Dear Ornament
Reader,
Our mission statement appearing on page seven of this first issue
of volume thirty-one communicates our ethos.
It is who we are as a publication. Ornament celebrates a
unique art because its context is the human being. We believe that
we can help sustain a healthy and compassionate society when we know
more about our own and other cultures. From the beginning, we set
ourselves the exciting challenge of documenting the art and craft
of personal adornment. With informative profiles, we support emerging
and established artists. Ornament exists to educate, inform
and inspire. Together we will make this world a little more meaningful,
a little more beautiful, and a little bit better. While this introduction
to our thirty-first volume is indeed individual and unique from those
we have published over the last three decades, it is also consistent
with our repeated affirmation of Ornament’s
editorial mission. We have never deviated from the goal we found to
be worthy and true. Following is an introduction to five of our eight
features for Volume 31, No. 1, an indication of the steadfast path
Ornament has chosen to follow on its mission. Please turn
to their pages for a complete reading as well as to the many wonderful
articles in our departments.
The 2007 Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show nears its opening on
November 7, 2007. Nancy O’Meara, speaking for the show, says:
“We are one of the first shows in the country and we work hard
to maintain our reputation as the leader. With that comes the responsibility
to foster the new generation. The nature of creativity is that it
is constantly changing and we realize that we need to be constantly
innovative as well.” Anime Cosplay in America discusses the
changing attitudes toward craft among a younger segment of the population,
and how their association with craft is much different than as traditionally
practiced. The article describes the degree to which the overseas
anime movement from Japan influenced the American market. As stated
within the article: “Social recognition and transformation are
two nearly universal reasons why traditional societies create stylized
clothes and costumes. In this developing culture, we have trench-coated
gunslingers and imaginary creatures instead of decorated sheiks and
ornamented chiefs. But the role of these nobles is entertainment.”
Linda Kindler Priest makes exquisite works of jewelry. “Just
because a brooch is small doesn’t mean it doesn’t take
time,” she states. “I’m intimate and familiar with
my materials.” “In the wide world of animals, birds are
Priest’s favorite,” author Carl Little writes. “Winged
creatures, from ibis and egrets to herons and hawks, have captured
her fancy and been translated into marvelous jewelry. Feathers and
beaks emerge in relief from silver and gold; talons grip precious
stones. A humming bird hovers in one brooch, its wings reaching to
the edge of an irregular shaped shard of gold.” Excelling the
Work of Heaven: Personal Adornment from China is a breath-taking journey
through the enormous collection of artifacts gathered by Susan and
Aven Shyn, debuting at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa Art
Gallery, October 28 to December 14, 2007.
Jill DeDominicis writes an extensive six-page article on the San Diego
State University studio arts program in metals and fiber. Presently
staffed by Kathryn Harris, Sondra Sherman and Helen Shirk, the metals
and fiber program is among America’s most notable. The metals
program was founded by internationally-renowned artist Arline Fisch,
one of those prescient teachers whose dedication to studio arts helped
build and anchor the craft movement. With this first article, Ornament
begins a continuing series on metals and fibers in public and private
colleges and universities, workshops and independently owned schools.
We want to do our part to encourage the education of a next generation
of artists.
