Marianne Hunter: Exquisite Enamels

Marianne Hunter

I first saw Marianne Hunter's work at the recent Contemporary Crafts Market in Santa Monica, CA. Marianne's specialty is highly intricate enamel work incorporating precious metals and stones to create glorious, magnificent works that are so extraordinary that pieces are displayed in museums including the Mint Museum, the National Museum of American Art, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Oakland Museum of California and the Gemological Institute of America Museum.

And through my friend, goldsmith and artist, Beth Rosengard, I had the opportunity to enjoy Marianne's company for dinner. It was there that I learned she started making jewelry as a teenager and first sold her jewelry for a song!

I started selling my work at 17, and the pieces were actually 50 cents. I did my first show that summer at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Shows were quite different then as the craft movement wasn't even in its infancy at that point. Booth fees were $5-$35. I set up on a card table and my "inventory" was carried in a cigar box. It was really exhilarating to be having so much fun with the enamel work and earning my own money.

It appears that you've been working at your craft in such a focused way for more than 30 years....at what point did you come to know that you were creating extraordinary work?

Thanks for the compliment. it's actually more than 40 years now. I always liked the pieces I made. I think the first pendant I made in my interpretation of grisaille enamel was the turning point. towards more serious art work, although it took several years for me to have the confidence to leave the safety of inexpensive, repetitive pieces behind...that and then learning to set the pieces in precious metals has made an enormous difference.

What are your thoughts about having your work displayed in prominent museums?

It's just wonderful! I'm very glad that both my parents were able to enjoy that recognition with me. It is gratifying to know that some of the pieces I've sent out into the world have ended up with that formal recognition.

Many of Marianne's pieces are Kabuki Kachin and Kachina figures. I asked about this focus...

They are metaphor and alter-ego for me. In my imagination they are powerful protectors of and sources of Nature, Elements, Beauty, Harmony, Joy and such things. They come from my imagined perspectives of other cultures, other times. They represent what I wish the world could be like for every one, every where all the time. Beautiful, interesting, harmonious and safe.

From your website explanation of your work, each piece is meticulously planned out...is this a factor of the type of enamel work you do or part of your nature?

This makes me laugh! If you would see the chaos I work in you would know that very very little in my life is meticulous! But I have learned over time that to enter into one of these pieces, with the smoothest journey forward, takes a map. It's something like creating a puzzle; the shapes of the enamel panels have to fit with the stones and metal work. the colors have to integrate. the foils cut and laid on at the right point. A detailed drawing and the time spent deciding on stones, orientation etc, spares me hours and hours of locked up delay during process. I still spend a lot of time unable to move forward until I've made another decision as the piece comes together, but the planning ahead helps make the pieces possible.

Do you ever just set out to create something without knowing how it will turn out?

Almost never anymore. I'm sometimes surprised by new ideas along the way. But I'm interested in work that is really challenging and really well integrated, so the drawing is a very important creative part of the process.

I love your comparison of your work to instruments working in concert....and in fact, your pieces have a lyrical quality...how does music play a role in what you create?

I don't know. I just felt really comfortable with that analogy as I way to express the emotion, the flow, the complexity, the twists and turns and, hopefully, the unity of the finished work.

What do you enjoy about the solitary nature of your work?

I've always been this way. I was never creative in a classroom or group environment. I like to work alone with my own thoughts free to wander. Even gardening I prefer to be unobserved. I think it frees the imagination...like little kids...play freezes when the grownups come in!

After so many years of doing this, what are the best moments?

Feeling really excited by a drawing I've just completed; finally setting all the enamels and stones into the finished metalwork; holding the piece with all the polishing, engraving and bead work done, done, done. Having a person love that piece so much, they are willing to exchange their own energy value to choose it as their own. Then it's really complete. I also really enjoy when they ( the owners and their pieces) come back to year after year. Another best moment...when the show is over, when I've regrouped and recouped my energy; I've cleaned up the benches, going into the studio to start new drawings. That's a great day.

What an honor to get to know more about Marianne and her amazing work!

Thanks for stopping by!
Sally

Beth Rosengard: Stunning Color, Texture & Pattern

Beth Rosengard

Mixed Media Wall Art

I have the great privilege of friendship with Beth Rosengard.

I met Beth a few months ago when she had a home sale in Los Angeles where she was offering local jewelry designers some of her rather immense collection of unusual, interesting stones. At that time, I first saw some of her amazing jewelry and it quite simply took my breath away. Not long after that first meeting, Beth generously allowed me to watch her create a commissioned pendant piece, offering me valuable tips throughout the process that improved my own work immensely.

Beth's use of extraordinary stones, with her distinct style and superb craftsmanship results in some of the most stunning jewelry I've ever seen, making her among my most influential jewelry artists as I move forward in my new career.

As you look at her work, the first thing you can't help but notice is...the color! And, those stones!

I have lots of stones – too many stones! – and when I’m designing I pull out my stone boxes (which are organized loosely by color) and start playing. I usually start with whatever stone catches my eye on that day and then start looking for others to complement it. Or I might start with a set of stones (a group of tourmalines, for instance) and play with them until an interesting, balanced pattern emerges. Once I’ve got a grouping I like, I then start considering how to connect them, using gold in complementary and interesting ways ... unless I’m working with broom-cast gold. In that case I work simultaneously with the gold pieces and the stones, but always searching for balance and a pleasing combination of color, texture and shape. Most of it is intuitive; I have never taken a course in pure design.

You work with diamonds and what you refer to as "the big three" but you also specialize in unusual stones. How did you first develop an interest and knowledge of these stones?

What attracts me are color, texture and pattern. And I must confess that I’m also drawn to the unusual and rare – in part for their own sake. In my very first metalsmithing class, the instructor had us make a ring composed of two layers of silver. The bottom layer was solid and the top had a pierced design. When the two were soldered together, the idea was to see a pattern of relief. Everyone else in the class stuck to the plan, some additionally patinating the underlying layer of silver so the pattern in the top layer stood out more. What did I do? I hammered some turquoise and some lapis into a powder, mixed them with epoxy and inlaid the blue and green mixtures into the pierced areas in the top layer of silver. I just had to have color, even in that first project! I still have that ring.

My knowledge of the unusual stones I often work with comes from asking many, many questions of the stone dealers I have bought from over the years. That’s the best way to learn (unless you wish to become a gemologist and then you need formal education).

Your work has a very distinct style. How would you describe it?

People do say that my work has a distinct style and I’m always very glad to hear that! But I’ve never quite understood what it is myself; at least not so that I could explain it. All the words I’d be likely to use – color, texture, pattern, balance, geometry, and more – could be used equally to describe the work of numerous other artists as well. So I guess I’ll have to leave it to the viewers/wearers to decide for themselves!

Your work uses only cabochons rather than faceted stones...what do you prefer about cabochon bezel settings?

To be perfectly honest, bezels are easier! Especially when you’re using irregularly-shaped stones. I did take a few classes in prong setting and flush setting, but I never bothered to become proficient at either because I had pretty much perfected bezel setting and seldom felt the need to stretch – one of my faults. And I do very much prefer cabochons, which look better, I think, in bezels. For most of the opaque lapidary materials I use, cabochons are the only way to go. Where the translucent and transparent gemstones are concerned, I’ve just always preferred the depth of color of cabochons over the glitter of faceted stones.

You mention that gold is your favorite metal. What do you love about it?

People who knew me when I began metalsmithing (about 15 years ago) would be amused by that statement. I started out, like most beginners, with sterling silver and I loved it. When I first began using gold, I hated it because it kept melting on me when I didn’t want it to! The fact is that silver is a very good conductor of heat and gold a very bad one. That means that you have to heat the entire piece of silver you’re working on in order to get one little area hot enough for solder to flow. With gold, on the other hand, you can “spot solder”: heat just the small area (spot) you care about and the heat will stay put, instead of radiating out to the edges of the piece. Once you get used to it, it’s wonderful. Until then, it’s a bitch!

Beth uses a little-known technique called "broom casting" for many of her most original designs. The technique was photographed at the Venice Adult School jewelry class in California and was featured along with Beth's work in the June, 2007 issue of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist magazine.

Briefly, broom-casting involves pouring molten hot metal over the soaking wet, upturned bristles of a straw broom. This results in unique pieces of organic-looking metal that are reminiscent of stalactites. It’s the latter comparison that attracts me. I don’t particularly like “blobby-looking” pieces of metal, but broom-cast metal – while random and organic – is also linear and geometric.

In reading Beth's bio on her website, it's clear that she's had multiple and various successful careers...and now she's heading in a new direction creating mixed media wall art.

I’ve gotten to a point where I’m a bit burned out on being a smith. I could be happy designing forever, but I no longer enjoy getting my hands dirty, so to speak. The transition to mixed media wall art was sort of accidental. I wanted something for an empty wall in my house and I didn’t want to spend a fortune purchasing it. I saw a gallery brochure with some painted work I thought was great and said to myself, “I could do something like that with paper.” And I did! It was so much fun that I kept going and now there’s no stopping me. I’m amassing a decorative paper collection to rival my absurdly large stone collection.

Her advice to those of us starting out on a new path....?

Love what you’re doing!

Good advice for all of us, no matter what path we choose. I wish Beth the very best in her latest pursuit of happiness.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sally