Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen. This is going to be a long one so make sure you have a nice fresh cup of coffee and prepare to be awed.
Today is the reveal day for the Barbara Hanselman Structural Pendant Challenge and Giveaway. This whole thing started when Barbara included one of her structural pendants in my order as a gift with a little note challenging me to see what I could come up with. You can read about the original challenge post by clicking
here.
The following piece is what I made with her generous gift and challenge. You see, I have found in the last few years of making jewelry, that a challenge is a good thing, at least in this context. It takes us down paths we would not have otherwise gone and that is a good thing. At least I know that has proven to be true for me. And, I suspect you are no different and it is also true for you.
But this post is not about me. It is first about all the wonderful creative talent of Barbara Hanselman. I want to first give you links to
Barbara's Etsy Store and to
Barbara's Website so that you can learn more about Barbara and the inspiration for her work. I encourage you to spend some time in both places.
Barbara has a long, long resume in the arts, but I asked her to tell
us a bit about how her background led her to where we are today - this
challenge. This is what Barbara had to say.
"Sculptural focals are not new to me. When I first started hand building
with clay, I would save all the 'trimmings' from my pots and make clay
pins from these leftover cuts. They looked so sculptural, that I
mounted the pieces (with their pin backs) in frames for hanging when
they were not being worn. (Designing a mounting for them was a little
tricky but well worth the effort.) The idea of "wearing art" came out
of this and even today when I fabricate a total necklace, I tend to
display & offer it for sale in a custom made frame... handmade ART
should be constantly on display!
Recently when I returned to making sculptural clay pieces as focals, I
became aware of the CHALLENGE they were to many jewelry artists, so when
Jean decided to feature them on her blog, I was thrilled. I believe
they ask the creator of a finished neck piece to think more like an
artist. They encourage us to go beyond being makers of well-crafted
jewelry and become more visionary. I can't wait to see all the museum
quality pieces which have been fashioned using my focals!
"
Barbara calls this piece "Tire Tracks". She specifically designed it to be reversible.
She wire wrapped the four corners with 22 gauge copper wire to a frame of 12 gauge hammered copper wire. She oxidized the wire.
She hand formed the chain from 12 g wire and her clay center-hole stoneware
discs are wrapped with 14 g copper to form connecting links.
By making it in this fashion, Barbara virtually made it two necklaces in one.
The earrings are made with niobium ear wires.
My first piece for this challenge. I used the same technique as I did on the first pendant by putting beads in the large holes; however,
this time I backed them with domed copper caps and I added a soft leather ribbon at the top. I recently made a wholesale order for some wonderful rustic aged Czech glass beads and was anxious to use those. I thought they complimented the pendant perfectly.
I made coiled copper ends for the 3mm leather strand and made a special clasp with a lightning shape to match the lightning shapes I added to the wire on the pendant.
Barbara further challenged me to make it this second piece reversible. She had made the pendant with a gorgeous design on each side. I originally pictured this pendant with a plain wide leather neck strap, but I tried several different things, but I couldn't figure out how to attach it so that it would lay flat. As an alternative design, I went with very dainty small macrame using .5mm aged leather. It is worked with the rustic etched lampwork beads of Julie Burgard of Outwest. Doing the macrame gave me the wide leather look that I wanted and it lays correctly.
I used more of the aged striped Czech beads that I recently received, along with red, black and blond horn rice beads and a nice silver Buddha charm that I recently purchased from
Happy Mango Beads which also was reversible on both sides. Well that was the key. I tied it to the top of the pendant with the same aged leather and now you can just flip the Buddha to one side or the other making this one truly reversible.
Now, for our challengers. One lucky winner will be drawn by Random Generator to be the recipient of a $50.00 Gift Certificate from Barbara's Shop. Wow, what a thrill it would be to win that!
I have listed the following participants in the order that they provided me with pictures of their finished pieces. Just so you know, I have disqualified myself from winning the gift certificate, well because, that's just the kind of gal I am.
NUMBER 1. The first challenger is Julie Thelen. She has been designing jewelry since before 2008. She is a proud member of the international organization for the Self-Representing Artist in Jewelry Design -- SRAJD 2335. You can see more of her work at
Julie Thelen's Jewels by Jules. All of Julie's work is beautiful, but Julie makes some beautiful handmade belt buckles. They are like nothing I have ever seen. If you have not seen them before, you should take a few minutes and look at them.
For her piece, Julie used recycled beads and discs from Ghana, carved wooden beads, mykonos Greek beads, chocolate brown leather and beautiful handcarved and handpainted polymer beads from One Urban Tribe on etsy.
She also made a pair of matching earrings.
Julie told me that she had an absolute blast with this challenge and that this piece is one of her favorites.
She said she had fun and learned a lot!
I want to point out that this photograph is the backside of her necklace and in my opinion, Julie has also accomplished the challenge of making it truly a reversible piece.
Number 2. The second challenger is Maressa Garner of Kiss of Venus. She considers herself an assemblage artist rather than a jeweler and, boy, can I relate to that. She loves most things old, organic, ethnic and natural.
In her piece she used a variety of organic materials -- clay,
bone, hammered Smokey Quartz, Myrrh resin, pyrite, wood, rough
faceted Andalusite, and worn glass.
About her piece, Maressa says,
"I love the marriage of
gemstones with elemental earthen materials and think it lends an
appropriate energy to the rustic, slightly primeval imagery of the
Green Man."
"I love to work with symbols, and in particular, those of
Celtic origin. Creating a modern work of wearable art with symbols,
imagery, and intention which trace back thousands of years is a
unique way to merge the past and present. This piece, which I have
dubbed 'Cernunnos' recalls the ancient horned god once worshiped by
the Celts and other polytheistic religions."
Maressa does beautiful work. I have
admired her work for some time, especially her bracelets. She
just has a way with them.
Number 3. The third challenger is Lynn Ferro of Yuccabloom. In Lynn's etsy store profile, she says of her work, "I travel deep into my imagination for my designs which is inspired
from all my amazing customer's who can't wait to see each new listing." I am here to tell you that her imagination is a beautiful place. If you are not familiar with her work, you owe it to yourself to spend some time in her store.
Lynn's creative journey with this challenge began by just looking at Barbara's store. Of that journey, Lynn says.....
Well, let’s start with this amazing
yet unusual pendant from Barbara. I mean, that’s what got this
whole challenge started in the first place!
When I was searching in Barbara’s
shop for just the right one, I looked at all of them over and over
again, contemplating how to create something amazing from each. Her
pictures are dead on for what you receive, but I was concerned about
size. I felt safe choosing this one because I thought it would give
me a couple of design options. My first impression of this piece was
a gate, an old worn fence gate, but then I also saw a contemporary
piece with an Asian flare. I think the curves mixed with the
straight lines and the swirls brought the Asian appeal to me. All in
all, this is how I arrived to my final choice.
When the piece arrived, I examined it
for quite some time, like Jean mentioned with her piece, I had to
“get acquainted with it”. I turned it on every side to determine
what would be the best lay out. The challenge on this one was the
loop on the side. I really wanted to use it to hang a bunch of
dangly charms from, but because of where it was positioned, it was
tough. Then the leather came out and it was clear going forward that
I would choose a Western design.
I knew I wanted to hang beads from the
rails and the leather gave the pendant a medicine bag-pouch look.
The leather took me a couple of tries for the right length and
stitching, yes I scrapped a few pieces through this process☺. Once
that was complete, the threaded beads were easy. Since there was so
much going on with the pendant, I wanted the neckline to be somewhat
simple, yet relative. Choosing rustic glass beads mixed with some
silver African spacers and leather, I think it completed the piece
perfectly.
This was the first “contest” I have
participated in. It was a blast and would be thrilled to do it all
over again. Thanks Jean for asking me to participate. Without your
nudge this creation would not have come to fruition.
~ Lynn Ferro
Number 4. Emily Cohen of Catfish Studio sent me a picture of a beautiful sterling silver and clay necklace she made from Barbara's work. She and Barbara have known each other for years and have worked together.
Emily says of her piece,
"I made the fish from scraps that Barbara had left from
a large piece, maybe a cup. She turned the scraps into small clay
"cabochons" for lack of a better term and this one looked like a fish
to me. I cut the fish shape from sterling sheet, soldered on a bezel,
set the body into the piece and put it on a chain. And there you have
Barbara's fish necklace." "I've really enjoyed seeing your work. It has inspired me to
try new techniques as I am getting back into my jewelry making after
spending a year or more packing and moving and neglecting art."
Emily presently lives in Ormond Beach, FL having moved from Ardmore, PA where she lived for 17 years. You can see more about Emily and her work at her website
Catfish Studio. I took a browse through it and saw some gorgeous things.
Number 5. Mary Shannon Hicks has been seriously making jewelry, mostly beaded, since 1994.
Her mother was tremendously gifted, could sew and crochet, and even as a child Shannon made crafts with her mother, especially at Christmas. Mary recalls that one year they made angels out
of styrofoam balls, old Reader's Digests and lacy doilies!
The chain is silk wrapped closed with wire, and then between the silk links, it's wire wrapped jump rings.
Of her piece, Shannon says,
"Here is my Navette Ladder Necklace for Saturday's Blog Hop. I made
three navettes from a pattern by Diane Fitzgerald, then I made some
simple brick stitch components for the other side. After that, I added
some silk and wire wrapped components and Greek ceramic beads (some of
my faves.) Last, I wire wrapped some green navette dangles and hung
them from the bottom with silk knots."
You will recall that in the original post about this challenge, I said that this was the piece I was going to buy next - if it didn't sell. After seeing her necklace, I want you all to know that I have forgiven Shannon for buying the piece that I wanted. It clearly found its rightful place in Shannon's care. It's beautiful!
Mary Shannon enjoys making jewelry where most of it becomes the treasured gifts for family and friends. She does have a blog where she chronicles her work at
Falling Into The Sky. She also has a Pinterest link where she shows some of her work as well at
Gypsy Moon Dancer.
In Conclusion:
I hope all of you who have found your way here today have enjoyed this post. Most importantly, I wanted to honor Barbara Hanselman's work and the work of all the artists who have participated in this challenge. I wanted to provide an opportunity to share our work which has as its center, one woman's art and to extend her initial challenge to me to other artists who were brave enough to pick up the challenge and do something with it. Last, but certainly not least, I wanted to have fun and I certainly did that. It was really nice getting to know you guys - some for the first time. I want to thank all of you who were touched in any way by this post. Whether you participated by making something to be revealed today, whether you took the time to leave a comment, or whether you just took the time to read this post. I hope it touched each and every one of you in a positive and creative way. And, my heart felt Thank You all for your participation. I hope you all have had as much fun as I have had.
Now, you say, SHOW ME THE MONEY! After I did my original "Challenge" post, which I did without first discussing it with Barbara at all, she saw the post and contacted me and made the offer of the $50.00 Gift Certificate to her store. Wasn't that generous of her! That's the kind of lady she is! In my original post I had said that I would not be posting the reveal until Sunday. I am a day early. I also said that Barbara would do a random drawing and that we would announce the winner on Wednesday, September 19, 2012. I don't think it will take her that long but in fairness to anyone that may have been counting on the reveal being tomorrow, I think it best if we wait another day to do the drawing. I will post the winner on Monay, September 17, 2012 pray, cross your fingers, speak to the universe, meditate about it, or just wish really hard that you see your name posted on Monday. Good luck to you, Julie, Maressa, Lynn, Emily and Mary Shannon.
(If any of you see anything that I have gotten wrong, please e.mail me at jeanawells@kc.rr.com and I will correct it.)
Jean
Since I have been making ball headpins, I have found all kinds of cool ways to use them. On this piece, I balled one end - strung two beads and balled the other end. Then I used the distance between the beads to twist them at the top. Unlike making dangles, they stay in place and hold the orientation that you want them to hold. Pretty cool, huh!
I also made a cuff bracelet using one of
Finally for today, another lariat using Cindy Dolezal's ceramic pink
bird, Nan Emmett's faceted blue bead, Alison's blue egg, and a mix of
wood rounds, jasper and another wholesale order of Czech aged striped
beads. I now have lots of those too so will not be so stingy with
them. If you have been following this type of bead, you know they are
very, very expensive.
