These are just three of the words used in the descriptions for Mary Hettmansperger’s Expressions in Jewelry and Chad Alice Hagen’s Tiny Book Necklaces classes. Add to that “creative”, “fun” and “fast-paced” and you have a lot of options for very personalized and special wearables. Starting with sheets of copper or brass and an assortment of found objects in Mary’s class, students then added layers, embossing, hinges and their own style to create a unique jewelry wardrobe. Not every piece was made to wear as jewelry. Some of these colorful metals may end up in other mixed-media art work. As Mary’s class description says, there are “endless options…”. We loved seeing so many of them! If you love books, you love them in all […]
Animal, Vegetable and Mineral…?
I guess you could classify the previous three classes that way with Navajo Weaving taught by Betty Glynn Carlson representing “animal” for the authentic wool yarns used, Natural Fiber Basketry with Jo Campbell-Amsler as “vegetable” for the willow, grapevine, Siberian Iris and Daylily leaves incorporated in all shapes of baskets and the Metalwork Jewelry Boot Camp with Kay Rashka as “mineral” for the sheets of copper, brass and silver as base materials. Some students brought back Navajo rugs started in (or finished from) a previous class and others started their first pieces. The steps along the way to a finished rug involve patience, thoughtfulness and perseverance. The many varieties of willow, barks, leaves and vines gathered here on the Island or brought by […]
Fiber “Candy”
We definitely had a feast for the eyes, ears and necklines this past week with Mary Hettmansperger’s Expressions in Jewelry and Judith Yamamoto’s Japanese Temari Techniques classes in session. Although the materials and methods range from copper and hammers to fine threads and needles, the end results were equally inspiring and creative. Bringing out the colors in the brass and copper sheets, embossing, layering and adding found objects opened so many avenues to create personalized jewelry. I’m sure the jewelry boxes at home were excited to see their new companions! Wrapping a ball, marking “equators” or obi’s to form a grid and using traditional embroidery stitches yields these dazzling results, with the basket shown below on the right the Temari made […]
