charm has always surrounded rings. There has been a strong belief that both good and bad spirits inhabited rings. One of the many charges levied against Joan d’Arc was that she owned rings of magic.
Rings were not always used for good. Hannibal and Demostenes both wore poison rings. Although uncommon, these rings were not rare. Not only could they be used on "friends," but on oneself if the circumstances warranted. “

The technical engineering of Dana’s ring was long and arduous. The hinges had to be functional, but not overpowering. The clasp tight enough to hold any contents, poisonous or otherwise. And it must be beautiful and wearable. Yet, when it was not being worn, it seemed to me to be shameful to keep it tucked away in a jewelry box. That is when the stand, hand-turned in wood by my dear cousin Herb, came to be. I created the silver feet for the “ring stand” initially in wax on my lathe and had them cast. I signed the piece with a hand-stamped silver tag on the bottom. As I normally do when I get a commission, I make more than one which takes into account the “just in case” theory. Especially on pieces I’ve never made before, just in case one doesn’t work out. There are two of these rings and stands. They are signed “1 of 2” and “2 of 2”. Just in case.

Dana’s ring is made of sterling silver with 14k yellow gold accents. The stones are white diamonds, black diamonds and rubies. I love the fact that it is not only functional, but an objet d’art when it is not being worn. I hope he feels it was worth the wait, two years later.
Okay, what else can I work on for a couple of years? You’ll see…

JEWELRY EMERGENCY

2008-03-13T18:26:00.004-04:00

It’s hard to believe that in this complicated world, something so seemingly inconsequential as a piece of jewelry can trigger an alarm. Why is that? I think it’s because we all become attached to our jewelry. It’s personal. It’s worn representationally and sentimentally as a part of us or a piece of art and it’s on our body. It symbolizes the “me” in me.
That’s why I’ve become so accustomed to those frantic phone calls at the most unexpected times. Like on Sunday, from Mike: “I Lost My Earring, I never took it off, can you rush me a new one?", or “A Taxi ran over my key chain you made on Park Avenue, can you fix it?”, or “Can you make my necklace again? It was stolen; I never took it off until I had that mud bath and I never saw it again”. Just yesterday my friend Hal called with an amusing story: I've become his personal jeweler over the years, even repairing the pieces I didn't originally make him. Apparently he was scratching his neck while driving and caught his favorite saphire necklace under his thumb. He pulled it, the chain broke and all the little pieces went flying inside his car. I can just see him stopping his car, arms flailing, trying to find all the little pieces and causing a traffic jam in the middle of NYC. Of course, I got that phone call accompanied by a Fedex package the next day.
I understand the need to have that talisman, that lifeline. It becomes so personal and it’s all in a piece of jewelry.
I like to think I’m here to create your “armor” for life. That personal, symbolic, protective icon. And when there’s a jewelry emergency, just remember, I’m here for you.

THE PROCESS

2008-03-10T09:00:00.006-04:00

We’ve all had delays and miscommunication in our tasks at hand. Recently I had a tiff with a client when her ring was not finished due to unforeseen complications: the mold my caster had on file for her ring had deteriorated, but this was not an adequate justification for her.

I remember in college, there was one most-talented student in my class that was always on his own schedule. His projects were perpetually late but nonetheless meticulous and inspired. His craftsmanship and designs were superb, but his grades reflected his lack of interest in meeting deadlines. He and I stayed in touch over the years: he went to graduate school and became a respected scholar in the field of metalsmithing and took special orders on the side. I moved to NYC and started my own business. Now we all know what it takes to stay in business and survive in NYC. Talent is only 2% of what it takes to succeed. One must be more organized and definitely responsible and dependable. If you were good at something, say in Ohio, there were always 200 masters in NYC competing with you for the same job. I quickly learned what it took to survive in such a competitive environment. Upon visiting my friend many years later, he was showing me a wedding band that his client was expecting for the wedding ceremony. He just couldn’t seem to be inspired to finish it. He called his client the eve of the wedding and relayed the fact that the ring wasn’t going to be completed in time. I was horrified; I could never even imagine such an incident.

However, what is actually involved in creating a special commission? I think this process is a mystery to so many people. Unless you are in the jewelry industry, no one really understands how much work and luck of the draw is involved in creating such a tiny piece of architecture. Unknown to many people, it takes a good 7 years of working experience to achieve a level of competency as a jeweler.

Here are some relevant and technical steps in the creative process:

1.) DRAWINGS: (Why is a deposit required for drawings of a commission?) What do you want and what are the specifications? Is what the client sees in his mind’s eye the same as what he is communicating and expecting you to create? Can you draw it in 3-D or perspective? Can you do a rendering (a colored/shaded drawing)? A loose sketch to creating an actual rendering is often laborious and time-consuming. From a rough sketch to layering tracing paper and getting all the lines correct, retracing it, transferring it to proper drawing paper to coloring and rendering the finished drawing. What about creating a drawing that is an “exploded view” drawing (a drawing that looks exploded, examining all the parts in the engineering of the piece) or one that shows “perspective” (a drawing that shows ¾ view, side view and top views)? This process can take hours that can turn into days. This is why I choose to charge a deposit for the drawings. Usually this charge is deductible from the entire cost of the commission unless the drawings do not turn into a commission. The charge then becomes the fee for the drawings alone.

2.) THE MODEL: We have the design, the drawing, now what? Is it to be a project for multiple pieces (such as the link in a chain) or is it one-of-a-kind? This matters in the creation of the piece. Depending upon the end result, a model will have to be made. This process usually involves a carving of the piece (the design from the drawing) in a 3-dimensional form from carvable jeweler’s wax. Once completed, the wax is approved by the client, adjustments are made and then it is sent to the caster where either a.) A silicone mold is made from the model, for multiples or b.) It is cast from the wax itself in the “lost wax” casting method. Lost Wax-casting goes something like this: the wax is placed inside a flask and filled with something similar to plaster, called “investment”. Then the wax is burned away in a kiln and hot metal is melted and injected into the negative space left in the flask from the wax model . The plaster is then broken away and the wax model is now in metal. This process is usually reliable but often the metal is porous, or filled with bubbles. Sometimes they can be repaired and sometimes not. Then the entire process begins again.

3.) MOLDS: Molds are mostly made from silicone or rubber. These are prepared and melted around the wax or metal model and then gently and expertly cut apart, like a puzzle. When the model is removed from the mold, a negative space in the form of the model is created enabling hot wax to be injected into the mold. The wax is allowed to harden and subsequently removed from the mold. This is an accessible and easy way to create multiples of an item. However, all original models must be stored in a file as most silicone/rubber molds have a limited shelf life and do deteriorate.

4.) THE METAL: Once the model is now metal, fabrication of bezels and other necessary parts of the piece are made in silver or gold. Here it is reliant upon the experience of the trained metalsmith. Things can be accidentally melted, porosity can open up and one tiny, missed last step in the entire process can terminate the life of this project. Even if our project was created totally by “fabrication”, or made from metal without any wax carving, the exact engineering and carry-through in the process of creating a piece of jewelry is filled with risk. Only a skilled craftsman can create something from start to finish without experiencing a meltdown if something unexpected happens. ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN !

5.) STONES: And then there is the setting of stones: will one break, just as you are closing up the bezel (the small ring of metal, which holds the stone in place)? If the stone becomes chipped or damaged, it must be removed and replaced. Even if a ring must be re-sized, the stone must be removed, as most stones cannot withstand the soldering process and the heat involved. The stone then has to be reset and will there be any damage from soldering or setting of the stone(s)?

OY VAY!

So that’s the process: A lengthy fete of engineering full of strife and risk. But worth it in the long run, when something pretty and shiny is in my hands. The look of joy I see on my client’s face when the vision has culminated into actuality is my personal reward. I find it amazing that the journey of an idea is so parallel and representative of the journey of life. It is filled with inspiration, disappointment, frustration and joy all rolled into one adventure. It’s never about the piece; it’s always about the journey.

PICTURED: (picture from a rubber stamp, wax model and metal sample from a mold) This is a recent commission I received. My client David, an actor, had a rubber stamp of a Jester. I had made another Jester for him back in the ’80’s but he lost it and wanted it created again. Sadly, there was no mold so the entire process had to be re-visited. This time we have a mold and he kindly agreed to allow me to include this Jester in my line. I refer to this little Jester as the Cosmic Joker and we all know who that is!

Can This Be Repaired?

2008-02-03T13:01:00.000-05:00

Once in a while I get back a piece of my jewelry and am asked: "Can you fix this"? I generally look at the piece and wonder what life it has led, how many miles it has traveled. I put on my jeweler's loupe and look closer: scratches from doorknobs and handles, a stone crushed instead of a finger. I like to tell people that jewelry, like cars, must go into the shop for a tune- up now and then. It needs polishing and checking of the stone settings. This must be done with precision and care. I can tell by looking thru my loupe if it is a technical flaw or a problem due to extensive wear.

Here you see two repairs I recently received. Guess which one can be fixed? A stone is easy to reset or replace. My question to the owner of the larger, one-of-a-kind ring that obviously got run over by a car is: DID YOU SURVIVE THE CRASH?

COMMITMENTS, or lack thereof

2008-01-28T13:12:00.000-05:00

Commitments, or lack thereof

My feelings are that every relationship is always the best at the time. Whether it's with a new motorcycle or a new love, it is always the same. It smells good at first, that love of the smooth interior coupled with the fragrance of passion. When that leather gets smooth and worn and the fragrance needs a little fresh air, where does that enduring love go?

It becomes different. Dependable, familiar and deeper. Herein lies the struggle: with familiarity comes security, but the passion grows deeper in a calming and curious way.
The commitment to career, health and passion takes effort and ultimately, reaps what you invest. It is the personal journey to love.

This Valentine's Day I wish the world was filled with more love, forgiveness and creativity. Let the love survive. May you invest in Love's Economy.

Pictured: My own personal commitment bands, shared with my love.
14k pink gold outer band with inner band of Palladium White gold
Pave and Milligrain diamonds.

"Now join hands, and with your hands your hearts", Shakespeare

Pinky: Spring is coming soon and this was my V-Day Gift from my love.

Metal on Leather

2008-01-06T14:18:00.001-05:00

There is something about the texture of leather: so soft and smooth, so supple. Leather will absorb the oils from your skin and form to the contours of your body. When I put metal on leather, the cool rigidity of the metal contrasts the sensuality of the leather. I've always loved that contrast. The hard with the soft. The masculine with the feminine It's like the chrome on a motorcycle with that shiny bit of sparkle on a powerful machine. Sexy.

Hardware

2008-01-06T10:24:00.000-05:00

Hardware stores were always my favorite places as a kid. I'd accompany my father on his weekly expedition to fix one of his household repairs and I'd roam the store freely while my father went through his list.

In those days, the stores were small, with a spectacular array of bins which displayed fascinating and exotic items. I'd pick up a hinge and see how it worked. I'd look through the bins of screws and marvel at the spiral threads winding around a piece of brass with a beautiful notched head. Sometimes my father would allow me to purchase an array of nuts and bolts, slide locks, hinges and anything moveable. We would travel back to his workshop and put together a "mystery box". These boxes were primarily for my nephew and consisted of little doors with locks and hidden compartments. These were mainly for my nephew's amusement, but I was enthralled in their creation.

To this day, I can still get lost for hours at Lowe's or Home Depot. I am fascinated by doorknobs, drawer pulls, light switches and towel bars. There is a much greater selection these days and the hardware now is imported from all over the world. But the sensual flair of a hand-crafted or limited production piece of hardware made in the USA has been replaced by mass production, cheap craftsmanship and inexpensive materials from overseas. The designs are great, but the craftsmanship is truly lacking.

I used to tell people that I'd put jewelry on anything, anywhere. Now I think I'd just like to put metal and stones on everything in my house so that I can fulfill my ergonomic fantasy of the smooth metal against the grain of wood or metal. I yearn to experience something that is made by hand with intent and precision. Something that gets better with age.