Art Jewelry magazine Editors' Blog : fun

Wedding ring makeover part 2: the new design may be a band with bead-set champagne melee diamonds

Kristin Sutter — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:19:00 GMT

If you've read my last blog post, you know that I'm in the process of revamping my wedding band to commemorate my and my husband's five-year wedding anniversary (read good excuse to change the design of a ring that neither of us loves). I'll be keeping the vintage engagement ring intact, but I'll have the band's infinity-symbol design changed because it's a bit jarring next to the delicate filigree.

Seconds after Associate Editor Addie Kidd told me that a good jeweler would incorporate my existing band's metal into a new band, she and I were brainstorming the new design. I attempted to sketch the design my husband had given to the jewelers five years ago (he mimicked some of the filigree pattern), but I wasn't remembering it right. Addie said, "You could add stones," and my first thought was, "No, that would be gaudy." She said, "They could be little. You could do a band with melee diamonds — they could be about 1 mm." And before I could reject the idea for looking too much like a mother's ring, I thought, "I could do champagne diamonds! And they would match the color of my metal (which isn't modern white gold, but an antique, yellower alloy). And I could do 13 of them!" (I would have 13 diamonds because that was my favorite number before I met my husband, it also happened to be his favorite number, serendipitously we started dating on the 13th, and we got married on the 13th.)

Addie pointed out that if I did 1 mm bead-set champagne diamonds, the stones wouldn't draw attention away from the engagement ring; they would merely provide sparkle. Also, 13 stones would line up nicely, one centered on the engagement ring's diamond and six on each side. She suggested that I have the melee diamonds bead-set to mimic the vintage look. She found a good example of what she envisioned here in a piece by Etienne Perret. Of course, my band would look a bit different from Perret's. I'd like to keep the filigree and etching on the side of the band to mimic the engagement ring, and the band will need to curve to fit the contour of my ring. If at all possible, I'm hoping that the band will be a bit thinner than it is right now, too.

So, that's the concept for the new design. I am, however, open to further suggestions. If you want to throw any ideas into the mix, just comment below. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

—Kristin

"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

"Bring on the blizzard!" say makers

Kristin Sutter — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:31:00 GMT

Last Wednesday my weather widget began a red ticker tape warning: Expect loads of snow Saturday, turning to ice by Sunday evening. Whereas a lot of Wisconsinites would scoff at this kind of news, my heart does little happy-as-a-schoolgirl flips inside my chest. I love winter. I love going out into the cold, and I love coming in out of the cold. The season is both invigorating and cozy.

When I read the winter-storm warning, I was even more delighted at my plans to meet a friend at a yarn store on Saturday morning. What better way to enjoy a snowstorm than to be inside making something while the flakes swirl all around you? The snow forces you inside your home, and if you let it, inside your head. And for people who are makers, a chance to check in mentally generally means you'll be producing something physically mere seconds after the first "What if" hits your consciousness.

When I got to the yarn store early on Saturday morning, it was full of people buying supplies and heading home to hole up and knit away until the plows emancipated the roads. So how about you. Do you head for your studio as soon as inclement weather hits? What do you work on when you get there?

A peridot ring for my birthday!

Kristin Sutter — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:45:00 GMT

Last week, I celebrated my birthday. One of the coolest gifts I got was from Associate Editor Addie Kidd. As I unwrapped her gift, I realized that the box could contain only jewelry. I got excited — you know that jewelry from a jeweler will be good. Happily for me, I was right!

The box held this peridot-and-sterling-silver ring by KEW Designs (Kim E. Wilson, from Fox Point, Wisc., is the jeweler). I love green, so peridot is one of my favorite stones. And since I'm into a sort of earthy, things-coming-just-a-little-bit-undone thing, I also love the subtly rugged shank.

Word is, Associate Editor Jill Erickson helped Addie pick out the ring at the Milwaukee Art Museum's Ornaments and Adornments Show, which was Nov. 16–17, 2007. (You'll have to watch for next year's show!) I like the ring so much that I haven't taken it off since I got it, but the best part of my gift is knowing that I have such thoughtful friends and coworkers!

Thanks, you two!

–Kristin

Mmmm... bacon....

Hazel Wheaton — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 22:25:00 GMT

One of the fun things about having the job I do is the links that people send me. Most of the time they're pretty straightforward — a heads-up about a cool artist, or a neat new gallery, or something of the sort. Most of the time, when I click on a link that someone sends me, I'm pretty confident that I'm going to see something pretty. Fairly often, it's something that will send me off in hopes of making contact with the artist, in hopes of acquiring a story for the magazine. Sometimes, it's something that engages my acquisitive (a polite term for "greedy") nature and makes me want to own it. Now.

But then there are the fun links that people send me for the sheer amusement factor. Like these two — sent to me by someone who shall remain nameless, who wanted to share this wonder of the mineral world. It made its debut (I believe, although someone out there please correct me if you know more) at the Suzhou International Expo in Jiangsu Province, China, under the descriptive — and completely apt, if not exactly scientific — name "pork stone."

Somewhat... calcified "bacon" has been seen before (and not just on the long-neglected back shelf of my refrigerator). "Cave Bacon" has been seen in caverns, such as Shenandoah Caverns in Virginia, Kartchner Caverns, near Tucson, Arizona. These formations are formed by many, many years of water dripping from the cavern ceilings, leaving deposits of iron oxide and calcite behind. I assume that the Chinese "pork stone" is an agate (a pretty safe bet, and no prizes for me on that one), and it's fun to think about what enterprising stone-workers might use it for. Kitchen countertops, perhaps?