Wearable Art Blog

Clay Jewelry by Dora Haralambaki

During my web meandering this week, I stumbled on 'my Precious', an online gallery created to showcase contemporary Greek jewerly artists. The work of Dora Haralambaki, who makes rings from earthenware clay with underglaze stains, caught my eye. 
 

She is also the co-owner of Craftit, an arts and crafts workshop community for interaction among artists and the fostering of creative expression. And, she is a painter, potter, and poet.

 

  

 

I like these playful pieces because of their bright colors and that they're made from clay. These pieces do a nice job of showing how clay can be transformed into lovely jewelry.

 

 
 

Here is a poem written by Haralambaki, that gives you a nice idea of her approach to jewelry making:

Earth with water, dry on air and bake with fire!
Clay, my material.
Ductility like no one, is becoming my tiny little canvas on which I am treating it painterly.
I am mixing it with other materials in to a game full of contradictions.
Cold – warm, heavy – light, soft – solid.
Organic forms that lay on the body shape
Like continuation, like supplement…
Texture, color and experimentation in wearable objects are my target.

 You can see more of Haralambaki's work at my Precious or facebook.

Knit Accessories by Tom Scott

Tom Scott likes to challenge the traditional craft of knitting by building his sense of humor into many of his pieces. A native of Pennsylvania, he graduated from the Scottish College of Textiles and started his own women's knit accessories line in 2001. Two years later he added a clothing collection. 

His passion for knitting is likely a result of his spending a lot of time in boyhood with his grandmother. Tom described his early interest in knitting in an interview in the Fashion Informer: "I've always hand-knitted and hand-crocheted; my grams taught me how to crochet when I was little....My grandma was acutally a lace maker - she's Scottish...." On occasion, Tom still uses vintage knitting needles to make some of his more inventive pieces.

 

Slippers from Tom Scott's fall/winter 2010 collection are handmade from alpaca wool
 
Scott's playful side shows up in handmade items like the shaggy slippers shown above. He also makes one-of-a-kind pieces, like something he calls a "hairy visor" (a wraparound headband with hair-like fringe hanging down in the front), as well as unusual items like ruffle-edged sweat shorts.

Scott's fashion collections have earned him an award from the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation in 2007, and he was a finalist for the 2008 International Woolmark Prize. Scott's work has also been featured at several leading museums, including the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.

Hand-knit wool neck warmer

I really like the inventiveness and funk factor that Scott uses in his work. His personal story also intrigues me - something about his Scottish heritage must have inspired him to go to Scotland for school, and in any case, like so many talented artists, he benefitted greatly from what he learned from artists in his own family. 

I discovered some of Scott's hand knit accessories at New York City's Project 8, a very cool gallery-like store where craftsmanship and ideas are celebrated. You can see more at Tom Scott. 

Silver Jewelry from Lima's Lorena Pestana

I discovered Lorena Pestana from a recent New York Times Travel article about Lima's Hidden Ateliers. An architect by training, Lorena creates dazzling jewelry out of woven metal wire, silver and acrylic and bases her designs on imagery from the native cultures of the Peruvian Amazon.

I asked Lorena how she got inspired to design and make jewelry and how her sense of design has evolved over time. Here are some excerpts from what she told me.

  
Silver ring with spirals of silver, steel or copper

"Well, it's a long story. After I got my grade of architect with a project about Chavin Civilization (a 200 BC North Peruvian culture) in Lima, I went to the Amazon rainforest with my boyfriend....There, in an Alto Marañon village, the women taught me the bead art and crafts of the ancient Aguaruna people, one of the largest ethnic groups of Peruvian Amazonia....I become a very passionate student."

"After we returned to Lima, I did some architect design work, but what really interested me was the jewelry art I learned from my Aguaruna friends....In about three or four months, after my pieces were more and more celebrated...., I opened a little atelier with one or two Aguaruna women living in Lima and started to sell the pieces to everyone."

"Then I began to study jewelry materials and techniques (ancient and modern) and finally quit architecture....In some ways, my jewelry reflects my architecture knowledge (volumes, proportions, ensamblages....the search of light)....But the search of light that is the basis of my designs is because I find in nature the very inspiration of my work, just like my Aguaruna masters taught me."

  
  
Anemone bracelet: made of 950 silver and nylon thread 

Lorena is on a roll this year. In early September, she won the top prize for jewelry design at the prestigous Paris Eclat de Mode international jewelry show for her gorgeous Anemone bracelet (above). This is the first time a Latin American artist has been selected for the prize, which is awarded to one of the more than 400 jewelry designers who attend.

  
POM-POM bracelet: made of knitted stainless steel wire, 950 silver clasp and alpaca wool

In August, the German Arts & Crafts Association selected the POM-POM bracelet (above) to be part of the Form Exhibition at the Frankfurt Tendence Fair. 

To top it off, these two bracelets will be on display at The Biennial Iberoamericana Design Exhibition (IBD) taking place from November 22 through 26 in Madrid. The IDB event features the best of contemporary design created in Latin America, Spain and Portugal.

You can see more of Lorena's beautiful jewelry at Lorena Pestana.

Stephen Jones on Display at the MoMu Fashion Museum

 

Stephen Jones in a hat named for Carol Channing; photo source: New York Times

The New York Times featured a story about London milliner Stephen Jones's thirty year retrospective exhibition at the MoMu Fashion Museum in Antwerp last week. The photo above was taken from that article. Since I've thought about featuring Stephen Jones on the blog several times, I thought now is the moment to do it.

Jones is considered one of the world's most radical and important milliners today. He is also one of the most prolific, having created hats for the catwalk shows of many leading fashion designers, like Christian Dior. Jones has received many awards and international recognition. The two hats below were created by Jones for Dior's couture collections.

 
Stephen Jones for Christian Dior Haute Couture "Olga Sherer inspiree par Gruau" Hat Autumn Winter 2007/08, Image by Christopher Moore/Catwalking 
 

In addition to creating hats for Dior and other designers, Jones creates six collections a year, from ready-to-wear to handmade hats, which are the most artistic and fun. To support the collections, Jones employs over 15 people from hand-sewers and trimmers to people skilled in materials like leather or veiling.

In a recent interview conducted by journalist Lena Corner, Jones spoke of his passion for the art of millinery: "For me, hats aren't an accessory, they are the raison d'être of an outfit. They don't just make you look pretty, they take you somewhere else; they can change, destroy and create emotions."

 
Stephen Jones takes floral inspiration to the max with cellophane millinary for Dior's Fall Winter 2010-11 couture collection.

Jones fell in love with hats while still in college and applied his own brand of creativity and eccentrity to them. It's these characteristics that led to his getting noticed and eventually to his fame.

One of the early breaks for Jones was in 1982, when he got noticed by the French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier in London's Soho’s Gargoyle Club wearing his red fez. Jones later started to design hats in Paris for Gaultier, including the fez below, in 1984. 

 

Photo source: New York Times
 

I love the ingenuity of Stephen Jones and the way he expresses his creativity to the max. You can see more at Stephen Jones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Regal Graffiti" Jewelry by Amy Tavern

 

Earrings: oxidized sterling, black and light blue spray paint

  
When I first saw these funky pieces by Amy Tavern at the Sienna Gallery, I was immediately drawn to the rounded, irregular shapes and the use of spray paint that create a look reminiscent of graffiti.

Pendulum Necklace: oxidized sterling, black, light blue, and yellow spray paint

Here's what Tavern says about her love of graffiti: "I find graffiti’s colors, patterns, and symbols...to be fascinating. I am also captivated by layered and chipped paint, rust, and other forms of architectural decay often found alongside graffiti...

  
Bow Brooch: oxidized sterling silver with light blue, red, and white spray paint

Tavern started metalsmithing in 1998 and is currently living and working in Penland, North Carolina.

What can I say...I love the playful shapes combined with spray paint. These pieces are informal, cool and just fun. What do you think?

You can see more at Amy Tavern.