Tag: fine art jewelry

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Covington Art Fair in Fort Wayne, Indiana

It’s been a week since the Covington Art Fair and I just want to express my deep appreciation for the people of Fort Wayne who came out to support the artists exhibiting in the heat.

The first day of the show was the last day of an intense heat wave. I set up early Saturday morning and it was already warm.

I was at the end of the aisle, making it easy to find my booth and get to work. I don’t usually take time to snap progress shots while I’m setting up, but this time I did.

The shoppers came early and the show was crowded by 10am sharp. People made quick decisions, bought their favorite pieces, and by noon, just a trickle of people remained. I was so relieved and so happy, despite the heat.

Rain moved in overnight and a cool breeze continued all day Sunday, with an occasional gust that worried me, but I came through it just fine. Some artists suffered damage, which is always a shame.

I am so grateful for the sales I made at Covington, and to all the nice people who stopped at my booth to shop. I’m looking forward to my next trip to Fort Wayne when I exhibit at Jefferson Pointe in September.

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New enamel flower earrings for Three Rivers Art Fair

Earrings in sterling silver, copper enamel, and freshwater pearl

These new earrings have been a long time coming, and I have them ready for Three Rivers in Pittsburgh. They’ll be available from Wednesday til Sunday this week.

My creative process for these earrings began by cutting copper sheet metal with a flower punch and die.

I hand stamped the copper flowers to make them more life-like.
More of the stamping process
I applied liquid form enamel followed by transparent colors and fired them multiple times.
The earrings after firing and before adding the sterling earrings wires and freshwater pearls.
The finished earrings, front and side view.

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Between Lake Wawasee and Three Rivers

A moment to catch a photo at Wawasee

With the first 2 shows complete, I’m now preparing for Three Rivers Art Fair in Pittsburgh. Last weekend at Chautauqua Wawasee was lovely. Perfect weather, talented neighbors, and a friendly crowd all made for a splendid day.

My new display continues to evolve as I add new work

I’m loving the mesh panels as I get better at setting them up. They give me more versatility and space to display. I’ll have even more work to show at Three Rivers June 5-9!

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Enameling Copper Pipe Rings

Copper enamel bands

To make these rings, I start out with copper pipe. I cut out cross-sections and formed the pipe to shape, convex or concave. I stamp designs into some of them.

After forming the rings, I cleaned them carefully and applied the powdered enamel to the rings.
After firing in the kiln, the glass melts and fuses to the copper.
After firing, the edges need to be sanded down before the next layer of glass is applied and fired.
The rings look so much more beautiful after the second layer of color is applied. I gave the bands a final sanding to remove any sharp edges to finish them.

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Making a Cloisonne Enamel Necklace

This year, I decided to set aside some time to work in cloisonne enamel. I documented my journey with photographs as I balanced the technical demands of the medium with my natural inclination to experiment. I didn’t start out with a sketch or a drawing, but I did know I wanted to create a floral design. Here’s how it went:

hammered copper sheet metal shapes, ready for glass enamel
I began by hammer-texturing sheet copper and giving the shapes a gentle dome
First coat of enamel along with the wires and fine silver foil.
copper enamel work with the first colors, translucent white, blue, and lime green.
Adding colors, layer by layer. I think I fired these pieces more than a dozen times.
copper enamel work in progress with more picks and greens added
More colors, this is close to complete.
copper enamel work after grinding
After I finished added colors, I wet-sanded the glass back down to an even, smooth surface. The dull areas are higher and glossy areas haven’t been touched by the sanding belt yet.
copper enamel pieces ready to be set in sterling silver
After griding the enamel down, it got a final fire polish, where I melted the glass just enough to give it a nice gloss. The next step is to make the sterling necklace links and settings.
sterling silver setting for the enamel, ready to be soldered
I laid out sterling silver flattened wire so that each lobe of the pear shape enamel will have two prongs.
cloisonne piece, ready to be set in the sterling frame
After soldering the prongs and bending them upright, I adjusted the setting to match the enamel. Then, I placed it into the setting and bent the prongs over to hold it in place.
enamels in different stages of setting
Here, I have two enamels finished with the prongs secured and polished. The bottom center piece has the prongs bent forward, ready to cut. The top center piece is not set yet.
necklace chain links and clasp
The finished necklace showing the sterling chain links and clasp.
The finished cloisonne enamel necklace
The cloisonne adventure complete, necklace ready for sale.
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A new approach to art festivals

Art fair booth display

I’ve been working up to this for years, and it’s finally come together. I’ve designed a pop-up booth for exhibiting my work at art fairs. The first voyage and installation was to the Chautauqua Institution in western New York for the Fine Crafts Shows at Chautauqua. The weather was beautiful and sunny, which was a blessing.

Side view of the art fair display of handmade jewelry

I have plenty of tweaks to make to my setup, but the overall idea was well-received. People came up to shop with me and sales were good. I’m now working on adding an awning because the weather won’t always be so perfect.

I sold quite a few pieces at the show, but I still have these earrings. Asymmetrical designs like these are my new direction and I had fun talking to people about wearing different earrings together. In fact, several people mixed and matched their own earring pairs. That was unexpected, but I loved it. I’m so grateful to everyone at Chautauqua who attended the show. I’m also grateful to Crafts Alliance for organizing the event and including my work.