Ornament Magazine - The Art and Craft of Personal Adornment

FEATURE

LOOK AND SEE V of sterling silver, twenty-four karat gold plating, mirror; cast, handfabricated, plated, 5 x 5 x 2 centimeters, 2008. Photograph by Kwang Choon Park.

Heather Bayless

Nature Refined

After all, as Bayless observes, “the whole point of jewelry is to attract attention, to get someone to look at it and enjoy it.”

Discoveries in genetics since the middle of the twentieth century have drawn the imagination so compellingly toward the secrets of the microscopic that nature as it appears to the naked eye may in contrast seem almost devoid of mystery. We can scarcely imagine a time, except in the ignorance of childhood, when the sudden appearance of migratory animals, the turning of leaves or the growth of seedlings was inexplicable and wondrous. Today, it is generally taken for granted that the inquisitive attentions of science have long since answered the most difficult questions about the visible world and are rapidly closing in on the last elusive secrets of the invisible. Consequently, the recovery of a naïve vision––a perspective on nature that hearkens back to the simplicity of childhood and the raw experience of early humankind––is today perhaps a greater artistic challenge than at any time since the Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge discerned the “character and privilege of genius” in an ability to reinvest the world of daily experience with … (More)

by Glen R. Brown
issue 35.2

DEPARTMENT

GINA PANNORFI

American Craft Council Baltimore 2012

wearable arts

Artists have long known that the key to a craft business’s survival is creativity and change. And, it seems, craft shows are taking a cue from artists when it comes to ensuring their longevity, revisiting their venues each year to keep them fresh and enticing, both for the exhibitors and show shoppers.

This year, the American Craft Council’s thirty-sixth annual Baltimore show is no exception. Taking place at the Baltimore Convention Center, the show is broken into two sections, Wholesale, from February 21 – 23, 2012, and Retail, from February 24 – 26, 2012. Within these two sections, attendees can survey handmade goods from more than seven hundred of the country’s finest craftspeople. Did not get what you wanted for the holidays? Coming fresh after the season’s celebrations, ACC Baltimore provides the opportunity to purchase jewelry, clothing, furniture, sculpture, home décor, and distinctive goods for… (More)

by Jill A. DeDominicis
issue 35.2