Okay, so here’s the explanation… and a great show in the Lillstreet Gallery Annex by my friend & metalsmith Kelly Novak. Her pieces are incredibly stark, sharp and surprisingly perfect for my week on the B&W Photo Challenge! Lots of metal, black leather and incredible shadows on the walls. And that’s why today I challenge her!!! “INTERVALS” by Kelly Novak through the end of the year.

Another day done at the “One Of A Kind Show” with my friend & master metalsmith Sarah Chapman. This is one of her sterling silver rings with embossed texture, oxidation and an amazing piece of turquoise.

And a beautiful necklace with beads & stones clustered in a sterling silver “boat.”

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Fun day playing with my friend & amazing metalsmith Sarah Chapman at the “One Of A Kind Show” today. She has such amazing pieces in her booth #2120… and another fun day tomorrow from 10:00am-5:00pm. C’mon down to the Merchandise Mart!!!

Spent the day with “My Talented Friend” Sarah Chapman at the One Of A Kind Show today. Such beautiful pieces. Wonderful designs. Fun shadows. And Sarah is pretty darn sweet too! Stop by tomorrow to see Sarah, fondle her jewelry and maybe take home a piece or two! Booth #2118 on the seventh floor of the Merchandise Mart.

If you can’t make it tomorrow, visit Sarah’s website by clicking here.

You know how much I love collaborations! I think it’s so much fun to see what other artists do when given a challenge and some fun clat pieces to work with. My friend & metalsmith Pam Robinson was given a whole bag of assorted clay “cabachons”… textured ceramic discs that I had made and soda-fired. I thought she might be able to make something out of them as a fun little collaboration. Little did I know that she would share them with one of the metalsmithing classes that she teaches. But I LOVE that she shared and challenged her students to incorporate my clay discs into their work.  After the Summer session, they presented their collaboration pieces at their final class. So much fun to see the final results. Wonderful pieces by an obviously talented class of metalsmiths. Huge thanks to my friend Pam for sharing my clay pieces and throwing out this great challenge to her students!

Laura made this wonderful copper pendant.

Sara very gracefully  incorporated the stamped shapes into the design of her pendant.

Katie used some fun silver squiggles to hold her square tile in place.

Debbie added a contemporary contour to her silver pendant.

Katie used mixed metals to colorfully accent my stamped disc.

Dianna went above & beyond with the necklace with stones & gems added into the mix.

Kathy added a touch of whimsy to my clay disc that had a “watery” glaze surface. She did a two-sided pendant with a whale (named Martin) on the front… to a view inside the mouth on the other side. Complete with a dangling uvula just above the tongue.

Pam worked in her trademark style keeping the shine and adding some bling. Pam loves her sparkle & shine!!! Her pendant is two-sided and hangs from a hammered silver necklace.

But then as a great surprise, and a Thank You for giving them the clay discs to play with, Pam also made me this wonderful necklace. One of my favorite textured discs on a fun textured silver background. Thank You Pam… I’ll give you more clay discs whenever you want them!!!

So for now they are all on display in one of the jewelry cases in the Metals Hallway at Lillstreet Art Center. Pam’s students did a wonderful job with these collaborations. So great to see the finished pieces hanging in the hallway… but I really can’t wait to get my new necklace from Pam!!!

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Looks like something special in the works?! This is the kind of “magic” that happens when artist friends get together and collaborate. Come to ART IN THE GARDEN this weekend to see the final results. Amy Taylor is amazing!!! And let me just add two more enticing tidbits… “Limited Edition” and even better… “interchangeable.”

So we started with some textured clay “cabachons” or disc inserts.

Then Amy made some great metal “cases” to hold the discs. Practically everything Amy makes has a hinge on it somewhere, so it was no surprise that these do too!!!

A little cleaning up… and then polishing…

Insert the ceramic disk… and voila’… PERFECTION!!!
She’s amazing… and this one may just have to be mibe?!

And again… interchangeable ceramic disks in the hinged sterling case…
but VERY Limited Quantities this weekend only at ART IN THE GARDEN!!!

One of the best parts of doing art fairs is making friends with your talented “neighbors.” Seeing what cool things they’re making and possibly doing a little shopping or “trading” along the way! In Schaumburg, I was again next to Claudia Winter of “Baubbly” who makes beautiful resin & metal jewelry. Whimsical, colorful & fun. Three of my favorite things!… even better when some of them are reversible!!!

This pendant is layers of clear resin with colored accents in between. With different lighting, or looking at it from an angle, you can see the colored dots “move” or “shift” around on the pendant.

And this pendant of colored resin sanded to a smooth matte surface. This little cutie is reversible – lime dots on one side, and perky orange on the other!

But here’s the best part of the story…
So we’re in the middle of Saturday when a cute high school girl comes into Claudia’s booth. They start talking and the girl is asking some great questions. Claudia is explaining her process very thoroughly. And clearly for the high schooler. After about 15 minutes of resin definitions, epoxy clarification, color placement and everything else you could ever want to know. That it’s resin. That it’s a two-part process. On and on. Very clear. Very concise. She couldn’t have been any clearer…

And then the girl asked… “So is it a stone?”

We both had a good laugh about it… No, it is NOT a stone… it’s RESIN!!!

Click here to see more whimsical fun by Claudia Winter.

Spent the day at the Spring One-Of-A-Kind Show with “My Talented Friend” Sarah Chapman. Wonderful metalsmithing and designs… like this beauty made of copper & silver. I’ll be there tomorrow helping her out again. If you want to see some amazing art, and her incredible jewelry, c’mon down to the Merchandise Mart tomorrow!

A better close-up shows better details of Sarah Chapman’s incredible handiwork. Oxidized sterling silver with a roller-printed “embossed” pattern and iolite points protruding from the side. Gorgeous!

Here’s the “other” side of the twosome necklace by Sarah Chapman. This side is roller-print “embossed” copper and “stitched” with beads of iolite, labradorite & chalcedony

For more about Sarah’s amazing metal works, click here for her website.

For those of you who may have missed MUD & METAL this past Saturday, here’s a quick glimpse of the beautiful metalwork by Amy Taylor. She had quite a few beautiful pieces in my dining room!!! If you’re still looking for holiday gifts, be sure to check out her website or shop on her Etsy page.

Website : http://amytaylorjewelry.com
Etsy : https://www.etsy.com/shop/hingedjewelry

That Amy Taylor is such a tease!!! We can “almost” see what she’s been doing on our collaboration project. Remember, the BIG REVEAL is this Saturday at my place for our annual MUD & METAL Collaborative Holiday Home Show from 10:00am-6:00pm. She’s only making a few… so come early to snatch one up!!!