Video interview with Robert Dancik: jeweler, sculptor, and originator of Faux Bone

Kristin Sutter — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 17:54:00 GMT

At the 2008 Bead&Button Show in June, Senior Editor/Online Linda Augsburg was able to catch a few minutes with Robert Dancik to talk to him about how he got started making jewelry, where he's taking the craft, and how he uses Faux Bone. To watch the video, click here. If you're interested in learning how you can incorporate Faux Bone into your work, check out Robert's article, "Chart Your Own Mixed-Media Odyssey," page 28, in the September 2008 issue of Art Jewelry. The article will teach you how to make this bangle:

If this project inspires you to make a piece of jewelry, we'd love to see what you've come up with! Just post it in the Show Us Your Work thread in the Art Jewelry forum.

Pop-Out Jewelry by Melissa Borrell Design: prefab jewelry that gets the wearer involved

Kristin Sutter — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:57:00 GMT

I generally avoid buying anything that needs to be assembled — not because I doubt my ability to assemble things, but because I associate "needs assembly" with "made cheaply in a faraway land." Of course, that's not always the case. But since I already have a propensity for antique/vintage/timeless/handcrafted things, I rarely buy big box.

But, I think, mass-produced items can have a soul, too. I'm intrigued by well-designed, well-made items that are successful on a large scale because they were so well thought out that a large number of people find them both useful and beautiful. In that way, there seems to be a connection between designer and consumer that we don't generally associate with mass production.

Melissa Borrell's Pop Out Jewelry is an example of a designer consciously trying to connect with the consumer. As her Web site describes, "the shapes come still attached to the metal from which they are cut. Just pop the shape out and hang it on the enclosed chain or ear hooks to make it into a piece of wearable art." So, while a piece arrives looking mass produced, it requires a personal touch from the wearer in order to be useful. It's an interesting way to try to share in the creation of an art object. But is it that different from buying and having to assemble, say, a coffee table? Does it all rest on the designer's intention?

Do you intend for your work to connect with the people who wear it? How do you achieve that connection?

—Kristin

Art Jewelry magazine Editors' Blog : artist

Video interview with Robert Dancik: jeweler, sculptor, and originator of Faux Bone

Pop-Out Jewelry by Melissa Borrell Design: prefab jewelry that gets the wearer involved