Donna Hiebert: Bold Simplicity and Harmony

Donna Hiebert

"Homage to Borobodur"

2006 NICHE Awards in Metal: Holloware category

I came across Donna Hiebert's work through the Orchid Gallery. I found her work absolutely stunning with its architectural qualities of contemporary lines and form. Here's what she has to say:

I have pondered the meaning of ancient and sacred architecture for a long time. It seems to me that a great deal of knowledge and understanding regarding humankind’s relation to the universe is inherent in these structures. Naturally this influence finds its way into my designs but I try not to approach it in a derivative manner. Saying that, some of my designs are named after specific architectural sites or buildings such as Borobudur, in Java, or an aqueduct in Rome. Seachange: embellishments for humanity, a collection cast in bronze, is more archetypal in nature and focuses on influences derived from sacred geometry – present in nature and many human made forms. This collection in turn led to Flotsam and Jetsam – a much looser, organic collection that is directly inspired by my life by the Atlantic Ocean.

I would describe my style as poetic conceptual minimalism!

Influences are many and after a while some of those influences become a part of me, morphed by my own sensibilities. Sometimes it’s quality of light, movement of water, or music, paintings, sculptures, buildings, or people on the bus. I have been traveling a fair amount in the last few years and I love to hang out in a city and try to catch its heartbeat (preferably while listening to my favorite tunes on my iPod).

I often don’t know what will inspire me – but I am drawn to places/events/things that assist in conjuring connections toward a reality where ideas and concepts materialize that gnaw away at my conscience until I make a sketch or just start working directly with the medium that seems appropriate.

The techniques I find most interesting are the ones that assist in achieving my vision. I will try anything – fabrication, construction, smithing, machining, or rapid prototyping. I have a soft spot for machining – staring at a spinning lathe every day for a month one summer induced an almost transcendental state! I have always felt that technique follows concept. However technique may lead to wonderful discoveries and it has always been very important to me to understand and master as best I can the processes I use to make my work.

For most of my life I made sculpture and exhibited in galleries. I went through a period of disillusionment coupled with a need to make money and I pursued work in sales and marketing for a few years. In late 2001 I had transferred to a sales position for a copy company and within a short time was abruptly fired. It was a wonderful event because it brought me up short and forced me to consider what I was doing with my time. I realized that in order to be satisfied with my day-to-day existence I needed to make things. As well, I really wished for this activity to provide a living. I had taken some undergrad courses in jewelry making and I thought I would explore this area. In 2002 I began in earnest and enrolled as a non-degree student in the jewelry department at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design – my alma mater. I worked intensely for two years absorbing everything I could and launched Donna Hiebert Design in late 2004.

With the economy and price of metal on every one's mind, how has this affected your business and this industry?

Obviously smaller companies are feeling the impact of high metal prices but I think the value of my work lies more in the design than the material. Labor is always a higher factor in my work – whatever material I use. I think the question all designer/makers who produce their work in North America should be asking is: how do I differentiate my work from the glut of commodities available to consumers? Design and innovation is where I believe we excel – the challenge is how each artist finds their market/audience.

What advice do you have for fledgling jewelry designers?

Take in as much as you can – listen, learn, explore, and consider an apprenticeship. There are many facets to this business, ask yourself what you want to wake up and be doing every morning. Start a blog. Mine is www.thinkermaker.com

How have you found it best to showcase and sell your work?

I am, really, still finding my way. I have formed many good relationships with retailers, and I am still actively pursuing that form of marketing. However, I believe my future lies in a combination of developing contacts via the internet through e commerce and blogging as well as selective trade shows, commercial and non-commercial exhibitions, and print/web based media exposure.

I have tremendous admiration and appreciation for the beauty and quality of Donna's work. To me, it embodies the best of classic contemporary design.

Thanks for stopping by and as a side note, this blog can now also be viewed through the Orchid Blog Network as well as an A Blog On Etsy Blogs.

Sally

Alice Sprintzen: Amazing Found Object Art Jewelry!

Alice Sprintzen In Her Studio

(photo by Robyn Bellospirito)

I found Alice Sprintzen through Ganoksin's Orchid Gallery which by the way, has just been overhauled. Orchid is certainly the most valuable forum site in our industry and now it's even better with new bells and whistles!

But I digress...

Alice's entertaining and provocative work leaps off the pages of her website! Her found objects are incorporated so imaginatively into her pieces that I wanted to learn more about the fascinating person behind this amazing, original thinking:

I may have developed my approach to jewelry design back in childhood when I accompanied my parents beach combing. I have always enjoyed the hunt. There is something around every corner that cries out for fresh consideration - a new context in which to reinvent the ordinary, making it extraordinary - be it in the realm of the mind or the work of the hands. I work primarily with found objects. It is a challenge to combine materials without using heat (which would destroy most found objects). Cold connections, including riveting, sewing, lashing and wrapping are the methods I most often employ to connect found objects to one another and to metal. I use traditional jewelry making techniques for the parts of my works that can be soldered, hammered, etc. It is also a challenge to harvest the "found" materials. For example, I have driven from one body shop to another in search of car tail lights in the disposal pile, sometimes being rewarded with large chunks of cars from which I had to extract the plastic. Car plastic is much stronger than I had imagined and takes the great force of a hammer to break into workable pieces. It is actually a rather dangerous process and one has to take care not to get cut.

My jewelry is, by its nature, a statement about society. It is, by implication, pro-reuse, and anti-consumption. It elevates ordinary materials to diamond status - at least that is the challenge. It is about finding beauty and humor in the ordinary. It is important to work hard for just causes but it is also important and soul saving to do it with a sense of humor.

I wear my own jewelry most of the time and people seem to derive pleasure from it. It provokes a variety of reactions - most accompanied by a chuckle. I'm repeating myself, but in my opinion, humor is a "must" for dealing with the challenges of life. People also connect to specific objects in a piece, which may conjure up a memory, or evoke a metaphor that resonates with their own experience. I am also the lucky recipient of numerous "goodie bags" presented to me by friends who know that there is no better gift than a good rusty found object. They are joining me in the search and I feel they are part of the process of my work. I enjoy surprising them at that moment of recognition when they notice their contribution in a completed piece.

I first came to jewelry design as a child, weaving beads on a cigar box loom, creating little people in tiny beads. The world of creating objects has always been an integral part of my life. As an adult, I majored in sculpture in art school, feeling more in tune with three-dimensional materials and techniques to get my ideas across than with the required two-dimensional studies. The school that I attended did not offer jewelry making. If it had, I'm quite certain that I would have been drawn to it like a magnet. I love to manipulate materials and especially appreciate the resistance, technical challenges and personality that each material/object brings to the table.

I am sure that my mother, who was a serious artist, influenced me in some ways that I may never consciously completely know. As a child I watched her paint in our small kitchen/dining room, sometimes through much of the night. I have also been influenced by many jewelers including Fred Woell, Kiff Slemmons, Ramona Solberg, Bruce Medcalf, Robert Ebendorf and Laurie Hall, all of whom I admire enormously. Africa Adorned, by Angela Fisher, is one of my favorite sources of inspiration. I also find inspiration in the materials and the objects themselves. I spend at least half of my time manipulating the components as I work spontaneously, rarely with any previous plan.

Alice not only creates jewelry but she is also a teacher and author of several jewelry books including--Jewelry, Basic Techniques and Design, The Jeweler's Art: A Multimedia Approach and Crafts: Contemporary Design and Technique:

Teaching art has been my career and jewelry making my passion. I taught high school art for many years and presently teach jewelry making to adults at the Art League of Long Island in Dix Hills, New York. It makes for a good balance. I have also authored three books and, although writing initially did not come easily to me, I found that, with practice, it was enjoyable to share my technical expertise with others. Being a teacher, I had a wealth of projects and techniques at my fingertips and was used to explaining processes in complete and easily understood detail. By my third book, I sailed along smoothly, no longer having to struggle with the words. It was important for me to create projects that encouraged an individual approach so that each reader's work emerged from his/her own unique vision. It was also important that the examples illustrating the books be of the highest quality of craftsmanship as well as creativity. I especially enjoyed visiting the studios of the artists and seeing their work in person. It intrigued me how they each arranged their workspace and how they employed different techniques to create the effects they were going after. I learned a great deal in the process.

I have spent the past three years creating my found object body of work. This past year I showed in group exhibitions at several galleries, as well as the Hillwood Art Museum along with jeweler Robert Dancik. I just completed my website www.alicesprintzen.com a few weeks ago and am interested in finding a high quality venue to showcase my work. Currently my work is on display at the B.J. Spoke Gallery in Huntington, New York.

To fledgling jewelry designers, I advise working from your own vision. If you don't have a strong one as yet, keep traveling in new directions and keep an open mind. Follow your ideas even if you have no notion of where they will take you. Don't take the safe route and work in inexpensive materials so that you can throw out what isn't working without loosing a night's sleep.

What fun it was to spend time viewing Alice's work and learning more about where it comes from--physically and mentally--look for her name to become "a name" very soon, I am quite sure!

Thanks for stopping by...

Sally

Harriete Estel Berman: Our Consumer Culture As Adornment

Harriete Estel Berman

I came across Harriete Estel Berman's work through the Ganoskin Orchid Gallery. What fun it was to find her fascinating and unusual pieces using what she refers to as "post-consumer" materials. Enjoy a few minutes with Harriete!


My jewelry is constructed from recycled tin containers as symbols of our consumer society. The colors, patterns, words and UPC codes taken from post-consumer tin cans contribute important content. The materials are not as precious as gold or silver but in many ways reflect more accurately the values of our society. “Bar Codes” or UPC (Universal Product Codes) pervade our consumer society and cryptically identify everything in today’s marketplace. Printed on tin cans are the mysterious encrypted sequence of lines and spaces that identifies every food product, and every item that we buy. One may wonder who we really are, for how much of our identity is derived from what we buy and why we buy it?

Reactions to my work vary considerably, mostly, galleries and viewers are enthusiastically positive; they love the work. In addition, they are amazed that it is made from recycled tin cans. The down side is that most people can not conceive of wearing my jewelry saying, “I can’t wear large jewelry.” Or “Isn’t it heavy too heavy to wear?”. Personally, while I am polite, I think this attitude is ridiculously conservative. In most ethnic cultures, people wear really LARGE pieces of jewelry everyday. Large jewelry makes a statement; it identifies the wearer as being unique and engages the viewer.

My favorite story is about a friend who bought an amazing bracelet to hang on her wall. She had no intention of wearing it. One night she decided to wear it to the Opera. That evening she was dazzled by the attention she received because of the bracelet! She received a myriad of compliments from people; many of whom she did not know.

I get my inspiration from contemporary culture. An advertisement on TV, in a magazine or on a billboard, an article in the newspaper may all trigger inspiration. Our consumer society is filled with media bombardment and information overload. My radar is always on for insightful observation. As soon as idea comes to mind, I write it down or paste it in my sketchbook. Those moments of inspiration are fleeting, and may never come back again, but they can build on themselves. Sometimes it takes years to digest the idea or collect enough materials for one piece.

What techniques do you find most interesting and what are you hoping to achieve?

I am not focused on any traditional metalsmithing or jewelry techniques. As a maker, always experimenting with shapes, designs and construction, I have to invent new methods to construct my work. These innovations build on one another over the years. Techniques used to make the jewelry often funnel themselves into the larger sculptural pieces.

I would like to encourage your readers to invent their own techniques and construction methods for their work. This is instead of taking another workshop to learn yet another technique. Invest the 20 hours you would spend in a workshop by experimenting in your own studio with your own work. This isn’t easy, but the rewards will be huge steps towards building your own visual and structural vocabulary which makes your work distinctive.

With the economy on every one's mind, how has this affected your business and this industry?

The difficulties with the economy are depressing, but it is very hard to decipher if there has been any impact on selling my work. It never did sell well to the average consumer. People need to understand the work and the price. Each and every piece is one of a kind.

Sales on Etsy have been disappointing. I think this is because the average price range on Etsy is too low, even unrealistic. The average consumer is not educated about buying quality work at realistic prices.

Revenue from selling my jewelry makes a contribution to my income, but selling important (more expensive) pieces to collectors remain a significant focus for my survival as an artist.

I also teach, give lectures and do silver repair for additional income.

My work shows best with galleries that attract people that want the unusual. I have been honored to sell with wonderful galleries and have been part of exhibitions at well renowned museums, but it is important to keep looking for new opportunities.


What advice do you have for fledgling jewelry designers?

The most important thing is to have a unique visual vocabulary that does not look like any other artists or jewelry designers. You will not find your own visual vocabulary in a book or at a workshop. It needs to come from personal insight and discovery from work, dedication and bold steps. Your prices should also reflect a reasonable return for materials, overhead and labor.


I love Harriete's unique point of view and vision used to create her fabulous jewelry!

To see more of her work, go to: Etsy, Object Fetish, Gallery at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts, Julie Artisans Gallery, Mobilia Gallery, Tercera Gallery, Heidi Lowe Gallery, Shaw Gallery and Facere Jewelry Art Gallery.


Harriete also participates in a variety of professional workshops and lectures. Upcoming events include:

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES WORKSHOP:
Seattle Metal Arts GuildOctober 19, 2008

LECTURES:
Seattle Metal Arts GuildOctober 18, 2008Seattle, WA
California Art Education AssociationCAEA Annual State Conference November 13-16, 2008Burlingame, CA
LISTEN TO A FREE ONE HOUR PHONE SEMINAR about OPEN STUDIOS with Harriete Estel Berman and Alyson Stanfield, ARTbizcoach.com. http://www.artbizcoach.com/resources/ty_openstudios.html
This phone seminar is based on the Professional Guidelines documents listed below: OPEN STUDIOS: Artist Checklist OPEN STUDIOS: Guide for Art Organizations

INFORMATION about the PROFESSIONAL GUIDELINES can be found at:
http://www.harriete-estel-berman.info/profguidelines/profguide.html
http://www.snagmetalsmith.org/Publications/Professional_Guidelines/

Readers may ask Harriete questions about their professional development as artists and craftspeople at: http://askharriete.typepad.com/


Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by!
Sally