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Not Your Ordinary Baubles
by Heather Stark

When the first cave woman strung a shell around her neck and admired her reflection in a nearby watering hole, she was just the first in a long progression of humans using adornment to set themselves apart. But the adornment that was once a glittery rock or clamshell has evolved into everything from precious metals and gemstones to glass, polymer clays, resins and even pigmented concrete. And the Pacific Northwest has carved out a reputation for itself as a hotbed for cutting-edge jewelry artists who create studio and collector pieces that are attracting attention around the world.

The art jewelry movement has become more than just accessorizing outfits. It has become a way to own individual creations. Karen Lorene, owner of Facèré Jewelry Art Gallery, calls the pieces she carries “fine art sculpture small enough to wear on a body.” And the bodies wearing these bold, contemporary adornments do not belong to shrinking violets who want to blend into the background.

“This jewelry is for people who are not shy and who look for something that is theirs, to look like no other,” she says. Some of those people are collectors and some are just looking for great art they can wear.

Designers Ramona Solberg and Ron Ho were among the first group of Pacific Northwest artists to create unique pieces in the 1960s and ’70s using the unusual idea of incorporating found objects into wearable creations. The buttons, pebbles and beads Solberg combined with her exquisite metalwork heralded a new movement that became the hallmark of Seattle jewelry design. Ho’s pieces were just as contemporary, but incorporated the cultural diversity he experienced growing up in Hawaii before moving to the Pacific Northwest as a young designer. Nancy Worden was also part of the early movement, and developed a reputation for bold pieces with movement and unusual components. While all three continue to create their unique pieces and have international appeal, newer designers have come to the Mecca that Solberg, Ho and others created near Seattle.

“Some are influenced by where they live, but some are more influenced by classes they have taken and the teachers they have studied,” says Mary Lee Hu, recently retired professor of art and chair of the metals program at the University of Washington. She says that while the founding artists were from the Northwest, their followers came here to learn from them, enjoy the beauty of the area and immerse themselves in the growing artisan community. That community provides support through organizations like the Northwest Designer Craftsman Guild, the Northwest Bead Society and Seattle Metals Guild where artists can learn from one another not only about their art but also about marketing.

The current designers getting national and international acclaim have their roots in metalworking, probably because of the strong metals programs at Pratt Fine Arts Center and the UW metals program. North Seattle Community College and The Evergreen State College also have strong training curricula in metalwork.

Galleries, too, are helping jewelers attain visibility in the Northwest. Facèré Jewelry Art Gallery in Seattle features 12 area jewelry designers. Two other major galleries showing local designers include Pacini Lubel Gallery and Ragazzi’s Flying Shuttle. Local shops and museums often carry artists’ work, with the Seattle Art Museum and the Tacoma Museum of Glass among those with the more comprehensive collections. Many local art galleries and shops are carrying more local jewelry designs because of increasing demand.

Lorene says her customers are asking for more artist jewelry and that demand is high. “These [buyers] are not hobbyists,” she explains, “and what they buy has to look like no other.” Many of the customers are collectors of this art form, much as some collectors acquire paintings or sculpture. But many are women and men who are realizing that art doesn’t have to be something to hang on the wall. It can be something to hang around the neck or wrist.

“Seattle is pretty hot,” according to Anna Williams, co-owner of Ragazzi’s Flying Shuttle. “These artists thrive on crafting one-of-a-kind, hand-fabricated work that is large scale, dramatic, earthy.”

Some of today’s designers find their niche with the precious metals and gemstones traditionally used for fine jewelry. Andy Cooperman considers himself a metalsmith and creates one-of-a-kind pieces in various colors of gold and sterling, but he also uses copper, bronze and a Japanese alloy called shibuichi, accenting them with gems and salvaged materials from glass to plastic. In addition to his artist jewelry, he does custom design, especially wedding bands. He says working with jewelry “allows me to explore form in a really quick and economical scale.” His work is hand-forged, not cast, and he considers proportion everything. “The challenge,” he says, “is getting these wonderful things to happen within that small space” that jewelry demands. “Everything on a piece has to have a reason to be there.” Cooperman’s work is available at De Novo Gallery in Palo Alto, Calif. Prices range from $300 – $3,000.

Those interested in color, stones and classic design with a contemporary feel can find all three in the designs of Jamie Joseph, a West Seattle artist who has worked in lapidary since her days as an economics student at the University of Kansas. There she fell in love with not only the art of jewelry design, but also the techniques and craft of design. She pays particular attention to the feel of the stones and is drawn to “what the earth has put into the stone.” Her work is available at Twist in Seattle as well as at Bergdorf Goodman in New York. Prices range from $150 – $5,000.

Cynthia Toops has garnered national renown for her work with the newer medium of polymer clay as well as felting. Her pieces have been featured in national magazines like Ornament and Bead & Button, and she is a recent winner of a Washington State Artists Trust Fellowship. She describes her work as “clean and spare because I can’t keep my life that way.” Her micromosaic synthetic clay creations are “a new way to bring color into jewelry,” says the artist. She has recently begun experimenting with glass in the footsteps of her husband, Dan Adams, whose glass bead creations are strongly influenced by ethnic pieces. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Tacoma Art Museum and is available for sale at Facèré, priced from $400 – $6,000. Adams’ work is also available at Facèré and is priced from $400 – $1,000.

Lulu Smith is another local artist stretching media in her contemporary work. She has married resins and silver into jewelry that is graphic and colorful. “Resin is translucent and can be hand-pigmented almost any way you want so the palette is limitless,” she explains. The colors in her open-back earrings change color depending upon the time of day and what environment they’re in. Her cheerful, bold pieces have been purchased by collectors like Sir Paul McCartney and are available at the Seattle Art Museum and Ragazzi’s Flying Shuttle. Prices range from $50 – $1,000.

Judy Kuskin’s jewelry can be described as textural, very modern, but done in earth tones inspired by nature. She combines synthetic clays with silver to forge strong, colorful pieces. Her interest in jewelry is not only in creating pieces that look good, but that also feel good on the body. You can find her work at Ragazzi’s Flying Shuttle with prices ranging from $100 – $1,000.

Victoria Takahashi says jewelry design and fabrication is “the only skill I have.” She credits classes she took at Pratt as a source of that skill. She works primarily in silver and natural stone to create unique pendants, brooches, rings and hairpins. Pieces are priced from $100 – $200.

Like many jewelry designers, Tory Herford considers herself a sculptor who creates her pieces with wax casting because she “doesn’t solder.” Her designs are whimsical and talismanic with an Asian aesthetic and priced from $100 – $1100.

Mary Lee Hu creates exquisite woven gold wire jewelry using the textile techniques of braiding, weaving and wrapping. Her decidedly contemporary work is heavily influenced by history and anthropology from around the world. Jewelry for her is a visual code people use to communicate with others. “We send out messages by what we wear,” says the former chair of the UW metals program. Her work is available at Facèré and priced from $2,000 – $4,000.

Heather Stark is a Seattle-based freelance writer.

©2007 Caliope Publishing Company