Exhibition - Outer Limits at Facèré Jewelry Art Gallery

I recently became aware of a jewelry exhibition

currently on view at Facèré Jewelry Art Gallery

in Seattle, Washington

It's entitled: 'Outer Limits'

and is running until February 24, 2015

As described by the gallery,

“Orbital by nature, jewelry art lives on the body. 

Jewelry art invites comment. Jewelry art says, "Howdy!"

 Outer Limits, is an exhibition of jewelry art that is 

as playful as it is avant-garde. 

Each featured artist experiments with peripheries - pushing the 

boundaries of material, technique and form.”

The nine artists invited to participate in this exhibit include:

 Jana Brevick, David Choi, Rebecca Hannon, Arthur Hash, 

Shayna Illingworth, Tia Kramer, emiko oye, 

Rachelle Thiewes and Myung Urso.

In all, there are 47 pieces to view, admire,

and purchase.

Materials used include: geodes, asian ink, linen, 

mulberry paper, glass infused nylon, 

metal embellished with car paint, recycled LEGOS, 

driftwood, handmade paper, exotic woods, 

along with more standard materials

 of precious metals and gemstones.

Let's take a look at some examples of the one-of-a-kind

jewelry included in this exhibition.

             

            

  

                   

                     

If you're in the area, pop in to see the exhibition.

I'd love to know your impressions.

You can see more at the

 Facere Jewelry Art Gallery.

Emily Watson Jewelry

I recently came across innovative

jewelry created by multi-talented

 metalsmith Emily Watson,

and as I read about her ideas and the multiple

processes she uses to create her jewelry

I found myself becoming increasingly more intrigued.

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Among her varied range of collections my favorite
 is the Smoke Proof Collection which 
combines enamel with sterling silver.

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However this collection is comprised of a

more labor-intensive range of elements

than one would ordinarily expect.

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 She begins by combining

 etching and printing techniques

to pull paper prints of her designs.

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But that’s only the first layer of work.
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She then uses the etched copper plates

as a base for her enameling and

metalsmithing processes to create jewelry.

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I especially like how she describes

her process and motivation.

Here's a portion of her detailed explanation.

 

Smoke proofing is a process originally used by

type cutters. As the shape was being cut,

progress was tested by blackening the image with

soot collected from a candle flame and then

printing it on paper . . . The idea of the smoke proof

appeals to me for several reasons.

The type of enameling I use most frequently,

champlevé, is closely tied to methods of printmaking.

A copper plate is etched to produce low areas

(which are filled with enamel) and raised fields . . .

I began this series of work thinking of the pieces

simply as playful experiments in printing an image

from one material to another . . . The marks left speak

about what is not present. The processes used to make them

are temperamental and difficult to reproduce . . .

The heated plate acts like the brief flash of heat that

turns powdered enamel to a solid glass surface.

It imprints a memory, and that

memory then becomes a piece of jewelry.

 By understanding the various elements of
her work I can see more layers of interest
in each piece.

 

 

Her innovative combination of techniques
and  her spirit of exploration
captures and inspires
my imagination.
It is work that's created
thoughtfully and meticulously
and the results show it.

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 Be sure to take a look at the entire range
of her work on Emily Watson's website.