Art Jewelry magazine Editors' Blog : events

Green Jewelry: if you're into pieces made from recycled, repurposed materials, check out jewelry by Mana Bernardes and the Touch NY show

Kristin Sutter — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:35:00 GMT

Personally, I get excited about anything green — I mean both the color (my favorite) and the concept. I learned about Touch, a group of eco-minded designers, a few months ago when I came across jewelry by Mana Bernardes, whose jewelry is showcased on the Touch Web site. For anyone in the New York area today and tomorrow (May 19th and 20th), you can check out the Touch NY show from noon to 7 p.m. at 148 11th Ave. According to the Touch Web site, they'll have products and installations made from recycled materials. Judging from the pictures on their flyer, the show looks like a great place to find fresh ideas and inspiration.

Have you ever made jewelry with the intention of making it green? I'd love to hear about it — and see pictures!!

—Kristin

Are you attending the Bead&Button Show? Here's what Art Jewelry's editors will be doing at the show this year.

Katie Streeter — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:43:00 GMT

I associate many things with spring –– daffodils, spring cleaning, gardening –– but for the past few years, spring, for me, has also meant the Bead&Button Show. Although the show carries the name of our sister publication Bead&Button, Art Jewelry also has a hand in the show. Although it's still over a month away, we're already looking forward to it.

At this year's show, I'll be helping with the Bead Artists Against Breast Cancer Silent Auctions again. We had a great time raising money for the Medical College of Wisconsin last year, and we hope to raise even more this year. Jill will be teaching fundamentals in techniques classes in polymer clay. Addie will be a teacher's assistant in Tim McCreight's master class. And Hazel and Kristin will be walking the show floor to check out the exhibitors. If you attend the show, look for the Art Jewelry demonstration area. We'll be showing cool jewelry-making techniques that you can try out at home. And if you spot any of us at the show, please say hello (we'll be wearing shirts that say "Art Jewelry")!

––Katie

"Art" jewelry: a souvenir bracelet from the Edward Hopper and Winslow Homer special exhibits at the Art Institute of Chicago

Kristin Sutter — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:12:00 GMT

I recently went to Chicago to visit a good friend, and topping my list of must-do activities was a very overdue trip to the Art Institute of Chicago. I'm embarrassed to say that I live less than two hours from the city and haven't been to the museum in 12 years — all I could remember was that both Seurat's painting of the park (A Sunday on La Grande Jatte) and Georgia O'Keeffe's cloud painting (Sky Above Clouds IV) are huge.

My friend and I decided to check out the special exhibits on Edward Hopper and Winslow Homer. I had only really seen Hopper's most famous painting, Nighthawks, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was in for a treat. The exhibit was beautiful (his color palette was mesmerizing) and intriguing, and I was impressed by both his early and late work. He is now one of my favorite artists. I also really enjoyed the Homer exhibit — it's amazing to see such beauty!

Since I was so touched by the art, I wanted a souvenir. My first instinct was the tried-and-true high-quality postcard book, but the colors just didn't look as vibrant as the actual paintings (tall order, I know). Lucky for me, my friend found the one item that I would, of course, have to buy: a bracelet with images from Hopper's works.

It literally is "art" jewelry. It's so cool to have portable inspiration!

What's your favorite type of portable inspiration? Write your response in the "Comments" box below and click "Add" to share!

—Kristin

Fun at the One-of-a-Kind Show in Chicago!

Kristin Sutter — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:09:00 GMT

Lunchtime on Dec. 7, 2007, found Jill, Addie, and I (plus Addie's mom and a friend of Jill's) at bluprint, a restaurant at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. We met there to fuel up in preparation for the journey we were about to take through the floor of the One-of-a-Kind Show, which was going on above our heads about seven floors up. I ended up taking a picture of my gourmet mac & cheese.

I wanted to show the picture to Naomi Fujimoto, senior editor at BeadStyle magazine, one of our sister publications. Naomi has a thing for gourmet comfort foods. The food was so beautiful that everyone wanted a picture of their as-yet-undevoured dish.

Yum!

Thus sustained, we took the elevator upstairs and spent the next five hours inundating ourselves with beautiful works of art. Most notably — you guessed it — jewelry. Many times, we stopped by a booth and asked that all-important question, "How did they do that?" (When we ask that, we know we're seeing something magazine-worthy.)

When we're scouting for jewelry artists, we try not to take too much time away from the jewelers; we understand that they're at the show to sell their work. But many people were gracious enough to take the time to hear us out about why they should submit a project or an image for gallery. (If you're thinking of submitting something, we'd love to hear from you! Check out our guidelines.)

Some artists encouraged us to try on their work for fun — and how could we resist!! Of course, some of us went home with a couple you'll-regret-it-forever-if-you-don't-buy-it pieces.

So, thanks to the art jewelry community for delighting us! We hope to return the favor! (If we did our scouting job right, you'll be seeing some fabulous work in our pages in the coming year.)

–Kristin

Upcoming craft shows

Katie Streeter — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 20:44:00 GMT

I don't enjoy shopping and have even managed to cut trips to the grocery store down to one each month. Craft shows are one of the few exceptions to my "I hate shopping" standpoint. If you also like attending craft shows, here are a few upcoming shows to add to your calendar.

Ornaments & Adornments, a sale that includes over 60 artists featuring jewelry, ceramics, baskets, and other crafts, will take place at the Milwaukee Art Museum on November 16–18, 2007.

Sugarloaf Craft Festivals are held in several eastern states and include sculpture, jewelry, fiber arts, and more.

Pratt Fine Arts Center, in Seattle, will offer jewelry, metal, glass, and more at their Holiday Art Sale on December 7–16, 2007.

To search for more upcoming events, visit our Events Calendar to search for shows and sales near you. Happy shopping!