Art Jewelry magazine Editors' Blog : shopping

Find out what tools you need for working with metals, metal clay, bronze clay, enamel, wire, chain mail, stone setting, engraving, finishing, polymer clay, and more

Kristin Sutter — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:16:00 GMT

Tools, tools, tools! Do you wonder what tools you should get if you're going to take up metalsmithing? How about metal clay, or polymer clay? Or, maybe you want to know what tools you should have on hand no matter what medium you're working in. Well, here's your answer: In the November 2008 issue of Art Jewelry, we published an eight-page bonus poster that tells you what tools you'll need to have in order to work in a given medium or for a given task.

We were so excited about the poster that we put the info up online too! (If, for some inexplicable reason you haven't picked up your issue yet, you can find a PDF of "The Right Tool" here.) Of course, the print version has its advantages: it's a pullout, so you can proudly display its glossy pages on your studio wall. And, it's one continuous sheet of paper, so you won't need as many thumb tacks to get it up there, and you won't have to spend time with your level making sure all eight pages are aligned. Of course, the biggest advantage to having the print version means that you have the rest of the issue surrounding it.

We hope the poster helps you as a shopping list, a quick reference (what do parallel pliers look like again?), and as a vision of beauty that only a tool junkie could love.

Enjoy!

—Kristin

P.S. Subscribers, if eight pages of info isn't enough for you, you might want to check out our archive of Product Reviews.

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

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

Buying and selling jewelry online

Hazel Wheaton — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:11:00 GMT

After reading my post of 12/19 about the wonders of handmade gifts and the growing etsy.com phenomenon, a reader sent me a link to another great site where independent jewelry makers (and, indeed, makers of all kinds of things) sell their work. Just as jewelry artisans might sell their work at trunk shows, now they can sell it at trunkt.org. The site has much in common with etsy.com (including some of the same artists), but I find the trunkt.org layout more user-friendly in minor ways — I personally find it easier to navigate, and so far I've been quite impressed with the consistency of quality of artists.

I have to admit, I was a bit behind the curve when it came to online jewelry sales. I'm continually being reminded that when it comes to the Internet era, I'm part of the Old Guard. I still remember Usenet, and the primitive message boards that we used at my college. And when personal Web sites started appearing, I was firmly of the opinion that jewelry was one of those things that wouldn't do all that well online, because buying jewelry is such a personal — and often very tactile — experience. In order to buy a piece of jewelry, I felt, a buyer had to be able to pick it up, fondle it, try it on, feel its weight. Pixels on a screen couldn't ever hope to replace that, surely!

Well, things have obviously changed. I now happily buy all sorts of things online that I never thought I would. I'm a dedicated online catalog shopper, and boy, did I miss that particular boat! How could I possibly buy clothes if I couldn't try them on first, I thought. Now, avoiding the crowded dressing rooms is one of the things I most appreciate about online shopping! And jewelry is no different. I vastly underestimated how personal personal Web pages could get, how much of a sense of the designer's style and personality could come across on a computer screen. I don't think online jewelry shopping will ever completely replace the bricks-and-mortar experience (although I should learn not to make such absolute predictions!), but there's no doubt that online adornment buying is alive and well.

Web sites aren't the only ones who are getting it — one of my favorite recent discoveries is a catalog (along with a Web site) called The Artful Home. They're proof that catalog shopping can exist side by side with limited-edition and one-of-a-kind work by highly individual artists. Browsing through the jewelry listings is like looking like a recap of my old favorites, names I've known and respected for years, with a healthy dose of new recommendations thrown in. Did I ever think the day would come when I could buy jewelry by Eleanor Moty in a catalog?

(If you're planning on selling your work online, either through sites like those I'm mentioned or through your own personal Web site, here's one very small piece of advice from a dedicated online buyer. Let me know how big the piece is. Give measurements, or include a commonly recognized household item for scale, so that I can judge how it'll look on me. If it's a ring, it's less vital, because I can estimate the real size by the shank, but when it comes to a brooch or a pendant, size does matter!)

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

Ed's House of Gems

Katie Streeter — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:08:00 GMT

I was just organizing my bench, putting away some treasures I scored on a recent trip to Portland, Oregon. I had a pip of a time at Ed’s House of Gems on Sandy Blvd. Although the shop’s namesake is no longer with us, Ed’s sons keep his legacy alive with friendly service and brotherly banter. They chuckled their way through showing me the display case specimens that caught my eye. I am very pleased with my purchases: a fossilized camel tooth, a fossilized parrot fish mouth plate, and a wonderful petite piece of old branch coral the color of a Pink Pearl eraser. I’m still thinking about how I’m going to incorporate them into brooches, or pendants.

Jill Erickson
Associate Editor, Art Jewelry